Everyone deserves to see a GP when they need one, but I know how difficult it can be for people in Barking & Dagenham to secure an appointment. You’ve told me stories about the early morning calls or travelling further away to your old GP because the local ones are oversubscribed.
Barking and Dagenham has been underserved by our NHS for too long. We are also one of the few boroughs without a major hospital. Community services have been taken away and centralised. And when it comes to primary care, GPs in Barking and Dagenham care for 20% more patients than the national average.
This has been compounded by new homes being built without the necessary community infrastructure, just like in Barking Riverside where there is not a single GP practice in the ward despite thousands of people living there.
That is why one of my first campaigns as your member of Parliament was to deliver a new Barking Riverside Health Centre to not only help the residents in that area but also reduce pressure from other GPs across the borough. Last year, I conducted a survey on the healthcare experiences of Barking residents. I raised concerns in Parliament with the health minister and secured meetings with Barking Riverside Ltd and local NHS to press for a new health centre and additional appointments.
I am pleased that our campaign has been successful. We have secured a new health centre in Barking Riverside that will deliver GP appointments for residents. On September 12, I held a surgery at the Emerge East Festival to hear residents’ priorities for the new centre. Thank you to everyone who came along. It is important that the new health centre meets the needs of our local community.
This local win is part of a wider plan. Fourteen years of neglect from the Conservatives left our NHS crumbling, but the Labour government is rebuilding our NHS, with 20 million more GP appointments a year and waiting times down since 2024 and a plan to deliver more services at a community level.
The new prime minister, Andy Burnham, has also announced a new National Care Service. This will provide care for older people, helping alleviate the burden on the NHS and save older residents in Barking and Dagenham from spending their life savings on their care. Rebuilding our healthcare services is a top priority of this Labour government. We have started, but I know there is more to do.
As your member of Parliament, I will continue to campaign for better healthcare services and more GP appointments here in Barking and Dagenham.
