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Bereaved relatives have delivered a petition to 10 Downing Street calling on the Government to rescue the NHS by returning to New Labour levels of funding rises
Families call on the Government to rescue NHS funding levels as ministers launch ‘national conversation’ on reform
Bereaved families who say their loved ones were killed by NHS delays have told the Government “reform without money can’t deliver change”.
Relatives delivered a petition to 10 Downing Street including Samina Rahman whose husband Iqbal died on Christmas Eve 2022 after his heart failed and an ambulance took over one hour and twenty minutes to arrive. Ambulances were delayed because they were stuck queuing outside A&E and the 58-year-old eventually stopped breathing.
It comes as Keir Starmer’s Labour government is preparing its ten-year plan for the NHS. On Monday Health Secretary Wes Streeting will launch a “national conversation” on the future of the NHS – asking patients and staff across the country what they want from the health service to help shape reform.
But bereaved families are among 10,000 signatories demanding urgent NHS investment in the autumn budget after a decade-long funding squeeze under the Tories which has led to deadly A&E delays because hospitals lack capacity. It comes as Keir Starmer’s Labour government is preparing its ten-year plan for the NHS.
Samina, his wife of 39 years, said: “We lost our beloved Iqbal in the most horrific of circumstances. A hole has been left in the heart of our family, we live every day with the loss and trauma. It was the deliberate years of underfunding by the Conservatives that led to us being so badly failed by the health service. Labour have a chance to restore our NHS to one we can trust to be there when we really need it but that can only happen with proper investment.”
The Government has said there can be “no investment without reform” of the NHS but big questions remain as to how committed Labour is to restoring funding to its pre-austerity era historic average.
Mathew Hulbert’s mother fell at home in July 2022 and was forced to lie on the ground in pain for 11 hours waiting for an ambulance to arrive. Two days later an infection turned to sepsis and she died. Mathew said: “I am outside Downing Street today to remember my dear Mum Jackie. Mum was the world to me, there isn’t a day that goes by when I don’t want to be able to call her up and talk to her. The eleven hours she spent waiting for an ambulance will haunt me forever, the pain and indignity she suffered, it’s heartbreaking to remember mum like that.
“When New Labour came to power they also faced an NHS which had been stripped to the bone. They committed to invest in the NHS with a real term budget increase every year. The result was a world class health service. Reform without money can’t deliver change. Our NHS needs significant investment if we are to have a decent health service we can rely on.”
The annual rate of NHS funding rises – to keep pace with new tech and the ageing population – slowed from almost 6% under Labour to only 2% under the Conservatives, according to an analysis by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS). The annual rise average since the NHS was founded is around 4% which is still low by European standards.
The families handed in their petition of 10,000 signatures a day after it emerged the bill to fix crumbling hospitals and NHS buildings has soared 19% in a year to almost £14 billion. This capital funding backlog built up over the last decade and the recent Darzi review found it is preventing the NHS becoming more efficient and treating more patients.
One patient who had to have reconstructive surgery because of deadly delays in diagnosing her sepsis has called on the Government to increase NHS spending in England by £40 billion to match the European average.
Maggie, not her real name, had to have emergency surgery after her kidney infection turned to sepsis when she was left waiting in A&E untreated all night and was eventually sent to a different hospital. She said: “Waiting overnight to be seen for my kidney infection nearly killed me. By the time I was seen I had sepsis and was dangerously ill. The NHS then saved my life with emergency surgery. Six months later I was forced to use my savings to pay privately for reconstructive surgery to rebuild my kidney because the NHS couldn’t tell me when I would be seen. If I’d just been seen on time I wouldn’t have had to go through any of this.
“Everyone wants a health service they can rely on but our stories are far too common. The NHS is letting millions of people down because it’s starved of resources. Labour can reform until the cows come home but that won’t solve anything unless there is investment to give our health service the investment it desperately needs and to bring it up to the European average for health spending.”
Patient group Just Treatment is calling for the autumn budget to match New Labour’s NHS budget increases of at least 5.5% a year. Speaking ahead of Monday’s launch of the NHS national conversation, Wes Streeting said: “If we want to save the things we love about the NHS, then we have to change it. Our 10-year health plan will turn the NHS on its head – transforming it into a Neighbourhood Health Service – powered by cutting-edge technology, that helps us stay healthy and out of hospital. We will rebuild the health service around what patients tell us they need.”
A spokesman for the Government said: “Our thoughts are with the families who lost loved ones in these tragic circumstances. It is another sign of our broken NHS that patients are being left waiting for hours and fear they cannot rely on our ambulance services. It is our mission to get the health service back on its feet, including improving ambulance response times, and to create a 10-year-plan for the NHS.”
