Billions invested have failed to secure 'tangible results' for patients
One in seven Labour MPs believe the Government's recent spending increases have failed to produce sufficient improvements in the quantity of care delivered by the NHS, a recent poll commissioned by AXA PPP has found.
According to the survey, which questioned 112 MPs on the state of the NHS, eight of the 55 Labour MPs who responded admitted they thought increases in public health spending had been unsuccessful in securing any tangible results for patients.
This came despite NHS expenditure in England rising from £52.6bn in 2002-03 to £57bn in 2003-04.
The poll, which took place in February this year, also found that 31% of Labour MPS thought the present rate of increase and level of NHS spending is unsustainable in the long term.
Worse still, some 29% of Labour MPs agreed the NHS is not good at managing improvements and delivering value for money.
Dr David Costain, medical director at AXA PPP, said: "What surprised us about these polling results was the degree of concern among Labour MPs about what has been achieved by the extra funding that has gone into the NHS.
"Clearly, there is a substantial view among Labour MPs that the extra funding hasn't delivered value for money."
Also discussing private healthcare provision, only 29% of respondents thought the Government should encourage more people to pay for their own healthcare needs.
Unsurprisingly, Labour MPs were not in favour of the proposal, with only 7% arguing that it was a good suggestion.
Conservative MPs, on the other hand, were largely in favour of moving towards private provision, with 74% supporting the idea.
Despite being against encouraging consumers to pay their own way, 38% of Labour MPs admitted that the Government would encourage more people to make personal provision for their healthcare needs.
In total, 53% of the respondents thought the Government would have to push consumers to foot their own hospital bills.
Some 49% of the politicians polled also believed the general rate of taxation would have to be raised to fund increased spending on the NHS.
