Election pledges for vulnerable people
With the general election on all of our lips, we have looked at what promises the two main political parties are making to help vulnerable people in our community. So what have they promised?
What are the Conservatives election pledges for vulnerable people?
Increasing NHS funding for the next three years
They promise to provide extra funding of £6.6 billion for the NHS and £7.5 billion for adult social care for the next three years – taking total health spending to £192 billion per year.
£3.7 billion hospital building programme
They promise to build 40 hospitals by 2030, and open up to 160 new Community Diagnostic Centres by 2025.
Cutting Covid-19 backlogs
They promise to Launch the biggest catch-up programme in the NHS’s history, with around 9 million more checks, scans and procedures by 2026.
Recruiting more doctors and nurses
They claim that the latest data shows we have a record 1.2 million full-time equivalent staff in the NHS in England – over 34,000 more people compared to a year ago, including almost 4,000 more doctors and over 9,300 more nurses.
Reforming health and social care
They promise to reduce bureaucracy, helping to plan health and care services around patients’ needs, and making NHS England more accountable to taxpayers.
£94 billion cost of living support package
They promise to help millions, including extra support for the most vulnerable: low income households, pensioners and disabled people
Energy Price Guarantee
They promise to extend the Energy Price Guarantee at the current level until the end of June 2023 and keeping the Guarantee in place until 2024, helping every household – by keeping typical household bills to £2,500
Pensions Triple Lock protected
They claim to deliver the security pensioners deserve, the State Pension increased by 10.1% in April – the biggest cash increase in the State Pension ever.
Tripling investment in Special Educational Needs infrastructure
They commit to building additional SEN and social care places, to help every young person fulfil their potential no matter what their circumstances; there will be 35 new special free schools for SEN pupils
What are Labours election pledges for vulnerable people?
Ending unacceptable waits
Labour plans to drive down waiting times and get patients diagnosed earlier – with an extra 2 million operations, scans, and appointments in the first year. They plan to pay NHS staff for overtime to work evening and weekend shifts to bust the backlog – paid for by abolishing non-dom tax loophole for the very wealthy.
Dentistry Rescue Plan
Labour pledges to deliver a Dentistry Rescue Plan to provide 700,000 extra appointments each year. They say they will introduce a targeted recruitment fund to get more dentists into the communities that need them most. And they say they will reform the NHS dentistry contract so that everyone who needs an NHS dentist can get one. All paid for by abolishing the non-dom loophole.
A Neighbourhood Health Service
At the heart of Labour’s reforms, they plan to move care closer to communities. They say the NHS must become a Neighbourhood Health Service as much as a National Health Service – supported by cutting edge treatment and technology, to prevent illness. They commit to trialing Neighbourhood Health Centres bringing together family doctors, district nurses, care workers, physiotherapists, and mental health specialists under one roof.
Technology and early diagnosis
They say that Labour’s ‘Fit For The Future Fund’ will double the number of state-of-the-art CT and MRI scanners to ensure early diagnosis. They claim they will put technology at a patients’ fingertips so they can take control of their own medicine, appointments and health needs.
they say, “at home tests for kidney disease that can send results to your smartphone; AI used to diagnose cancer from scans because we know it saves money and helps reduce missed cancer diagnoses.”
Better Public Health
Labour says we need proper public health measures to keep our children healthy, like banning the promotion of vaping and junk food to young people and supporting an incremental ban on smoking. They say our children’s health is too important not to take action.
Mental health
Labour pledge to recruit 8,500 additional mental health staff to drive down waiting lists, funded through closing tax loopholes. Labour promise to make sure every young person will have access to a specialist mental health professional at school. With Labour’s Young Futures plan, every community will have an open access mental health hub for young people (11-24), providing early intervention through drop-in services. The schools’ element is paid for by ending tax breaks for private schools. The staffing is paid for by abolishing tax loopholes for private equity managers.
This article has not been authored with any political bias and is based on information provided by the official Conservative and Labour political parties websites. This article does not reflect the political views of Caremark or their employees.
Find out more about the Conservative Party election pledges for vulnerable people
Find out more about the Labour Party election pledges for vulnerable people
All content has been sourced from both the official Conservative and Labour websites.