COLCHESTER’S Lib Dem candidate Martin Goss is backing calls for an emergency Health and Care Budget within four weeks of the General Election to save local health services

The Liberal Democrats say there can be no delay in rescuing health services on the brink after years of Conservative cuts and neglect

Martin said that whatever the outcome of the election, health services in Colchester need urgent support, with backing also for the right to see an NHS dentist

The party have put saving the NHS at the heart of their manifesto, with bold proposals to boost GP numbers by 8,000, end dental deserts, give patients a legal right to start cancer treatment within 62 days of urgent referral, increase the number of staffed hospital beds and to end excessive ambulance handover delays.

It set out proposals for an extra £9billion a year of spending on the NHS and care, paid for by asking banks and billionaires to pay their fair share. The new investment in the NHS and care would be funded through additional revenue raised by closing loopholes in Capital Gains Tax exploited by the ultra-wealthy and reversing the Conservative Party’s tax cuts for the big banks.

Martin said: “Local health services are on their knees. A staggering number of people I talk to on the doorstep have their own stories of not being able to get a GP appointment, register with an NHS dentist, or having been forced to wait for hours in A&E.

“Ending the crisis in our NHS has to be the top priority of any government after the election. We must rescue our local health services which have been pushed to the brink by the Conservative party.

“An emergency budget right after the election is the only way we can start to repair the damage done to our communities’ health services. People should not have to wait for a moment longer to get the care they deserve.”