On 23rd April, Medway Conservatives tabled a motion to Medway Council’s Full Council meeting, calling for Medway Council to write to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care to raise concerns about how current challenges within the healthcare system may impact Medway Council’s ability to provide essential public services and fulfil its statutory duties.
The motion, proposed by Leader of the Opposition, Cllr Perfect and supported by Cllr Joy, Shadow Cabinet Member for Children’s Services and Education, acknowledged the emerging health sector crisis in Medway. They raised serious concerns about the unstable leadership of Medway NHS Foundation Trust and the looming financial crisis at the Kent and Medway ICB. Instability and financial pressure within the NHS directly affect the Council’s ability to deliver social care services effectively, work in partnership with a well‑performing healthcare system and maintain a clear focus on improving population health and reducing inequalities.
In his speech Cllr Perfect highlighted growing concerns about the state of NHS services locally and the impact this is having on residents and council services. There is a clear crisis of management, staffing and strategy, this is not tolerable and is quite literally making Medway a harder to place to be healthy. The motion also notes the external pressures that should be addressed at the national level are severely impacting the Council’s statutory role in health.
The Medway Labour and Co-Operative Group, at the meeting, chose to amend the motion, while retaining the commitment to write to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care and mirroring our desire for cross party collaboration on this matter.
Cllr Perfect, Leader of the Opposition, speaking during the meeting said:
As an opposition, we will always engage constructively on a local and a national level with the administration and government to reform social care and cut NHS waiting lists, but we need to see bold action and delivery, instead of more reviews and press releases. This motion and letter to the Secretary of State is about making it clear to him that we won’t accept this for our community and its implications for the services this council provides. The NHS in Medway needs reform, not just more money, and this letter will hopefully start the conversation.
Medway Conservatives will continue to support the Council in their efforts to remedy the health crisis in Medway. We believe that a strong collaborative effort towards delivering proper scrutiny, supporting stable leadership and securing future-proof planning will go a long way to achieve real change for our residents.
