General election manifestos – what is the Green Party saying about health and social care?

The Green Party launched its manifesto If Not Now, When? on 19 November. It has a section on Restoring the NHS, including:

increasing funding for the NHS by at least £6 billion per year each year, until 2030 (a 4.5% increase on the 2018/2019 NHS Budget);
repealing the Health and Social Care Act 2012 and abolishing the internal market;
creating Health Boards which will enable local authorities to lead a ‘bottom up’ process where services are planned and provided without contracts (these could cover more than one local authority area where there is local support;
giving stronger powers to Health and Wellbeing Boards to represent the interest of the public in the NHS;
focusing funding (the amount is not specified) on the construction of new community health centres, bringing health services closer to people’s homes;
putting mental health on the same footing as mental health, ensuring people can access evidence-based mental health therapies within 28 days;
funding is also focused on reproductive health including free access to birth control and increased access to PrEP to combat HIV.

improved care for pregnancy and maternity, giving access to the care of a single midwife through prenatal care, birth and the first month of post-natal care
Increased funding for areas of the NHS heavily relied on by Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Intersex, Queer and Asexual (LGBTIQA+) people, including trans healthcare, gender identity clinics, HIV treatment and mental health provision.

Bren McGowan- Healthwatch Workplace, Nov 2019

Senior Policy Advisor at Healthwatch England