Shipley MP pushes for radical reform to NHS in new report

Anna Dixon MP for Shipley contributed to a damning report today on the financial sustainability of the NHS.  

The report, published by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), of which Ms Dixon is a member, highlighted that while the government has ambitious goals, those charged with realising them lacked drive and failed to convince the Committee that the radical shifts required would be delivered. 

The NHS Financial Sustainability Report, developed after extensive hearings with senior officials from the Department of Health and the NHS, includes several recommendations to ensure the NHS delivers better services for patients and value for money for tax payers in the long term. 

The report recommended: 

• NHS England ensures that more funding is spent in the community year on year, 

• a definition of prevention spending is agreed so progress in increasing funding can be measured, 

• local systems be given the required flexibility and autonomy to direct funds to the right areas. 

It also advises that the NHS take action on the “glacially slow” progress it is making in its switch to digital. The report calls for plans to reduce this reliance on paper within 18 months, and a specific deadline to end the use of fax. 

The Public Accounts Committee underscored the significant challenges facing the NHS both locally in the Shipley constituency and nationally. They reported an overspend of £1.4 billion by local NHS systems in 2023-24, driven by factors such as rising demand and inflation. 

The new Labour Government’s will be publishing a 10-year plan later in the spring which will be critical for the recovery of the NHS, after 14 years of declining patient satisfaction under the previous Conservative government. Anna Dixon MP emphasized the importance of acting quickly and not missing this golden opportunity to deliver radical reform.  

Speaking after the publication of the NHS Financial Sustainability Report, Anna Dixon MP for Shipley said: “My professional background is in health and social care, and I appreciate the hard work and dedication of NHS and care staff. They provide fantastic care day in day out across Shipley constituency, Bradford district and the country. 

"But we know that the NHS is struggling to deliver for patients despite additional funding, and patients in the Shipley constituency express their dissatisfaction and frustration with me. They can see the missed opportunity of investing in prevention, stopping people getting sick in the first place. They can see the waste for example where care is not joined up or where bureaucracy and paperwork take up precious time. 

“Urgent action is needed to deliver the radical shifts set out by the Labour government to ensure the NHS is fit for the future: from hospital to community, from sickness to prevention and from analogue to digital. 

“The recommendations in today’s report will ensure that funding for prevention, community services and technology are not raided to bail out hospitals in future and the essential upgrade of facilities goes ahead. And that local health systems are given timely budgets and the flexibility to ensure funding is allocated to where it can make most difference.”