MP RAISES CUMBRIA’S NHS STAFFING CRISIS IN PARLIAMENT

Yesterday in Parliament, South Lakes MP Tim Farron praised local NHS workers and challenged the Conservative Government to address the serious staffing crisis in the health service.

Tim raised the effects of the NHS staffing crisis on Cumbria's cancer, dentist, GP, and care services. Within GP services Tim was keen to highlight that across the South Lakes two surgeries and one in Eden have been put under threat due to the Conservatives' decision to cut the 'minimum practice income guarantee'; a policy designed to keep rural surgeries which support vast areas with smaller populations afloat.

Tim also presented shocking statistics concerning the state of NHS dentistry and care within Cumbria. On dentists Tim said: "It is worth bearing in mind that we all pay our taxes, so 100% of my tax-paying constituents have paid for NHS dentistry, but only about a third of them are getting it, including roughly half of the children". Previously, Tim has raised the point that there are no dental practices taking on new NHS patients within the entire county of Cumbria.

Speaking on care, Tim also brought up bed blocking, a term used to describe hospital patients who are well enough to leave hospital but prevented from doing so due to no home care being available; an issue that is deeply affecting Cumbrian residents. He also highlighted that the Government has chosen to delay care reforms for two years: "For the Government to delay dealing with care, and to think it is delayable for two years is not a tough decision for them. It is a tough decision for the millions of people who will be affected".

In response, the Minister for Health and Social Care, Will Quince, said that an extra £2.3 billion was to be awarded to mental health services to recruit 27,000 new staff but recognised that more work needs to be done. On the difficulties of NHS staffing in rural communities he added: "There is a similar challenge in rural and coastal communities, which the hon. Member for Westmorland and Lonsdale has raised with me many a time. We have to look to expand the apprenticeship route and blended learning programmes so that people do not have to travel to big towns and cities to undertake their training. That work is being done, and there is an extra £55 million for additional placement capacity."

Speaking afterwards, Tim said: "Whilst the Minister's response was encouraging more needs to be done and it remains to be seen whether the Government will consider the urgent and desperate impact of kicking the staffing crisis into the long grass."