Leader of the Opposition Ed Miliband will announce the launch of a new programme called NHS Check that will empower nurses to protest against the government’s proposed layoff measures.

At the Royal College of Nursing Congress in Harrogate, Miliband will underscore the David Cameron government’s failure to provide adequate and timely care to millions of patients seeking treatment with the NHS. Under NHS Check, nurses and other healthcare staff will be able to voice their concerns with the government’s “reckless” NHS reforms, sources have disclosed.

The Labour leader will criticise the government for its attitude to the NHS, saying that the “government has been acting like they are the masters, not the servants, of the NHS. They are not the masters. Not this government. Not any government.”

Primary caregivers are integral to NHS operations, Miliband will say in his speech, emphasising that patients, professionals and the people are at the helm of UK’s health service, not the government.

Notably, a recent RCN report suggested that 26,000 nurses at the NHS have lost their jobs over the past two years while 35,000 more are awaiting similar fate in the future. The report revealed that community nursing staff in particular were struggling to cope with increased workload with limited resources.

Citing the problem of lack of resources, Miliband will pick apart the government for not listening to nurses who had warned earlier that patients were being denied proper treatment due to crippled infrastructure at the NHS.

“I want to start working with you now, to forge a partnership with you now, about some of the big long-term challenges facing the future of the NHS. And I want to start working with you now to protect the values of the NHS and to hold the government to account for what’s going on”, the Labour boss will say.

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