Election 2024: What have the political parties pledged to fix the NHS?

In Brief...

• All major UK political parties acknowledge the NHS is in crisis and propose various solutions to address its issues.
• The Conservatives promise increased staffing, new hospitals, technological upgrades, and savings from reduced management.
• Labour, Liberal Democrats, Green Party, and Reform UK offer diverse approaches, focusing on increasing operations, using private sector capacity, enhancing mental health services, and specific funding and tax incentives.

The state of the NHS

If you've been stuck on hold at 8am in the morning, hoping to get an appointment with your GP, then you'll have some idea of the problems the NHS is facing in the UK.

And things only get more serious when it comes to ambulance waiting times or the backlog of people needing cancer treatment who are waiting far beyond the recommended time to see a specialist.

So it's no surprise that health and the state of the NHS are top priorities for many people in the UK, as the country approaches the 2024 General Election.

In fact, when asked about the most important issues currently facing Britain, the NHS was voted second only to the cost of living, in a June YouGov poll.

Below, we break down the issues facing the NHS as we head into the general election.

What problems is the NHS facing?

• Junior doctors are continuing to strike in the UK over pay, with a five-day strike recently called, to take place just before the 2024 election.
• In December 2022, nurses went on strike for the first time in history, eventually securing a 2% pay rise.
• Waiting times for people diagnosed with cancer were the worst on record in 2023, with close to 100,000 patients waiting longer than the maximum 62 days expected before starting vital healthcare.
• Numbers released in early 2024 showed the average time you can expect to wait for an ambulance is 45 minutes – more than double the government target of 18 minutes.
• In February 2024 the Conservative government faced backlash over its policy banning foreign careworkers bringing family members to the UK with them. It's estimated 19 per cent of NHS workers are employed from overseas.

So things aren't looking great right now for an institution named the best healthcare system in the world by experts just ten years ago.

What have the Conservatives pledged on the NHS?

The NHS Long-Term Workforce Plan is at the heart of the Conservatives' pledges, should they extend their time in power, and it includes promises to greatly increase the number of NHS staff – which Rishi Sunak was recently publicly challenged on by an out-of-work GP while on the campaign trail.

Here's what the Tories are promising to do about the problems in the NHS.

• 92,000 more nurses and 28,000 new doctors. The manifesto also promises more training for midwives, paramedics and a 40% increase in training places for dentists and other dental care professionals.
• Build 40 new hospitals by 2030 - this pledge was first made in the 2019 manifesto and it soon emerged that “new hospital” could mean a new wing or major refurbishment at an existing hospital.
• £550 million in savings by reducing the number of NHS managers by 5,500.
• An extra 2.5 million NHS dental appointments
• Additional investment of £8.6 billion into the UK's social care system and a focus on improving NHS healthcare in rural and coastal communities.
• £3.4 billion will be invested in new NHS technology - the Tories say, making the NHS app "the single front door" for the service. The use of AI in patient care and replacing outdated computers (among other changes) will result in a saving of £35 billion by the end of the decade, they claim.
• Women's health is also a priority, with more resources for maternity care and new mums promised, alongside care for newborns.
• Mental Health Support Teams in every school and college, as well as early support hubs in every community by 2030.
• Elsewhere, there are pledges to implement the Cass Review into the treatment of young people experiencing gender dysphoria, a licensing scheme and age limits for non-surgical cosmetic procedures, a promise to "respect the will of Parliament" on assisted dying and a promise to pay "whatever it costs" to compensate the victims of the infected blood scandal.

You can read the Conservatives full 2024 manifesto here.

What have Labour pledged on the NHS?

The NHS "is clearly broken – and the Conservatives broke it," says Labour in their election manifesto. They criticise the former government over pre-pandemic waiting lists, a two-tier system of public and private healthcare and the annual "winter crisis".

Here's some of what Labour have promised to do with the NHS if they get into power at the July election.

• Two million extra operations, scans and appointments every year, achieved by "incentivising" staff to work out of hours to hit this target.
• Using "spare capacity" in private healthcare to get more people diagnosed and treated.
• Changing the NHS so that patients can manage their own medicine and appointments, as well updates on how their local care provider is performing, plus notifications of vaccinations and health checks.
• More midwives will be trained, with a special focus on closing the maternal mortality gap for Black and Asian mothers.
• Provide "appropriate and high-quality care" to young people experiencing gender dysphoria, in line with the recommendations of the Cass Review.
• End the "8am scramble" for appointments, by training thousands of new GPs, and guarantee face-to-face appointments for anyone who wants it.
• More power given to pharmacists, who will be able to prescribe some drugs, where appropriate.
• 700,000 new urgent dentist appointments will be created, new dentists recruited and a supervised tooth-brushing scheme implemented for 3-5-year-olds.
• Fair pay, terms and conditions will be set for carers, and there will be a focus on keeping people in need of care in their own homes, so they can continue living independently.
• 8,500 new mental health staff and specialist support for people at risk of suicide, as well as updating the Mental Health Act, to end discrimination against Black people.

You can read the Labour Party’s full manifesto here.

What have the Liberal Democrats pledged?

The Liberal Democrats have hit out at all other major political parties across the UK, blaming the Conservatives for NHS problems in England, Labour for Welsh issues and the SNP for Scotland.

"Our NHS used to be the envy of the world," the party says. "But now, too many people can’t access the care they need."

Here's what the Liberal Democrats manifesto is promising.

• 8,000 news GPs to try to make sure people can see a GP within seven days, or 24 hours in an emergency.
• A promise that there will be NHS access to anyone who needs urgent dental care.
• A mental health professional in every school, and a promise to create mental health hubs in every community, in order to improve early access to mental health services.
• 100% of cancer patients to start treatment within the recommended 62 days after urgent referral.

When launching the Liberal Democrats manifesto, leader Ed Davey said more than £5 billion could be raised for the NHS by introducing a 50% tax rate on capital gains over £100,000, and a slightly lower rate for anything below £100k.

You can read the Liberal Democrats full 2024 manifesto here.

What have The Green Party pledged?

The Green Party stands out from other political parties on their NHS pledges by having a very clear stance on assisted dying. If elected, they promise to legalise assisted dying for people suffering from terminal disease who wish to end their lives to avoid prolonged suffering. There will, they state, be "proper safeguards" put in place on this issue.

Here’s what else they are promising.

• To "properly" fund services such as sexual health, drug and alcohol treatment and helping people stop smoking.
• Establish a National Commission to look into UK drug laws, which they describe as "counter-productive" and in need of an "evidence based" approach.
• Reduce NHS waiting lists, access to NHS dentists and GPs and an "immediate boost" to NHS wages.
• Restore junior doctors' pay, which should effectively end the ongoing strikes.
• Fund mental health provisions at the same level as physical care, and introduce "tailored provision" to meet the needs of "communities of colour, children and adolescents, older people and LGBTIQA+ communities." Their goal is to help people struggling with mental health be "respected and to live fulfilling lives."
• Spend billions on the NHS in England, saying public health budgets will be restored to 2015/2016 levels and an immediate annual increase of £1.5 billion.

You can read the Green Party’s full 2024 manifesto here.

Reform UK have outlined "bold" plans for how they would transform the NHS, blaming the problems it is facing on “incompetent management, bureaucracy, waste, cover-ups and scandals."

Here's some of what the Nigel Farage-led party is promising to do if it takes power after 4 July.

• Cut basic rate tax for NHS and social staff for three years. This, it claims, would help retain staff or bring back people who have left their NHS roles.
• Like Labour, Reform UK would use spare capacity in the private sector to get people the medical care they need. Not only this, it has promised to use "overseas providers", although no details are given about how far people might need to travel to get the care promised. Vouchers for private healthcare will be given to anyone who is unable to see a GP within three days.
• For those who can independent afford private healthcare, there will be 20% tax relief, to incentivise those who can afford it to do so.

You can read the Reform UK manifesto in full here.

Even the most optimistic of people would have to admit that there is no quick or easy fix for the NHS.

Even if there was, history has shown that you can never be certain a political party will stick to their pledges.

But in a time when the nation’s health demands, physical and mental, are greater than ever, it’s certain to be a deciding factor on how history – and the British public – judges the next UK government.

What do The News Agents think?

Emily Maitlis grilled former Chancellor of The Exchequer Jeremy Hunt in 2023 about his plans for the NHS after he announced a plan to spend an extra £1 billion after his spring budget speech.

"You've got 28,000 doctors leaving a year, you've 4/10 planning to," Maitlis said. "You've got junior doctors on your doorstep on strike, they're going to be paying more in tax this year because of inflation, because of fiscal drag. "You could have chosen to spend that £1 billion and the £6 billion from fuel duty to help them directly, and then everyone could have said: 'That has gone to public sector workers, junior doctors, people running the NHS'."

Hunt's response was that the government were engaged at the time in "fruitful" discussions with the NHS and striking staff about its finances. "Our line is very straightforward on this," he replied. "We recognise how tough it is for families, public sector workers who are seeing their pay eroded by inflation, and we are prepared to be as flexible as possible, as long as we don't do something that entrenches high inflation."

At the end of 2023, Labour's shadow health minister Wes Street told The News Agents he was "proud" of the NHS, but admitted it was no longer seen as the "envy of the world".

"When you say the NHS is not the envy of the world, you've been travelling, What have you seen that is better than the NHS?" Jon Sopel asked.

"In Australia, the Labour government there has introduced a new set of Urgent care Centres - what we're calling Neighbourhood Health Centres that we want to adopt here in our country," Streeting responded, referring to the system outlined in the Labour General Election manifesto. "They are alleviating pressure on GPs and diverting people away from A&E."

More recently, Lewis Goodall quizzed the former Conservative Health Secretary Victoria Atkins on if she believed the NHS was in a better state than it was 14 years ago.

She took her time in answering.

Listen to the latest episode of The News Agents podcast now.