Hailsham doctors behind call for more NHS funding

Doctors from the Quintin’s Medical Centre, Hailsham Medical Group and Herstmonceux Health Centre have written an open letter calling for greater funding from the next government so they can offer more GP appointments and more preventative care to their patients.

They include Dr Sarah Andersen, Dr Catherine Dodge, Dr John Simmons, Dr Sabina Spencer, Dr Hashem Soozandehfar and Dr Dominic Gray.

The GPs said, “We are a group of local GPs who think the very existence of the NHS as we know it today is under threat due to years of under funding. Most of us were born in NHS hospitals, have been trained by the NHS, and have spent our careers working for the NHS. It has been a privilege to be a part of the world-class health service that is owned by the people of this country and to serve the general public, our patients.

“Nine years of under investment have resulted in 43,000 too few nurses, 10,000 too few doctors, 4.4 million people on waiting lists and A&E departments regularly overwhelmed. Our service is already stretched to breaking point.

“We want to offer more GP appointments and more preventative care, to our patients and to the next generation. We want to offer more to our patients, not less. We do not want to send people to overloaded A&E departments to wait for hours on trolleys. We know there are not enough nurses on the hospital wards.”

The group wrote the open letter ahead of yesterday’s General Election and urged their patients to vote for a party which “would safeguard the future of the National Health Service”. They highlighted the 445 GP practices have closed since 2013, displacing more than one million patients which they says puts pressure on all remaining practices.