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People Willing To See National Debt Rise To Fund NHS, Poll Reveals
Most people would be willing to see the UK’s national debt increase if it meant the NHS had more money, a new poll has revealed.
The study by Britain Elects, shared with HuffPost UK, reveals 54% want to see an increase in public spending, with 68% saying they would want the cash to go towards the health service.
Overall, 59% said they would be prepared for the country’s national debt – which governments have spent nearly a decade trying to bring down – to rise to facilitate additional investment, but almost half admitted they had no idea what the total currently stood at.
Labour and Lib Dem MPs have called for an urgent rethink on NHS spending to tackle what they say is a winter crisis, with thousands of operations cancelled, waiting times up and staff over-stretched.
Dr Paul Williams, MP for Stockton South and a practising GP, told HuffPost UK: “The NHS needs both more money and a different strategy. If we keep doing the same thing, the country will just spend increasing amounts every year on providing more and more hospital beds.
GPs and other healthcare staff across the country have spoken out about the pressures they face on a daily basis, with patients left waiting in hospital corridors for hours on end and ambulances queuing outside Accident and Emergency units.
One London-based doctor said: “We are getting to the point now where we are being told there are no beds in the hospital.
“If we have no beds then there’s no beds anywhere else because we are a thousand-bedded hospital, we usually have the capacity and services to create space.
“If it gets any worse we are going to face a serious crisis.”
Theresa May has insisted her government is prioritising the NHS, with more than £6bn in extra spending announced for frontline services in Philip Hammond’s autumn budget.
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