Chipping Barnet MP Theresa Villiers has welcomed the Government’s NHS Long Term Plan and an extra £20.5 billion to be invested in healthcare.

Much of the extra money over five years will go to primary and community health services, including mental health support in schools, to relieve pressure on hospital trusts and expand GP services.

The plan has been clinically-led and locally supported, and it includes a crackdown on waste.

More work will now focus on preventing ill health and on staff retention and training. There will be new testing centres for cancer patients to improve early diagnosis and increased use of technology in the NHS, for example to help people make GP appointments, manage prescriptions and view their health records online.

“This is a comprehensive long term plan and a substantial investment in our NHS by the Government that will help the NHS tackle the challenges the service faces in the modern era,” said Theresa.

“I particularly welcome the focus on delivering better outcomes for people with cancer and other  major conditions; growing the NHS workforce with more doctors, nurses and other health professionals; expanding mental health care; and improving efficiency and technology to ensure that the new funding gets right to the front line of health care.”

“I have backed the campaign by Cancer Research UK to recruit more specialist cancer staff as one in 10 NHS diagnostic posts are unfilled and UK cancer survival rates still lag behind the best in Europe."

“This continues to be a challenge but the new NHS Plan is an important step towards delivering the goals of the Cancer Research campaign and improving early diagnosis of cancer.”