This week’s report from the influential King's Fund highlighted worrying problems about the NHS that many people across West Sussex can well relate to.
Their research showed that the NHS has almost run out of money and that waiting times for patients are likely to get worse.
They highlighted concerns over the missing of key waiting-time targets for A&E, hospital and cancer treatment, increased hospital bed occupancy and delayed discharges of patients.
This follows research from the King’s Fund a few weeks ago that found that the upheaval caused by the Health and Social Care Act has been damaging and distracting and they criticised the decision to implement complex organisational changes at a time when the NHS should have been focused on tackling growing pressures on services and an unprecedented funding squeeze.
Here in Shoreham and Worthing we have seen the results of this delayed discharge and damaging reorganisation.
Despite the problems with discharging frail and elderly patients at Worthing hospital that led to ambulances being turned away last winter, we saw the reckless sale of significant land at the once-thriving Southlands Hospital, pictured, that should have been used for our desperate need for community beds.
Regarding the damaging reorganisation, those of us who led the campaign against the MSK privatisation saw first hand how unnecessary, unworkable and costly the coalition government's reforms were.
The sad truth is that the King Fund reports show that these problems of delayed discharges and unworkable privatisation are happening all over the country.
Dr Carl Walker National Health Action Party candidate for East Worthing and Shoreham Sugden Road Worthing
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