Connor Naismith

I agree with the hon. Member that we must move care into the community. Where we are not able to build hospitals as quickly as we would like to, community care is so important. The NHS needs to be reformed to serve an ageing population, taking long-term patient care out of hospitals and putting care back into the heart of communities. We need more joined-up proactive, health and social care services, and we need to change our mindset from sickness to prevention. In support of that, the NHS Confederation set out in a recent report that working more at the neighbourhood level, which the Government intend to do, can improve people’s health and wellbeing. I appreciate the efforts and sentiments from the Liberal Democrats today, but big promises with no clear plan are what got us into this mess to begin with. Empty words to gain votes have destroyed voters’ confidence in our politics, and only a sensible Government with a credible plan for delivery of their commitments will restore that trust, so I am thankful that this Government’s approach has been to set out a clear plan to deliver. Labour is the party of the NHS, from the original conception of the service back in the ’40s to the modern day. I am confident that, as we have already seen in the example I cited from Leighton, this Government will deliver for the British people.