Reading of Dan Poulter’s defection (“Top Tory MP defects to Labour in fury at NHS crisis”) was of particular interest to me: I am a mental health nurse in the NHS; I too cover the A&E department in my local hospital; and I work for the same NHS trust. He lists many reasons why he is appalled at the state of the NHS, and does well to highlight the suffering that mental health patients are forced to go through, thanks to lack of resources and outsourcing to private providers.
However, it was laughable to read of his praise for David Cameron’s Conservative party, with its “commitment to the NHS”. Poulter speaks of his concern over health inequalities, yet it was Cameron’s party that unleashed austerity and only advanced such inequalities. Poor mental health is overwhelmingly experienced by those from a lower socioeconomic standing. Many people were accelerated into poverty thanks to Cameron’s policies.
