THE BOROUGH’S MP has hit back after a survey showing more than a third of residents do not trust the Government with the NHS.
Research from a YouGov poll of over 2,000 adults commissioned by campaigners 38 Degrees shows 42 per cent do not think the Conservatives are protecting health services.
But Karen Lumley told the Standard the Government had increased spending for the NHS and guaranteed it would always provide treatment free ‘regardless of ability to pay’.
She added: “Our health reforms provide the framework to enable patients to be treated by the providers best able to meet their needs and give patients greater individual choice and control over their care.
“This is about offering patients more choice, control and driving up the quality of their care, and the idea that this will have a negative impact on healthcare and patients is wrong.
“There is obviously a lot of uncertainty in Redditch at the moment about the future of our own hospital but one thing my constituents can be certain of is that this Government is committed to protecting the NHS and ensuring it provides the best for patients now and in the future.”
But Blanche Jones, campaign director at 38 Degrees, said it was ‘no surprise’ people were worried about the fate of their GPs and hospitals in light of a treaty which could force trusts across the country to open up to competition from American private healthcare providers.
“Our NHS is being used as a bargaining chip in a deal done behind close doors.
“Most of us only need to take one look at American healthcare to know that that isn’t what we want in this country.”
