Hold the Health Secretary to his promise for cross-party work on health & care funding

To: Opposition Health & Treasury Teams - Heidi Alexander MP, Seema Malhotra MP

The NHS is a national wonder. But by 2020, England's NHS will need an extra £22bn each year on top of the £8bn funding already announced to ensure a high quality, safe service. It is now clear this cannot all achieved by ‘efficiency savings’ - we need more funds now. It may even require further taxation.

In April the Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt agreed to work with the Opposition parties on a cross-party basis when deciding how best to fund NHS & social care after the Election.

In other words: Not to go it alone on making NHS/care funding or ‘efficiency savings’ decisions - but for key decisions to have a cross-party consensus.

We are asking all parties and MP’s to hold him to this.

Mr Hunt agreed to this in two pre-election debates. See this clip from Newsnight Live, 29th Apr: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WuuObbLgGY

MP’s of all parties have expressed support for this. Independent commentators are clear the £8bn funding offered by the Government will not be enough.

- ‘There is going to be a need for a conversation for the country, sooner rather than later, which says we have to find more money for the health service in one way or another. At the moment the expectation is the health service is going to make £22bn of further efficiencies by 2020. I have to say I am very sceptical about whether that is do-able.’ - Sir Jonathan Michael, Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust ex-Chief Executive.

- ‘There is a profound urgency for politicians from all sides (step forward Heidi Alexander, the new Shadow Health Secretary) to come together with the healthcare community to start an urgent debate that goes well beyond 2020—how to properly define and fund an equitable health and social care service in England long into the future.’ - The Lancet.

- The Nuffield Trust called for all parties to 'Commit to a fundamental review of health and social care funding that involves all major political parties.’

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We the undersigned call on MP's of all parties, and in particular the Shadow Health Secretary and her team, to:

- Call on the Health Secretary to take rapid action on his agreement to genuine cross-party work on NHS & care funding with all Opposition parties, and with key involvement from experts & the public.

- Once cross-party work occurs, hold the Government firmly to account for keeping to all cross-party decisions made on NHS/care funding.

- Even if Government leadership is lacking at first, as MP’s to pursue and push for open cross-party work on long-term NHS & care funding. This could be through Parliamentary committees and debates, All-Party groups, and work with experts, charities and patient groups.