mwvgreens
@mwvggreens
07976 169066
we stand for this generation and the next!
Health & our NHS
NHS Reinstatement Bill
The Green Party will continue to campaign for the NHS to be fully public; providing health services free at the point of delivery. We would do this by reversing 25 years of marketisation in the NHS through abolishing the purchaser-provider split, ending contracting and re-establishing public bodies and public services accountable to local communities.
In order to achieve this, we fully back the hard work of the NHS Reinstatement Bill, which Caroline Lucas has presented to Parliament twice, but unfortunately with little support from other parties in England. We would recommend visiting the the NHS Reinstatement Bill website to learn more about what is proposed.
The Green Party would save the NHS money
It's important to remember that the Green Party take the finances of the country very seriously and whilst we plan to inject the NHS of much needed cash; many of our other policies are designed to start taking the strain out of the NHS. So how would we achieve this:
Firstly, we would start talking to the experts with the NHS, its staff! We would listen to their ideas and put the time and resources in to make the long-term savings. An example of this would be an idea we heard at a public NHS meeting we were part of in Evesham; which was to have direct appointments for physiotherapists, instead of having to go through a GP. This, by itself should be easy to implement and save the NHS millions of pounds.
We will then invest in the long-term improvements to our communities, including:
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Invest in reducing air pollution - from massively increasing public transport with electric buses to increasing dedicated cycle routes to encouraging the take up of electric cars. With 40,000 premature deaths and countless more people admitted; air pollution is costing the NHS billions of pounds every year.
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Improve fitness in the general public - encourage healthier eating and more exercise.
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Create a society that takes the stress out of living in order to reduce mental and physical illness. Many of our policies are geared to this, from supporting a Real Living Wage, a Citizen's Income, a three-day weekend, access to open spaces, reduction in air pollution and noise pollution, ending the front-loading of debt from a young adults who go to university, etc, etc.
Mental Health
The Green Party recognises that a wide range of factors contribute to mental health distress and difficulties. These include economic, social, psychological and biological factors. Accordingly, the Green Party would provide funding for research into the optimal ways for mental health services to be delivered.
The Green Party would also continue to encourage the co-production agenda within the NHS, in which opportunities are utilised for the employment or participation of service users and other experts by experience in creating, delivering and monitoring preventative and treatment services.
Social Care
The Green Party knows that we are all interdependent and that many people need support at some stage in their lives. The basic aim is that all people should be able to lead an empowered and fulfilled life. We believe that every individual in society has an equal right to food, water, warmth and housing (see Responsibilities and Rights section).
Policies cover those areas currently addressed by social services departments - including children and families, older people, mental health, physical disabilities and learning disabilities. To make life easier for people who need to access several types of service, the Green Party would work towards having a single budget covering health and social services.