Labour ‘has not improved NHS’

The majority of people do not believe a decade of Labour government has improved the NHS, a new study from the British Medical Association (BMA) suggests.

According to the medical professionals’ body, 34 per cent of people believe Labour reforms have improved the health service. A total of 42 per cent of those questioned by the BMA said there had been no significant positive developments.

Meanwhile, on the eve of the BMA’s annual conference, the archdeacon of Totnes John Rawlings said: “There are real problems in the health service which no government seems to be able to address satisfactorily and yet it remains high on the agenda of those who seek election.”

At the conference today (Monday) doctors are expected to launch attacks on NHS reforms, which they believe are not fit for purpose.

“Frustration and anger abound in those who now feel weighed down by bureaucracy, administrative intrusion rather than clinical judgement, over-regulation, league tables and market-based reforms,” the archdeacon continued in his pre-conference church service.

This is contributing to a feeling of “unease, anxiety and even disillusionment” in the medical profession, he commented, noting that this is among some of the most highly-motivated people in British society.