Image: Parliament
Conservative
The Health & Social Care Act 2012 that came into effect under David Cameron's leadership saw a top down reorganisation of the NHS. The original bill was opposed by 90% of doctors and has since been widely criticised. It caused fragmentation of the NHS and privatisation that has been accused of prioritising profit over patient care. Turning the NHS into a commercial activity means it can be included in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), which is explained in one of my previous posts. With Cameron revealing that the NHS is not one of the parties' six priorities in their manifesto, what are their policies for the NHS?
- An extra £2bn into frontline health services per year
- The ability to see your GP from 8am to 8pm, 7 days a week
- Recruitment of 5,000 more doctors
Image: NHS
Labour
Labour have been quick to criticise the increasing privatisation of the NHS even though it was their own Tony Blair who introduced competition in 2005. It seems they have a lot more planned for the NHS...
- Repeal the Health & Social Care Act - removing privatisation and replacing the competition framework with an "NHS Preferred Provider" framework
- Tougher controls on hospitals' ability to earn Private Patient income, and put NHS patients first
- Ensure the TTIP cannot impose procurement or competition obligations on the NHS
- An extra £2.5bn per year funded by "mansion tax", clamping down on tax avoidance, and new taxes on tobacco companies
- Recruit 20,000 more nurses, 8000 GPs, 3000 midwives, and 5000 more healthcare workers to help patients stay in homes and identify risk of hospitalisation
- Patients will be able to get a GP appointment within 48 hours
- Patients will not have to wait longer than a week for cancer tests and results
- Integration of health and social care services
- Greater priority to mental health and emphasis on child mental health
To see more of what Labour has in store, check out their 10-year plan for health and care.
And with the likelihood of a coalition, let's take a look at the other parties.
The Liberal Democrats
Nick Clegg has added the NHS to their top five policy priorities, showing they would be central to negotiations for a coalition if there was a hung parliament.
- An extra £8bn per year by 2020 funded by proceeds of economic growth and making higher earners pay more tax on their shares
- Starting with an extra £1bn per year, half of this will be spent on mental health services
- Pool the health and social care budgets
The Green Party
- Funding diverted to community healthcare, illness prevention and health promotion
- Abolish privatisation
- Abolish prescription charges
- Introduce a dedicated NHS tax to go straight to the health services
- Ban proactive recruitment of non-British NHS staff from overseas
- Ban promotion of alcohol and tobacco
Image: ITV
UKIP
- An extra £3bn per year funded by quitting the EU and "middle management' cuts
- Keep the NHS free at point of delivery
- Stop further private finance initiatives
- £200m to be spent on abolishing hospital parking charges
- CQC to be replaced by elected county health boards
- Stop spending £90m per year on gastric bands and breast enhancement operations
- £130m per year for Dementia funding (double the Tories pledge and in line with what Alzheimer's Research UK say they will need)
- Merging health and social care
- Scrap tuition fees for medical students (on a means tested basis)
You can follow updates on health and social care issues with The King's Fund Health and Social Care Election Tracker.
