In the past few months, there have been celebrations in Medway to mark the 60th anniversary of the NHS.  In 1948 it was a radical move to give free access to health care to every person in the country, and the Labour Government of the day had to fight hard to implement it.
Since the election of this Labour Government in1997, the NHS has received unprecedented increases in funding, and Medway has benefited enormously.  Our regional health authority has received an additional three and a half to six billion pounds a year, every year, to improve services.  This has funded over 14,000 extra staff, and 500 extra dentists.  It’s also helped reduce waiting times: whereas only 33% of people referred by their GP saw a consultant within 18 weeks in 1997, it’s now 85%.  And for people with cancer, 99.9% see a consultant within two weeks.
Medway Maritime has also seen major improvements thanks to increases in funding and the hard work of staff.  The hospital is rightly proud of its new specialist services for people who have had strokes, and there have also been major advances in keyhole surgery, a less invasive approach which means patients can recover and get home more quickly.
On top of this, Medway Maritime has the busiest A&E department in the whole of Kent, and sees 200,000 outpatients every year.
However, it’s not just about hospitals: the Labour Government has put the emphasis on local care that’s easily accessible.  There are new healthy living centres, like the one on the Delce in Rochester, which combine a range of services, from podiatry to dentistry.  The Government also identified Medway as needing more GPs’ surgeries, and so gave £4 million for three new GPs centres in Chatham, Luton and Wayfield, and a new walk-in centre in Gillingham, which should be up and running next year. 
Government investment in the NHS over the past 10 years has improved the service and, more importantly, has helped Medway’s residents to live longer, healthier lives. 
The future for the NHS has never been brighter.