73rd anniversary of our National Health Service
July 5, 2021
The 73rd anniversary of our National Health Service comes at a time when it has never been more needed. It is entirely fitting Her Majesty the Queen has marked this with the award of the George Cross, our country’s highest non-military decoration for bravery, in tribute to the tireless efforts of all NHS staff during the pandemic.
The health service is a symbol of our national solidarity, and commitment to care for one another as a community, giving security and peace of mind to all households. On this important birthday, I am renewing my own vow to do everything I can to ensure York’s health service can provide the very best care to local residents, a major priority since I was first elected in 2010.
It is vital that the efforts of NHS staff are properly recognised moving forward, and that the government continues its plan both to give the service absolutely everything it needs to beat covid, and to allocate record sums of new funding in addition for general healthcare. Locally, the brand-new Foss Park mental health hospital was opened last year, and £3.49 million assigned for upgrades across York Hospital Trust in December, while overall the government is putting at least £33.9 billion more per year into the NHS, supporting a 10 year plan for the future of the service.