LAST week, I and my Conservative colleagues voted to increase taxes to ensure the NHS was properly funded, to clear the backlog of cases that have built up during the Covid crisis, and to provide funding for social care for the elderly.

This was an incredibly difficult decision. Nobody likes paying higher taxes, and voters rarely thank Governments that raise them. 

However, the need to deal with the backlog of cases in the NHS is critical. I know that many of you, or one of your loved ones, have already had vital treatment and operations cancelled or postponed due to the Covid crisis. 

I know that I shall receive correspondence from voters unhappy at the decision to raise taxes to fund the NHS, and that is understandable. Higher taxes after all, do place extra burdens on those who pay them.

The alternative to dealing with this now is to receive correspondence from constituents whose families are suffering because we could not clear the backlog in the NHS quickly enough.

 

 

Tragically, as many of you know, cases like the one I describe above are already happening, and it is imperative that we move quickly to deal with this issue immediately now we are finally exiting the Covid crisis.

I honestly do not believe there was any alternative but to raise National Insurance by 1.25 per cent to pay for this package of measures, just as the 1945-1951 Labour Government of Clement Attlee expanded National insurance to pay for a number of measures, including the NHS, in the aftermath of World War Two.

I hope readers will understand that on occasion, unpopular but necessary measures like this must be taken to protect the NHS, and I hope my constituents will understand the reason why I voted the way I did last week.

In more positive news relating to the NHS locally, I'd like to thank the many people who responded to my survey regarding the availability of face-to-face GP appointments.

 

Royal Albert Infirmary

Royal Albert Infirmary

Whilst some people thought that their GP surgery was delivering an excellent standard of service, other evidence emerged that some surgeries were struggling to transition back to face-to-face appointments, even though Government guidance is clear that they should now try to do so.

I had a very positive meeting with the Wigan Clinical Commissioning Group as a follow up to the survey, and they have agreed to look at the data to identify those surgeries, and will engage with them to help deal with this issue.

As always, please get in touch with my constituency office if there is anything I can help you with.