MP candidates in Montgomeryshire & Glyndwr have their say on the NHS

Candidates looking for your support have been invited to share their views on a range of issues.

As part of our election coverage ahead of the poll on Thursday we asked all candidates a range of questions, with a theme based collection from all candidates below. You can also read individual answers to all the questions here on our Election 24 page, plus links to party manifesto, supplied bios for candidates and links to find out where exactly your polling station is!

Question:Health is devolved, but there is a link to Westminster and England in many ways. People are waiting longer for GP appointments, hospital waiting times have risen, staff are poorly paid and overworked. In your opinion, how do you think the issues in the NHS need addressing?

Part of the problem is the decline of public health in the UK, over the last 10 years, demands on the NHS have been rising because of increase obesity, increased consumption of ultra processed foods, lack of exercise. Many of these symptoms would be addressed by measures that are part of our proposals for a more sustainable society. These include creating better infrastructure for active travel, addressing the national diet by promoting a move away from processed foods towards fresh and unprocessed foods, and encouraging exercise.
But the NHS also needs more resources. Over the last decade, the UK has spent about a fifth less per person on health services than the average in Europe. We can either decide to have more tax cuts, or we can decide we want a better NHS, we can’t have both, and I think that most people would prefer a better NHS. The Green Party reluctantly accepts that some more tax does need to be raised but our proposal is that the main way of doing this is via a wealth tax, and this would only apply to the very richest, so would start with a 1% tax on assets for anyone owning over £10m in assets. This would therefore not affect anyone at the moment that is struggling with the cost of living crisis or struggling to pay fuel bills.

As mentioned in my first answer, fixing social care is the primary focus for the Liberal Democrats when it comes to mending our health system.
But we would also bring dental funding for the Welsh Government in line with Scotland and Northern Ireland and seek to end the NHS dental deserts that have plagued Wales under Welsh Labour’s control.
We would introduce legislation requiring all cancer patients to start treatment within 62 days to boost survivability rates, make it so you can get a GP within seven days and finally introduce a rural GP premium which would make it easier to recruit and retain GPs in rural areas.

I am married to an NHS worker and timely access to excellent healthcare is something that I am passionate about. Labour will: cut NHS waiting times with 40,000 more appointments per week; double the number of cancer scanners; and introduce our new Dentistry Rescue Plan. However, whilst the health sector is in a dire state across the whole of the UK, I think it is important to myth-bust and celebrate our successes in Wales: long waits have fallen by 70% here since their peak in March 2022; FREE hospital car parking; performance against the four-hour target in Wales’ major emergency departments was better than in England in 15 out of the last 20 months; and FREE prescriptions! The track record of Welsh Labour is strong and when a UK Labour Government properly funds the NHS, further progress will be possible.
In relation to NHS staff pay, more NHS staff will be retained and new ones attracted to the NHS when they can receive a living wage! And that is why, when the RCN went on strike for better pay last year, I stood in solidarity with them on their picket line.

Labour have failed our health service in Wales and the report from the Nuffield Trust this week does not bode well for the NHS if Labour in England runs it. The continuation of the Tory austerity agenda will be a disaster and as well as the answers to point 1 above the fundamental principle is that we have to invest in the NHS as other European countries do if we want a proper service.

The NHS does not have a shortage of money, it is better funded now than it ever has been. There is an excess of demand – I’m afraid, linked to the immigration challenge I mention above – and an over-reliance on exploiting developing countries by poaching their scarce medical staff. This is morally reprehensible. Britain must train more of its own people to join the medical professions, and invest properly in the Health Service’s built infrastructure. There seem to be very few prefabricated hospital buildings in the United States or France; in our region, they are the norm. This is simply unacceptable to me.

No response to our Q&A has been received

You can read more Q&A answers here on our Election 24 page along with more election information – remember to GO VOTE ON THURSDAY!

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