As part of its manifesto launched yesterday the Conservative Party pledged 50,000 more nurses for the NHS, and says it will increase the service’s funding by £33.9 billion by 2023-24.
The party also promised 6,000 more doctors and 50 million more GP surgery appointments each year as part of the injection of funds.
Launching the manifesto, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: “Everyone in the UK should have the peace of mind and confidence that comes from world-class healthcare – and so this new one nation Conservative government is giving the NHS its biggest-ever cash boost.”
The party also pledged £850 million for 20 hospital upgrades and £2.7 billion to provide funding for six new hospitals and seed funding to “make progress” on 34 other hospitals.
However, Labour accused Johnson of “deceit” over his plans for the NHS, after the promise about nurses turned out to include 18,500 existing nurses whom the government hopes to persuade to remain in the workforce.
“First we had Johnson’s fake 40 new hospitals, now we have his fake 50,000 extra nurses,” said shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth.
The British Medical Association said the commitment was not enough. “The NHS is on a cliff edge, so it’s incredibly disappointing that the health spending commitment in the Conservative manifesto does not meet the levels needed,” said a spokesperson.