Green co-leader accuses opponents of not ‘being honest enough’ about NHS

A Green Party co-leader has accused her opponents of not “being honest enough with voters” about the state of the NHS.

Carla Denyer’s party has called for a £22 billion cash boost to fix “crumbling hospitals”.

She accused her opponents in the Conservative Party of “failing to deliver” on their 2019 manifesto pledge for 20 hospital upgrades and 40 new hospitals.

Ms Denyer said Labour had promised to “hold the door open to the private sector”.

The £22 billion capital investment would include a £2 billion capital investment into primary care buildings, a £1.1 billion annual fund “to clear the maintenance backlog” and £3 billion a year for hospitals, according to the Green Party.

In a statement, party leaders quoted Rachel Birch, an intensive care nurse, who said: “I’ve seen leaking ceilings in our intensive care unit, staff having to work out of portacabins, and wards in desperate need of improvements and modernisation.

“The buildings that we use treating patients are old and inadequate for use.”

Ms Denyer said: “No other political party is being honest enough with voters – the very fabric of our NHS is crumbling and must be repaired and rebuilt.

“The NHS is stretched to breaking point and so we are offering a package to train and retain staff and cut waiting lists, but we also need to recognise that we are asking over-worked staff to cope with outdated equipment and poor buildings.”

She added: “We know the importance of the NHS.

“Labour promises to hold the door open to the private sector.

“It is only the Greens who are offering a cast-iron guarantee to push back against the creeping privatisation of the NHS and rebuild it, so it is fit for the future.”

The Conservative Party’s 2024 manifesto includes a pledge to “invest in more and better facilities, continuing to deliver 40 new hospitals by 2030 and investing proportionately more in out-of-hospital services over time”.

Labour has also committed to delivering the New Hospitals Programme in its manifesto and has pledged a new Fit For the Future fund to “double the number of CT and MRI scanners, allowing the NHS to catch cancer and other conditions earlier”.

Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting has previously defended his pledge to use up private sector capacity in the healthcare system, adding: “There’s nothing left wing about leaving hospital beds to lie empty while working class patients lie in pain.”