The Conservative Party has outlined its plans for an overhaul of the NHS, should it come to power. ...
The Conservative Party has outlined its plans for an overhaul of the NHS, should it come to power.
Addressing the Party's spring conference, Conservative health spokesman, Dr Liam Fox, said the Conservative priorities were to release hospitals from red tape and political interference, especially in the case of waiting lists. It would also aim to give patients more control over their treatment.
Dr Fox said the NHS was 'over centralised and over politicised,' and that an increase in investment from the taxpayer was not the answer. Two issues he highlighted were the waiting list initiative and administration levels.
On waiting list policy he said: 'The policy has been roundly condemned in most quarters for encouraging clinical distortion, as a result of which patients with more serious conditions wait longer, while less urgent cases are dealt with more quickly to bring numbers down.'
He also criticised administration levels in the NHS, claiming that there are now more administrative staff than beds: 'We are in the absurd situation of having 1.15 administrators for every NHS bed. Under Labour the number of beds has fallen by 16,000 and the number of administrators has increased by 27,000.'
Dr Fox backed up his argument that extra money was not necessarily needed, by highlighting levels of waste. The head of Controls Assurance in the NHS, Stewart Emslie, identified £9bn of waste in 2001 ' almost 20% of the entire budget.
He concluded: 'Without a historic depoliticisation and decentralisation with an increased choice for patients, Britain will be consigned to second rate healthcare.'
