Shadow Home Secretary blasts Tories over county hospital crisis - The Worcester Observer

Shadow Home Secretary blasts Tories over county hospital crisis

Worcester Editorial 23rd Jan, 2017   0

SHADOW Home Secretary Diane Abbott has claimed a future Labour Government would have to ‘rescue the NHS from years of neglect’ if the party was returned to power.

Speaking on a visit to Worcester on Saturday (January 21), Ms Abbott said health services in the county had been hit harder that most other areas.

The MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington was in Worcester to mark Labour’s Care for the NHS Action Day, a nationwide day of protest against the Conservative Government’s handling of the NHS.

Her visit came just weeks after two patients died on trolleys at the Worcestershire Royal Hospital, prompting Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt to comment the hospital was the one he was ‘most worried about of all’.




Ms Abbott aided local Labour members including City Council leader Coun Adrian Gregson and Worcester Mayor Coun Paul Denham in collecting signatures from local residents and spoke to constituents about local health services.

“The local hospital trust has been placed in special measures and the service continues to deteriorate, including those shocking deaths over the Christmas period,” she said.


“Everyone has told me about the dedication of the staff, so it’s clear to me that this crisis is about inadequate funding.

“Not enough money in our hospitals compounded by savage cut backs in social care, all driven by Tory government cuts.

“It strikes me that you need look no further than Worcester to find ample evidence of the humanitarian crisis that the Red Cross has warned us about.

“The last time Labour was in government we had to rescue the NHS from years of NHS neglect.

“It looks like we’re going to have to do the same when we form our next government,” she added.

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