Ely & East Cambridgeshire’s Conservative MPs urged to back GP and dentists rescue plan in King’s Speech amendment

Ely & East Cambridgeshire Liberal Democrats are calling on Conservative MPs Lucy Frazer and Stephen Barclay to back an amendment to the King’s Speech to address the crisis in the NHS. The call comes as NHS waiting lists have hit a record high of 7.8 million.

A series of crunch votes on the King's Speech is due in Parliament today (Wednesday 15 November).

The Liberal Democrat amendment calls for a legal right for patients to see their GP within a week, or within twenty-four hours if in urgent need. It also calls on the government to publish a dental recovery plan as promised, seven months after a shocking rise in the number of ‘dental deserts’ leaving people struggling to see an NHS dentist when they need to.

Other measures in the amendment include ensuring the Conservative manifesto pledge of building 40 new hospitals is met, with many currently facing delays and not receiving adequate funding. 

Ely & East Cambridgeshire Liberal Democrats have said that if local Conservative MPs do not back the amendment it would show a “callous disregard for local people stuck on NHS waiting lists”.

Liberal Democrat spokesperson for Ely & East Cambridgeshire Charlotte Cane said:

“This Conservative government has brought our local health services to their knees. Every day, people in Ely & East Cambridgeshire struggle to get a GP appointment, or cannot find a dentist taking NHS patients.

“Real action on the NHS was glaringly missing from the King’s Speech. Conservative MPs need to back the Liberal Democrat amendment and ensure that local health services are put front and centre of the government’s agenda. 

“Anything less would show a callous disregard for those in Ely & East Cambridgeshire stuck on NHS waiting lists, unable to get the treatment they deserve.”