Within the closing weeks of 2023, the Government has made important progress on four of its manifesto pledges on health. Including the hiring of more nurses and increase in GP appointments.
Data published by NHS England at the end of November 2023 shows that the Conservative Party have reached and exceeded their target of hiring 50,000 additional nurses. With an overall increase of 17%, the Government have successfully hired 51,000 nurses from September 2019 to September 2023.
The North-West specifically have seen an increase of 8,546 more nurses working in the NHS across hospitals, GP surgeries and community healthcare settings. An increase of 18.6%.
The Government have also exceeded their target of increasing GP appointments. In the 12 months to October 2023, there were 363 million appointments booked. This is a 51 million increase from 2019. This means that we have fulfilled our manifesto goal of delivering 50 million GP appointments for the people in England.
The NHS Greater Manchester integrated care board saw a 13% increase in GP appointments. Each new appointment is opportunity for someone in Bury North to get the care they need or to make an early diagnosis.
James Daly Conservative MP for Bury North said:
This is great news for local people in Bury. Being able to increase the number of nurses and GP appointments in my constituency, Greater Manchester and the country as a whole, will have a resounding effect on many people’s lives. There are still many issues to tackle, but we are making progress
We are also proud to admit that as of June 2022, the Government delivered on another manifesto pledge.
This pledge was to launch the Innovative Medicines Fund, which has already made significant difference to patients in this country. The fund has already been used to accelerate access to treatments for Hepatitis D and a painful skin condition.
In November 2023, the fund was also used to accelerate the new life-saving treatment for babies and toddlers with Wolman disease. Previously, only palliative care options were available, often seeing children not survive past their first year.
With the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence draft guidance now recommending the new treatment for use, support from the Innovative Medicines Fund has meant that this treatment will be eligible to patients straight away, five months faster than otherwise.
The fourth manifesto in which the Government has achieved is the national vaccination strategy, which builds on our world leading deployment of the Covid-19 vaccination, to promote the uptake of vaccines. On Friday 8th December 2023, NHS England published this strategy.
Victoria Atkins MP and Secretary of State for Health and Social Care said:
I am immensely proud of these developments, and the real difference they will make for our citizens.
I give my thanks to the NHS and the systems colleagues for everything they do to make such things possible.
