£401 million Labour boost to the NHS in Hull

On the tenth anniversary of Labour coming to power, Hull North MP Diana Johnson today welcomed figures showing how the Labour Government is investing in Hull's health services.

Hull Primary Care Trust (PCT) is receiving an 8.1 per cent boost in funding this year. This increase of £30.2 million takes NHS funding for Hull from £371.3 million in 2006/07 to £401.5 million in 2007/08.

Labour's investment and modernisation has already delivered the lowest ever NHS waiting times since 1997, with:

50,000 extra lives saved from cancer

150,000 lives saved from coronary disease

300,000 extra NHS staff on the frontline.

Diana Johnson MP said: "The NHS is getting a cash injection of £8 billion to help wipe out waiting lists across the country. This includes a boost of £30.2 million for Hull's Primary Care Trust.

"This will help deliver a maximum wait of 18 weeks from referral to treatment by December 2008, with many patients seen even more quickly than that.

"This will be a major achievement for the NHS making it more streamlined, efficient and productive. It will mean a much better experience and more choice for patients. It will change and save lives by improving care and cutting unnecessary delays. Alongside Labour's wide-ranging initiatives on public health, it will mean a healthier future for local people - irrespective of their income.

"Labour believes in the NHS - we established it. Since 1 May 1997, the Labour Government has been re-building the NHS from the ramshackle state the Tories left it in. After ten years there is much still to do, but only a Labour Government will safeguard our NHS. Neither the Tories nor the Lib Dem supported the extra investment that has gone into saving our NHS.

"David Cameron and the Lib Dems try to be all things to all people, but to be taken seriously they must match Labour's year on year commitment to invest in our NHS."

The Labour Party has also launched a new web animation highlighting the headlines from the winter NHS crises of the early 1990s. The animation can be viewed at www.betterwithlabour.co.uk.