Taking the political pulse: Why the NHS is a key election issue for voters in the Anglia region

• Watch ITV News Anglia's report on the key questions facing political leaders about the health service

In the run-up to the General Election, ITV News Anglia is examining the key issues for voters in the region. Today we look at HEALTH, speaking to leaders from across the region to get their view on the state of the health services, and what the next government must prioritise.

The nation's health has long been a cornerstone of British politics. For decades before the formation of the NHS there had been calls for better health provision in the United Kingdom.

And almost since the formation of the health service in 1948 there has been campaigning around how we improve it, fund it and reform it.

In 1997 Labour famously ran a slogan on the eve of the General Election that there were "just 24 hours to save the NHS".

In 2010 David Cameron told a nation heading to the polls that the health service was safe in his hands.

Free universal health care has always been important to voters, and its another key issue in the current campaign too.

Dr Reem Al-Shaikh is on the frontline of health delivery, a GP at Linton's Granta Medical Centre in Cambridgeshire.

"Life is extremely busy and it always has been as a GP. It's got exponentially busier since the pandemic and that's due to lots of other forces and factors within the NHS at the moment.

"We are fully booked. We are running 8am-8pm surgeries. We open on Saturdays. And there's always a feeling like 'We need more'.

"We are given 7% of the NHS budget to carry 90% of all patient contacts within the NHS. We are under pressure partly due to this."

Staffing was a key component of a report comparing the NHS with health services from 19 other countries by the independent health think-tank The King's Fund.

The study found that around one in 10 of the UK working population actually work in healthand care roles, but the UK has, on average, fewer practising doctors and nurses per person.

It said: "We have a high reliance on foreign-trained staff but strikingly fewer doctors and nurses per head than most of our peer countries."

The study, which was published last year to mark the 75th anniversary of the NHS, also found that facilities were a case for concern.

Both main parties say they are committed to replacing crumbling hospitals in King's Lynn, Huntingdon and Kettering.

The Conservatives had the building of 40 new hospitals as a manifesto pledge at the last election.

The King's Fund report stated: "Although health spending overall is roughly average at best, capital investment lags behind many other advanced economies, so it is no surprisethat the UK compares poorly in its level of key equipment and facilities such asdiagnostic technology and hospital beds."

That is not the only area of the health service that is under stress.

More people are having to pay for private dentistry because NHS places simply are not available.

Anthony Lipschitz owns a practice in Dunstable in Bedfordshire and believes contracts imposed by government are to blame.

He said: "What we're witnessing now is the death rattle of NHS dentistry unless someone steps in and says: 'No, we cancel this contract because it's not fit for purpose. It's not serving the public in any way and it's not serving dentists in any way.' We're under extreme stress."

Dr Andrew Bell, who works at Bradwell near Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, is concerned that this creates a two-tiered service.

"We don't have the capacity there compared to pre-Covid.

"So now [there is a] capacity issue. Particularly in Norfolk, there's lots of dentists who have moved to private, [and] given back their NHS contracts which means those that are left have a lot of demand."

Whoever forms the next government can expect calls for more money from all areas of the NHS, but the UK already spends a roughly average amount on its health system compared with other similar nations.

But the country appears to be getting less bang for its buck, according to the King's Fund report: "The UK performs worse than many of its peers on several comprehensive measures, including life expectancy and deaths that could have been avoided through timely and effective health care and public health and preventive services.

"And survival rates from major killers such as cardiovascular disease and cancer remain relatively poor."

• Watch ITV News Anglia's report on cancer care earlier in June

Earlier this month, The Royal College of Radiologists (RCR) issued an urgent call to action to the next government over what it called "dire state of cancer care".

It highlighted a workforce crisis: a 30% shortfall of radiologists and a 15% shortfall of oncologists, and said demand had surged and treatment delays were now routine.

Dr Tom Roques, an oncologist in Norwich for the last 20 years, said the impact was being felt.

"There are times where you feel you can't really give the care you want to give because of those pressures," he said.

"The cancer targets since 2014 have got pretty much worse month by month. People are waiting longer for a diagnosis and they're often waiting longer to start treatment. Those targets are also not that ambitious.

"The target is 31 days to start treatment. If you're told you've got cancer and you need chemotherapy you often don't really want to wait four weeks to begin that treatment."

The Conservatives insist they have a long-term NHS workforce plan and that they have opened 160 diagnostic centres to speed up treatment.

Labours plan to cut waiting times, and double the number of MRI and CT scanners to improve diagnostics.

One thing everyone recognises is that the problems of the NHS are huge and complex.

They certainly won't be fixed with a sticking plaster.

Have you heard our new podcast Talking Politics? Every day in the run-up to the election Tom, Robert and Anushka dig into the biggest issues dominating the political agenda…