The results of the general election are now in, and Boris Johnson has been re-elected on the basis of the Conservative Party’s manifesto. You can read all the health-related policies in it on our campaign website here.

Rachel Power has today written to the Prime Minister to congratulate him, and ask for urgent clarification on key items of policy that are of concern to patients. In a statement published today, Friday 13th December, she said: 

“The last few days of the election campaign made the extent of the crisis in the NHS plain to see, with reports of patients waiting on trolleys, chairs and floors in hospital corridors, even relatively early in the winter. Mr Johnson’s Government has been returned on a platform that raises many concerns for patients, and presents little reassurance. The Conservative Party’s manifesto betrayed his promise to produce a solution to the social care crisis, and contained little, if anything, to help the NHS face what could be its worst winter of modern times.”  

Our full reaction statement contains more from Rachel, and analysis from our Head of Policy, John Kell. 

Thank you to everyone who took part in our Patients Over Politics campaign, including Nye (pictured) who was the first baby to be born under the NHS back in 1948!  

The election is now over, but the message of the campaign remains vital: all politicians still need to put Patients Over Politics!  

We would like to know what you thought of the campaign, what you did to take part, what you liked about it, and what you would like to see done differently in future campaigns from the Patients Association.

As the campaign closes, we must take this opportunity to thank Lexington Communications, who not only gave us valuable advice on devising the campaign but also designed all the fabulous visuals for the campaign on a pro bono basis.  

Have you or your family had experiences of discharging your loved ones from hospital? If so then we need your help! 

We've teamed up with ZBD Associates to collate people's experiences, whether good or bad, so that we can qualify the impact that finding care for relatives has on friends and family. So, if you have any information to share please take a couple of minutes to fill out this survey - it will give us some very some useful feedback. Thank you.

With the election now over, we can turn our minds to finishing our Christmas shopping.  Here’s a last reminder that every time you shop online you could be raising money for us. Please think about signing up to Give as you Live – it only takes a minute - and then they’ll convert your spending into donations for us without costing you a penny.   

There are so many shops to choose from, including some of the big names like Amazon, M&S, Argos, Boots, Debenhams and John Lewis. Thank you and happy shopping.  

Our Chair Lucy Watson has been invited to Chair the NHS Complaints Summit, which focuses on delivering a person-centred approach to complaints handling, investigation, resolution and learning.  Through national updates, practical case studies and in-depth expert sessions, the conference aims to improve the effectiveness of complaints handling to ensure that the complaints do lead to change and improvements in patient care. 

This major event takes place in central London on Monday 20th January and we’ve got five free tickets to give away. 

If you would like to be in with a chance of winning then please send your name, email address and phone number to mailbox@patients-association.org.uk, along with the answer to this question: 

What is the freephone number for the Patients Association helpline? 

Hurry! The draw will close at midnight on Monday 16th December, after which we will randomly select the five winners from all the correct entries. 

Good luck! 

Do you have trouble with your feet or ankles? If so, you could help the British Orthopaedic Foot & Ankle Society (BOFAS) identify research priorities for the advancement of foot & ankle surgery. 

Their aim is to get increased government funding for the top 10 research priorities, incentivising the researchers to better reflect patient opinion.  

The survey takes just five minutes to complete and is open to anyone with a personal or professional connection to foot and ankle conditions.  For more information and to take part please contact BOFAS directly.

This week we received a call from Sally* who was looking for advice on how to progress her request for reasonable adjustment when visiting her GP considering her specific disabilities*.  

Sally had asked the practice manager at her local surgery to make the appropriate reasonable adjustments, but they were not carried out sufficiently to meet Sally’s needs. 

In the first instance we suggested that Sally contacts the Equality Advisory Support Service (EASS) which offers independent advice for people with discrimination and human rights issues. We gave her the relevant website address and telephone number so she could raise her concerns with them and find out about making an official discrimination complaint on the grounds of her long-term health condition. 

We then advised Sally to raise her complaint with her Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and then give her feedback to the Care Quality Commission (CQC).  We provided all the necessary contact details. 

As always, we finished the call by asking Sally to let us know if she needed any further help or information. 

*name changed and details withheld for privacy 

To get in touch with our helpline team and share your thoughts of health and care services, call 0800 345 7115, email helpline@patients-association.org.uk or visit our website. We also operate a Live Chat function on weekdays between 2 - 5pm for people who wish to receive advice online. 

About Us

Our vision is that health and social care will be delivered in a way that meets every person’s health and social care needs.

Our mission is to give effect to the patient voice, to improve patient experience and support people to engage fully in their own care. Find out more about our values on our website. 

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