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It’s not just Tory MPs alarmed by this week’s news that Theresa May believes she’s “in this for the long-term”, anyone who cares about the future of the NHS is desperately worried that this Prime Minister intends to go on and on.

What have we seen this summer in our NHS?

A huge increase in the number of occasions expectant mums are being turned away from over stretched, under staffed maternity units; almost 40,000 patients left stranded on trolleys in overcrowded A&E departments and shockingly over four million now on the waiting list for operations.

What a disgrace.

It’s no wonder we’ve seen the highly respected Professor Stephen Hawking speak up this summer , destroying Tory arguments about the NHS on more than one occasion.

Hawking said, “Hunt misquoting me misrepresenting research won’t save the NHS” – and he’s right.

Jeremy Hunt is in denial about the crisis facing our NHS.

With winter looming, the Health Secretary needs to get a grip and wake up to the challenges facing our health service.

But instead, the Government seems hell-bent on pouring taxpayers’ money down the drain, instead of using it to invest in frontline services for patients.

In the last week alone, we’ve learnt that millions is spent on expensive recruitment agencies and management consultancy fees .

At the same time, we learn that huge pre-tax profits have been made by PFI companies from NHS contracts.

That’s money that should be going to patient care.

As Health Secretary I will bring an end to Tory privatisation of the NHS.

We're fighting the privatisation of NHS Professionals and we said in our manifesto that a Labour Government will reverse privatisation of our NHS and return our health service into expert public control.

(Image: PA)

I want to see a universal, publicly funded and publicly provided NHS. Excess private profits should not be made out of the NHS at the expense of patient care which is why a Labour government will look again at these PFI contracts.

This Government’s reckless approach to the NHS doesn’t stop there.

Budgets for vital NHS buildings and equipment have been repeatedly raided, leaving our hospitals and surgeries in a sorry state.

Over the summer, I revealed that on top of this, they are now planning a fire sale of valuable hospital assets to plug holes in NHS finances.

Meanwhile just this week a leaked secret memo reveals that GP referrals will be heavily scrutinised in a bid to cut costs, a measure which some worry could put patients at risk and lead to delays in treatment.

These aren’t the answers to years of underfunding in our NHS.

The Tories have no solutions for the challenges facing our health system, and with Theresa May at the helm of this weak and unstable Government, I fear that patients will continue to feel the brunt of Tory austerity and inaction.

* Jonathan Ashworth MP is the Shadow Health Secretary