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Labour will today pledge to “rescue the NHS” with a massive £26bn funding boost after a decade of crushing Tory austerity.

Thousands of staff will be recruited, crumbling hospitals and surgeries rebuilt and the state-of-the-art equipment installed.

Under a radical 10 point plan Labour will revitalise the National Health Service, reducing waiting lists and increasing access, including ensuring 95% of patients are treated within 18 weeks, upgrading A&E performance and radically improve cancer survival rates.

The cash injection is over £6bn more in real terms every year than the funding announced by the Tories a year ago.

The moves will see the NHS England’s budget increase to £154.9 bn in 2023-24.

Shadow health secretary Jon Ashworth said: “Only Labour has a plan to rescue our NHS.”

(Image: Getty Images) (Image: Daily Mirror) (Image: Getty Images)

The health service has become a key election battleground with Labour promising to end privatisation and protect the NHS from a post-Brexit trade deal with Donald Trump .

They will attack Boris Johnson ’s record on the NHS after years of Tory underfunding drove the health service into year-round crisis.

Over 15,000 beds have been cut, hospitals are crumbling and the NHS is chronically short of nurses and family doctors.

Shadow chancellor John McDonnell will announce the plans for an average 4.3% funding increase every year for the next four years.

The £26bn yearly injection would be funded by reversing corporation tax cuts and taxing the richest more.

Last week the Mirror published a stark image of an 88-year-old dementia sufferer endured six hours on a trolley in a crowded A&E.

(Image: Supplied)

In a speech at the Royal Society of Medicine, Mr Ashworth will say today: “Just last week we all were shocked by the heart-breaking image of an 88 year old woman, left languishing for hours and hours on a trolley in a hospital corridor.

“With experts warning this winter is set to be one of the worst the truth is our NHS is crying out for a financial rescue plan to deliver real change for patients.

Labour's NHS promises - and why the changes are needed Bursaries for nurses Pledge: £1 billion to restore the nurses’ training bursary for nurses to help recruit 24,000 extra nurses and midwives. Why it is needed: There are 40,000 nursing vacancies in England. Experts say this could rise to 68,500 by 2024 because of the decision to scrap nursing bursaries. Training more GPs Pledge: Expand GP training places to 5,000 to create 27 million more appointments with family doctors. Why it is needed: A shortage of thousands of doctors over the last five years means that GP waiting times have it a new high. Patients had to wait a month before seeing their doctor in a staggering 15 million cases. End parking charges Pledge: Scrap hospital car parking charges. Why it is needed: Patients and visitors paid £272m to park last year - including £86m forked out by NHS staff.* Free prescriptions Pledge: Free prescriptions across the UK Why it is needed: England is the only part of the UK to charge for prescriptions. The cost has risen from £7.40 in 2011 to £9 this year. More CT & MRI scanners Pledge: Provide an extra £1.5 billion to increase the numbers of CT and MRI scanners. Why it is needed: The UK has just nine CT scanners per 100,000 people compared with 35 per 100,000 in Germany. The NHS also needs to recruit 1,104 radiologists in England. The NHS is failing to meet its targets on diagnostics. Mental health Pledge: £2 billion to upgrade mental health buildings and £1.6 billion to fund counselling services for schools and community services for people with severe mental illness. Why it is needed: The number of mental health beds has fallen from 67,000 in the 1980s to 18,400. One in 10 consultant psychiatrist posts are unfilled. Last year 175,000 child and adolescent mental health service appointments were cancelled. Upgrade GP surgeries Pledge: An extra £2.5 bn to upgrade GPs surgeries so they can deliver better for their communities. Why it is needed: The NHS’s capital budget that funds investment in buildings, beds, equipment and IT is lower today in real terms than 2010/11. Modernising surgeries and upgrading their IT would mean GPs could offer more provision and better appointments systems. Digital and hi-tech Pledge: More investment in digital and artificial intelligence to ensure the transformation of future services. Why it is needed: Will allow the NHS to keep up with the latest technological developments - providing state-of-the-art modern equipment, secure data handling and a more efficient network for both staff and patients. Repair and rebuilding Pledge: NHS capital budgets increased by £15bn over five years to rebuild NHS hospitals and community facilities and clear the repair backlog, funded from Labour’s Social Transformation Fund. Why it is needed: Research has revealed ward ceilings falling in, sewage pipes bursting treatment and surgery delayed. The repair backlog bill now stands at £6.5 bn, up from £6bn last year, with £3.4 bn of it classed as “high or significant risk”. Public health Pledge: A £1bn annual increase for public health including an extra £100m each for addiction and obesity services, £75m extra for sexual health and £75m extra for 0-5 services. Plus an extra 4,800 health visitors and school nurses. Why it is needed: Councils have faced £1bn cuts to public health budgets which the Health Foundation and King’s Fund say has had a major impact on local services. Life expectancy improvements have slowed dramatically and health inequalities are widening. *not included in the £26bn and will be separately costed in the manifesto

“We are announcing today the levels of investment our NHS needs to not only again provide the quality care our sick and elderly deserve but secures the NHS for the future as well.

“We’ll invest more to prevent people becoming ill in the first place and we’ll give mental health and wellbeing a greater priority than ever before.

"This general election is about millions on waiting list and hundreds of thousands who’ve waited on trolleys under the Tories – only Labour has a plan to rescue our NHS.”

Labour will also set out its plans to address the social care crisis in its manifesto.

The Labour NHS announcement was warmly welcomed by medical experts and healthcare unions.

(Image: Getty Images) (Image: Getty Images)

British Medical Association chair Dr Chaand Nagpaul said Labour’s plans were “promising”.

He added: “Our health service is clearly struggling and... whoever forms the next Government must put the NHS back on a sustainable footing.”

Dame Donna Kinnair of the Royal College of Nursing said all parties needed to support nursing, adding: “No matter how people voted in the EU referendum, nobody wants the NHS left open to a carve-up as a result of a post-Brexit trade deal.”

Unison general secretary Dave Prentis added: “This rescue plan can’t come soon enough and will give hope to health service employees and patients across the UK.

"It takes the NHS back to the time before heartless Tory cuts.”

Nigel Edwards, chief executive of think tank Nuffield Trust, said it would mean the NHS could “breathe a sigh of relief”.