Originally published at The Bolton News
The NHS is part of our everyday lives.
Whether it’s families struggling to get a GP appointment, older residents waiting for delayed operations, or young people in urgent need of mental health support, the message I hear in Bolton South and Walkden is clear: the NHS matters, and it needs help.
That’s why I welcome the government’s new 10-Year NHS Plan, Fit for the Future. After years of mounting pressure, this long-term vision is a step in the right direction.
A renewed focus on prevention: tackling obesity, smoking, and poor mental health, is long overdue. Expanding free school meals and improving food standards will also help level the playing field for children growing up in areas like ours.
But what matters most is how this plan works in practice. I think of a mother who came to one of my surgeries last year, desperate to get help for her teenage daughter’s eating disorder. The support was slow, fragmented, and incredibly hard to access. Families like hers deserve a joined-up system that works.
I also think of my own experience. I was a carer for many years, first for my mother, who lived with chronic illness, and then for my brother, who needed long-term treatment for kidney and heart failure.
I’ve seen the NHS at its best, but also the strain on families trying to navigate an overstretched system. Behind every appointment or hospital stay are staff doing extraordinary work under real pressure. They deserve a plan that supports them, too.
For this plan to deliver, ambition must be matched by proper investment. That means investing not just in buildings and technology, but in people, GPs, nurses, community services, dentists, and social care. These are the foundations that keep our NHS standing.
Bolton has some of the highest health inequalities in the country. If this plan is to succeed, it must work for towns like ours.
That means tackling the deeper causes of poor health, poverty, poor housing, and food insecurity, and giving local services the flexibility and funding to respond to local needs.
The NHS was founded on the principle that care should be available to all, regardless of income or background. This plan is a chance to renew that promise.
I’ll be working to make sure Bolton gets the support it deserves, because when the NHS thrives, so do we all.