The current situation
Many people are rightly concerned about the future of the NHS. Demands are greater than ever. People are living longer and as new medicines and treatments are developed, the cost of providing the best possible treatment increases every year.
Since the last election the Coalition has increased NHS spending in real terms, with £12.5 bn more being spent, treated more patients and performed well - except in Wales where Labour have been in charge. In Wales Labour have cut spending and the results have been dismal.
The risks
I need your vote on May 7th so we can fight to protect what we have – which is one of the best healthcare systems in the world. If we don’t act now, we could end up putting the whole institution at risk. As advances in genetic testing increase, future dispositions towards ailments will be increasingly forecastable. Insurance companies are risk adverse, meaning the NHS will be even more important. Expanding private provision is not the answer.
Our plan
We believe that the solution to the NHS problem is not only to increase spending, but to cut down on waste, inefficiency and mismanagement.
One of the ways we intend to do this is by increasing the opening hours of GP surgeries so nine-to-five working people can get appointments in the evenings and weekends. Prevention is better than a cure, and where prevention isn’t possible, catching things earlier rather than later can be life saving.
A significant threat to our NHS is people turning up at A&E for the wrong reasons. I have family working in A&E and I am well aware of the issues they face. By extending GP surgery opening times, we can help take the pressure off our accident and emergency services.
Is the NHS being privatised?
People who like to promote fear will tell you the NHS is on the way to being privatised. This simply isn’t true. In the last financial year outsourced services accounted for around 6%. Under Labour, responsible for the financially irresponsible and expensive PFI contracts, privatised services accounted for 5% of NHS spend.
In some cases outsourcing is the right thing to do. We need to evaluate all outsourcing to see whether it represents value for money and whether it is ethically appropriate.
My personal stance
I believe passionately in the NHS. It’s one of the reasons I’m proud to be British. We have increased NHS spending in Kent by £22m in this Parliament. We have made the Care Quality Commission (CQC) independent and we have kept things going despite challenges such as the flu jab being less effective this year – which contributed to the increased demand e we face during the winter period.
But it needs careful management or the very foundations of our healthcare system could be threatened.
Only the Conservatives have the vision and the experience to preserve this wonderful institution.
What do you think? Should we spend more on the NHS or cut funding? If we increase spending, where should the money come from? Tell me what you think here.