The Royal Free Hospital

• FEW places exemplify our brilliant National Health Service more than the Royal Free Hospital in my constituency.

It’s where I had both my children and where so many of my constituents are cared for every day.

The staff there work so hard to provide the very best care for their patients.

Sadly, however, their job is made a great deal harder by the state of our broken NHS.

The truth is that many people are really worried about the current ability of the NHS to care for people safely.

It has been left in tatters by 14 years of Conservative mismanagement.

This is why top surgeon Ara, Lord Darzi was tasked with producing an expert and comprehensive report on our health system.

This 142-page report found that A&E queues have more than doubled since April 2009, that the country’s health has deteriorated, and that the United Kingdom has a higher cancer mortality rate than other countries.

But while the NHS is broken, it is not beaten. There is a long road ahead, but this government will return the NHS to a place where it is there for your when you need it.

We are working at pace to build a 10-year plan for the NHS in collaboration with NHS staff and patients, including ensuring that our healthcare system takes advantage of new technology and focuses on prevention rather than picking up the pieces once it is too late.

It is only with fundamental reform and a plan for the long term that the NHS can be turned around, and this government has already got to work.

TULIP SIDDIQ MP
Labour, Hampstead and Highgate