Clacton is underserved by the NHS - it needs more GPs and more NHS dentists. North East Essex has 2,008 patients for every GP, which is the 9th-worst patient-to-GP ratio in the entire country. This problem goes back decades, with Jaywick in particular having some of the worst health outcomes in the country. In two years as Clacton’s MP, Nigel Farage did not once raise his constituency’s GP and NHS dentist shortages in Parliament. I will raise it in Parliament. I will raise subjects that local people care about - not things that Farage and Reform’s millionaire crypto donors care about. (There are 3 of them, at my count. And two of those were convicted of crimes in a court of law before the donations were received!)
We spend too little on healthcare as a country. Mental health is particularly underfunded, with delays of up to 8 years for ADHD assessments in England. Tragically, rigid politically-correct ideology in Labour, the Tories and the civil service, has lead to problems in the healthcare system like patients not being sectioned because of their race, out of a misplaced fear of being seen as racist. It is not racist to give someone the medically appropriate treatment.
While on the other hand, women's pain has too often been dismissed in the NHS, e.g. in the mesh implants scandal.
I would strongly advocate to fix all of these problems.
There are good and bad forms of privatisation in the NHS. Right to Choose is good as it is based on competition, and has helped reduce those ADHD waiting lists. Outsourcing NHS services to private providers, with no patient choice, is bad, as it isn’t based on competition. In general, we need more patient choice in healthcare - not just in theory but in practice.