Labour has won the 2024 General Election in a landslide with their best majority since 1997, handing the Conservatives one of the worst results in their history. FPM Looks at their health and care plans.

Following 14 years of Conservative governance where we saw five different Prime Ministers enter No. 10, a new government led by Kier Starmer will now take office.

Health and Social Care has been at the forefront of many voters minds as we headed to the polls and one of the main areas in deciding how to vote. Ipsos found that voters were concerned about staff and access to services when it came to Health and Social Care, with significant dissatisfaction regarding access to services which include general practice, routine hospital care, urgent and emergency care, and dentistry. Regarding staff, concerns about increasing the number of healthcare workers and working conditions have been paramount.

So, what have Labour pledged to do for the Health and Social Care sector?

• Cut NHS waiting times with 40,000 more appointments each week and take pressure off GP surgeries by creating a Community Pharmacist Prescribing Service where more pharmacists will be granted independent prescribing rights where appropriate. 
• Neighbourhood Health Service centres in every neighbourhood which bring together a range of key health workers in one place, and put the focus on prevention at a local level, not just a national one.
• Introduction of the ‘Fit For The Future’ fund to double the amount of CT and MRI scanners to allow the NHS to detect conditions earlier, saving lives in the process.
• Committed to delivering the New Hospitals Programme.
• Transform the much-maligned NHS app, putting patients in control of their own health to better manage their medicine, appointments, and health needs.
• Improve mental health by recruiting an additional 8,500 new staff to help bring down waiting lists, new staff will also be trained to support people at risk.
• Bring back the family doctor by incentivising GPs to see the same patient, so ongoing or complex conditions are dealt with effectively.
• Implement a Dentistry Rescue Plan where 700,000 urgent dental appointments will be created and recruit more new dentists to areas that need them most.
• A new NCS (National Care Service), underpinned by national standards, delivering consistency of care across the country.

No matter what, people will now expect change in Britain with Health and Social Care at the forefront of that.

To find out more about Labour’s policies, read their full manifesto here.