OUR NHS is now creaking at the seams, thanks to a persistent ideological squeeze from the government.

The health service has been intentionally underfunded and had its workforce demoralised since the Conservatives came to power in 2010.

Since the Health and Social Care Act passed in 2012, NHS trusts have crashed from a reasonable budget surplus to a massive deficit.

The situation has become so dire that the Red Cross has had to step in to help some hospitals, while in another, two patients died on trolleys in the corridor awaiting treatment.

The government’s response, and that of the Conservative-supporting press, was to deny that the problem exists at all and continue to distract people with talk of Brexit.

This crisis has to be resolved now, it has to become the number one priority in Westminster before it’s too late.

The NHS desperately needs more money and it urgently requires more staff, even if that means missing immigration targets or waiving tuition fees in British universities.

The South West Young Greens are calling for immediate action across the South West.

Write to your MPs, councillors and MEPs, especially if they are Conservatives, and urge them to put pressure on the government to tackle this crisis.

Flood social media with the news that the NHS is in urgent need of rescue.

Get the message out loud and clear and stand up for our most precious national institution.

Dan Johnsto

South West Young Greens Committee