This year marks the 72nd birthday of the NHS.
The idea, conceived by a liberal – William Beveridge – transformed healthcare in this country. And as a nation, we have been rightly proud of the NHS for 72 years.
This year we haven’t just felt proud however – we have also felt profoundly grateful. Our NHS staff have been incredible.
As a nation we are proud of the NHS
They have made sacrifices for our safety and wellbeing. They have had to deal with circumstances we couldn’t imagine – losing friends and colleagues, endured serious illness, or faced significant trauma through this crisis.
This is on top of the difficulties NHS staff have faced for the last few years. For years the NHS has been underfunded – new money from Government has barely been enough to keep things going with little to none left for making improvements, investing in staff, or fixing crumbling hospitals and buildings.
With rising demand for care from our aging population, and a shortage of doctors and nurses, things haven’t been easy.
We know we must do more for our NHS
This weekend we will show our support with a moment of remembrance on Saturday and on Sunday at 5pm we will come together again to applaud NHS staff and all they have done.
We hope that NHS staff will see this support as a deeply genuine and heartfelt thank you. But we know we must also do more.
NHS and care staff across the UK are putting their lives on the line to look after us. That’s why the Liberal Democrats set out a plan to give frontline workers the support they need and recognition they deserve.
Our Frontline Support Package includes ensuring all NHS and care staff have access to the Personal Protective Equipment they need, an additional service payment for each day on the frontline, and 24/7 world class mental health support.