Action to improve the national Health

Speech delivered to Liberal Democrat Spring Conference, Harrogate on Sun 6th Mar 2005

Do you remember on the eve of the 1997 General Election Tony Blair said the country had 24 hours to save the NHS? 24 hours to save the NHS from the Tories. 8 years later and the NHS still needs saving.

Now it needs saving from Tony Blair and Michael Howard. Two men both willing to use NHS staff and NHS patients as canon fodder in a political row.

The truth is Labour can't hide behind the Tory legacy of underfunding and staff shortages forever. Blaming the last lot for failings in the NHS is no longer so simple. When the last lot includes Health Secretaries Frank Dobson and Alan Milburn.

Three words sum up Labour's approach to the NHS over the last 8 years.

Political

Prescriptive

And Bullying.

Not my words. The words of senior NHS executives describing Labour's top down target driven approach.

Labour's first instinct when something goes wrong in the NHS is always to set another target or impose another fine. Adding more complexity and cost as a result.

The trouble with targets like the maximum 4 hour wait in A&E is that hitting the target often means missing the point. Hitting the A&E waiting time target means patients get shunted around the hospital in search of a bed.

All too often there is not the time to clean up after one patient, wash the bed and allow it to dry before the bed is needed again. No wonder hospital superbugs have taken hold.

I want to make it clear. We will always put the patient first. For us Liberal Democrats preventing, controlling and containing the spread of infection will never take second place to political targets.

And if you are waiting for a scan or a test to find out what's wrong with you. Then you don't count in Labour's targets. You are on a hidden waiting list. And John Reid has refused to publish these hidden waiting lists until after the General Election.

What has he got to hide? Well I can tell you. He has a scandal to hide.

Liberal Democrat research has revealed just how long people are waiting for scans and tests. Waits of over 6 months are not uncommon. Some people are waiting over a year.

None of this counts in Labour's waiting time targets.

These are people with life threatening conditions waiting for scans to confirm a cancer, a brain tumour, a heart condition.

The patient should always come first. So let me make it clear what we Liberal Democrats will do. We will publish waiting times for all scans and tests. We will tackle the scandal of expensive NHS scanners standing idle. And if a GP believes you may have a serious illness, Liberal Democrats will offer diagnosis by the quickest practical route so that your NHS treatment is not delayed.

We Liberal Democrats will stay true to the founding principles of the NHS. A service based on your need not your wealth.

Let's not forget in his first party conference as Prime Minister, Tony Blair said this.

"I don't want …… a country where the only way pensioners can get long term care is by selling their home."

Well Mr Blair, I don't want a country where a Prime Minister breaks his promise to pensioners.

So let me be clear. Charges for care are a tax on frailty and sickness. Liberal Democrats will scrap the charges for basic care and ensure fairness and dignity in old age.

And because prevention is as important as cure we will also scrap the charges for eye and dental checks.

So when the election comes there is a real choice about the future of the NHS. Under a Blair or Howard Government health is all about letting market forces rip. Letting market forces close hospitals. But what market forces can't do, what market forces won't do is close the ever widening health gap in our country.

We Liberal Democrats will stay true to the founding principles of the NHS. We won't forget that closing the health gap between rich and poor was why the NHS was set up in the first place!

That means that tackling the causes of ill health: Tackling poverty, poor housing, and pollution matter as much to as treating the consequences.

If the three words that sum up Labour's approach to the NHS are POLITICAL, PRESCRIPTIVE and BULLYING.

What three words best sum up Tory health policy? All you have to remember is this. Tory health policies come in three kinds.

The UNFAIR.

The UNCOSTED and

The UNBELIEVABLE.

And some are all three!

A few weeks ago Michael Howard launched the Tories health policy. Again!

I listened to Michael Howard talk about the need for clean hospitals. He said it with a straight face. With no hint of embarrassment.

But it was a Conservative Government that ordered the NHS to contract out hospital cleaning in the first place. A Conservative Government that put the price of cleaning ahead of the quality of cleaning. Cleaning on the cheap drove standards down. Then came the explosion of hospital superbugs.

Michael Howard wants people to think that MRSA only became a problem in 1997. The truth is when he could have done something about it he did nothing about it.

And what do the Tories offer on health today? Better healthcare for the FEW. Poorer healthcare for the MANY. Subsidising private health care for those who can afford it at the expense of NHS patients who can't. Under the Conservatives only those patients who can afford it come first.

Liberal Democrats our purpose is clear.

To create a modern, efficient and effective health service properly staffed and securely funded.

A health service where people get their first choice of quality healthcare close to home.

A health service where all waits matter and swift diagnosis and treatment count.

A health service where fighting the spread of infection never takes second place to political targets.

A health service true to Beveridge's ideals, in tune with today's needs.

A health service where the patient always comes first.