York Press column: We must clear covid backlogs
February 1, 2023
Every winter local health services come under pressure as flu season and the cold weather expose the most vulnerable to greater risk. This has been more profound in recent years due to lockdowns impacting our general immunity as well as increasing NHS backlogs.
Given this, I have been dedicating significant periods of parliamentary and constituency time to better understanding the issues with the NHS and supporting initiatives to try and address the backlog and waiting lists. To do this, I am embarking on an audit of health services within York. Over the next month, I aim to meet with representatives from all GP practice groups in the city and York Hospital to get an overview of the real experience on the ground as well as learn best practices being trialled in York that could benefit the health service nationally.
I held my first meeting last week with Prof Mike Holmes from the Haxby Group, which operates surgeries in Stockton on the Forest, Poppleton, Haxby, New Earswick and Huntington. The meeting covered a wide range of topics including difficulties hiring administrative staff as well as what we need to do to ensure we train enough doctors for the future. I will take forward the suggestions he offered and look forward to inviting him to a meeting with Health Ministers once I have concluded my engagement with the other GP practices in York.
In order to support our local hospital in the months ahead, when I meet with the CEO of York Hospital NHS Trust next week, I shall be discussing pressures on the A&E Department. I will be proposing new ideas in a bid to alleviate patient’s concerns.
The pressures on our health service are causing a worrying backlog in treatment waiting times. I warned of this during the pandemic, and I believe we now face a greater health challenge than Covid-19. Early diagnosis is key for successful treatment and we must do all we can to ensure those at greater risk can access health screening. Last week, I attended a drop-in session to discuss Cervical Cancer. At the event, we discussed the latest on cervical screening and HPV vaccination statistics and to hear about Jo’s Cervical Cancer Trust’s latest campaign which is calling for action to eliminate cervical cancer in the UK.
In 2020, the World Health Organisation published a set of targets for countries to meet in order to accelerate the global elimination of cervical cancer. In the UK, we have the tools to rapidly eliminate this cancer. We have a wide-reaching HPV vaccination programme, a robust cervical screening programme, and highly effective colposcopy services.
While screening has helped cut cervical cancer rates, other cancers have seen little progress in treatment outcomes over the last fifty years. One of these is pancreatic cancer and at the end of last year I attended a reception to meet with families who had lost loved ones to the illnesses. We need to invest in research to develop screening methods to give patients a fighting chance. Currently only 10% of patients live five years after a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer. This is not good enough.
I finished off my week by commemorating Holocaust Remembrance Day by signing the Book of Commitment to honour those who were brutally murdered and to pay tribute to the survivors who bravely share their experiences to ensure we remain aware of the horrors of the past in the hope that no one has to face these atrocities again. It was honoured to represent my constituents in such a way. This year’s commemorations follow the Prime Minister’s recently announcement that legislation will be brought to Parliament to commission a new Holocaust memorial centre in Westminster. This a development I strongly support, we can never allow the horrors that occurred in Nazi Germany to be repeated.
