Only 13% were satisfied with their social care. Record low satisfaction levels were also recorded for GP services, NHS dental care, inpatient services and outpatient services.
This level of dissatisfaction is in contrast to the highest level of satisfaction on record in 2010, when Labor was last in power. It is emblematic of a Conservative government that spent 14 years implementing austerity measures, underfunding public services and failing to drive much-needed reforms.
During last summer's general election campaign, when I was campaigning in the Shipley constituency, I talked about the long waiting times on the NHS, the difficulty of seeing an NHS dentist, and how difficult it was to see a dentist. We had repeated conversations on doorsteps about the frustrations people feel when receiving items. To make an appointment with your GP.
From Baildon to Bingley, going door to door, residents told me how they were unable to get GP appointments when they needed them. They were worried that even if they called an ambulance, it wouldn't come. And they said they felt the NHS was no longer working for them.
But the voters I spoke to never blamed the state of the health service on hard-working and undervalued staff. Nor did he question the importance of funding the NHS with tax dollars and making it available for free when needed. They recognized that responsibility for this crisis lay firmly with the previous Conservative government.
But things don't have to be this way. Last month, in Labor's first budget since 2010, Chancellor Rachel Reeves set out a plan to deliver the changes that Shipley constituency residents voted for. This budget sets out to deliver on the new government's election promise to get the NHS back on its feet and tackle the problems highlighted in Lord Darge's independent report, which clearly exposed the decline in quality and outcomes experienced by patients.
This new funding will immediately improve the patient experience in the Bradford area and across the country.
This will enable the NHS to offer an additional 40,000 selective appointments each week. This initiative will significantly reduce waiting times and move towards the promise that patients should wait no more than 18 weeks from referral to consultant-led care.
Last month's budget also promised much-needed capital investment to upgrade health service infrastructure. The new surgical hub and diagnostic scanner will create the capacity to provide more than 30,000 additional procedures and more than 1.25 million diagnostic tests.
And the new government's first budget will give our local communities a boost, with the RAAC's infested Airedale Hospital, which serves my constituents, being given much-needed funding for its rebuild. You will immediately see the impact it has.
The Government has committed to reforming the NHS and making it more efficient and effective, moving from hospitals to communities, from disease to prevention and from analog to digital. Details of the changes will be outlined in the NHS 10-year plan, which will be published in the spring. You can submit your ideas and highlight best practice at https://change.nhs.uk/en-GB/projects/start-here.
Labor's slogan during our election campaign was change, and we need change in the NHS too.
Last June, I was lucky enough to be given a tour of Grange Park GP surgery in Burley-in-Wharfedale, my constituency, by Mr Wes Streeting, who is currently the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care. was completed. This excellent community-based general practice provides continuity for patients, offering group therapy sessions and on-site counseling. This community care model is the kind of practice that this Labor Government wants all residents across the country to have access to.
But for the NHS to truly thrive, we also need to invest in social care. The issue is more pressing than ever, with the cost of Bradford City Council's child social care services alone exceeding the city's total tax receipts.
The Chancellor's Budget brings much-needed support to local authorities by £1.3 billion, including £600 million specifically for social care grant funding. Furthermore, raising the National Living Wage will make a meaningful difference to the lives of thousands of care workers, lifting them out of poverty and recognizing their valuable contribution.
After a decade and a half of cuts, decline and rising inequality, we are beginning to see how the NHS will recover. I am confident that this Labor Government can restore the NHS and make it a service that everyone in the Shipley and Bradford constituencies can be proud of once again.
