The NHS and social care have been in a state of near crisis for many months.

In Dorset we’ve seen plans to drastically reduce the number of GP Surgeries, to reduce beds at some community hospitals and to cut some services entirely from Dorset County Hospital.  Thank you to the 2,500 local residents who have signed my previous petition against plans to close GP Surgeries.

Social care for the elderly is also struggling to cope with the increased numbers of people in need of care.  At the same time care homes are paying higher staffing costs as a result of an increase in the minimum wage.

Finding competent staff is already a challenge.  A Hard BREXIT deal with restrictions on immigration will make it impossible to run our hospitals and care homes.  As your M.P. I would argue for no restrictions on those who come here to work in the NHS or in social care.

The Liberal Democrats are committed to increasing the funding of the NHS and social care.

We want to see an extra £6 billion a year invested now.  This would be paid for by increasing Income Tax by 1p in the Pound for all taxpayers.

I believe this is a reasonable amount extra for us all to pay to preserve the NHS and social care.