“The NHS is one of our greatest achievements, but it’s struggling under the Tory Lib Dem government which wasted billions on an unnecessary top-down reorganisation.
“One of the issues that local people regularly talk to me about is their struggle to get a GP appointment. In the Sutton Clinical Commissioning Group area 9.99 per cent of patients say they have waited more than a week.
“The nurses and doctors that serve our area do a great job, but under the Tory Lib Dem Coalition too many people are waiting too long.
“If your child is ill or if your elderly parent has been injured, you want to know that they will be seen and treated as soon as possible. That’s why Labour has announced that the next Labour government will create a £2.5 billion a year NHS Time to Care Fund to save and transform our health service.
“We’ll support 20,000 more nurses, 8,000 more GPs, 5,000 more care workers and 3,000 more midwives. By appointing these additional staff, our doctors and nurses will have the time they need to care properly for patients, as well as transforming services in communities and at home.
The next “Labour government will balance the books by the end of the next Parliament so the Time to Care Fund will not be paid for through more borrowing or by raising taxes on everyday working people. Instead, the money will be raised from a tax on houses worth over £2 million, a co-ordinated crackdown against tax avoidance, and by ensuring tobacco companies contribute towards the costs they impose on the NHS."