This week we asked the main three general election hopefuls in Thurrock: What needs to be done to bring the NHS into line, bearing in mind the recent black alert at Basildon Hospital, which meant there were no beds for new patients?

Jackie Doyle-Price, Conservative MP

THE recent issues at Basildon Hospital were due to a lack of available beds in care or nursing homes, forcing elderly patients and those with complex needs to stay in hospital, blocking beds.

This is a reminder of how connected different parts of our NHS are, with pressure on the hospital caused by issues with social care.

The solution to these problems is integrated, joined-up care, something ministers are working hard to deliver. For example, the Better Care Fund will rise to over £5billion next year, enabling 163,000 fewer hospital stays.

As with so many issues, part of this solution is money.

Over the last five years, health spending has been protected, but you really can’t have a strong NHS without a strong economy.

Tim Aker, UKIP candidate

UKIP will keep our NHS free at the point of use.

We’ve pledged an extra £3billion into frontline NHS services every year, funded by money we would save by leaving the European Union.

Unfortunately, the NHS has to pay the price of Labour’s private finance initiatives, which binds the NHS to pay hundreds of billions of pounds to private companies. Some senior Labour officials also want to charge you to see your GP. I am against this.

Government after government has turned our National Health Service into an International Health Service. Foreign visitors coming and using our health service without paying any taxes towards it costs the NHS billions per year. This would not happen under Ukip. Visitors and migrants to the UK will need their own health insurance as a condition of entry. Forget the cheap lies of Labour and the Tories, Ukip supports the NHS.

Polly Billington, Labour candidate

IT’S unacceptable that the number of patients having to wait more than four hours to be treated at Basildon Hospital A&E increased by 40 per cent this winter.

The Government has cut social care and closed walk-in centres. This has increased pressure on A&E, causing our hospital to go on black alert.

If I was your MP, I would make it easier for you to see your GP. We know it’s getting harder to get an appointment.

That’s why a Labour government would guarantee you’ll see a GP within 48 hours.

Labour has pledged a £2.5billion Time to Care Fund funded by a tax on the super rich and tobacco firms and a crackdown on tax avoidance. It will mean more doctors, nurses and care workers.

We also need to create an integrated care system and to make sure the NHS is always there for patients, not profit.