On Sunday I took my son to play for the Under 12’s at Beccehamian Rugby Club in West Wickham and then delivered leaflets in the Keswick Road area with our team.
I am sometimes hurt if not a little irritated when political opponents claim that Tories don’t value the NHS. It is our NHS too. In the Army, according to the orthopaedic consultant who dealt with me at the time, my life was saved by an emergency operation on the NHS. No member of my family has private healthcare. Our doctor sits in the excellent Beckenham Beacon and we (sometimes) have occasion to visit the excellent Urgent Care Centre there – normally at weekends. Our treatment in the Urgent Care Centre has always been kind and swift for which I am truly grateful.
You may not realise it (I didn’t until recently) but 5% of the 6% of NHS services which have been privatised occurred under the Labour Government. I admit this surprised me as the Labour Party make such a big thing of this matter without reference to their own actions. Medical practitioners also tell me that sometimes medical services can be done better and more cheaply outside the NHS. They are the experts not me. I have also been told that by care organisations too.
The most important point is what is in the interests of patients? I am told that there is no better treatment than that of the NHS for heart problems. That I totally accept as I have been repeatedly told it by doctors. But does it really matter where other treatments are delivered if it is the best possible, in the interests of patients and is free to them? I think not.
Simon Stevens, the Chief Executive of NHS England, has stated that the NHS will have an annual £30 billion funding gap by 2020. So I am very pleased that George Osborne has recognised this and is taking steps to avoid it. On Friday he announced that he would be increasing NHS funding by £8 billion a year above inflation. That should deal with that gap.
I am also pleased to hear that both the Prime Minister and Jeremy Hunt, the Health Secretary, have said that those over 75 years of age must see their family doctor on the day of need. That’s good news too.
The NHS should not be a political football. No party owns it and everyone wants it to be as good as possible. It has been superb for me; as mentioned, saving my life once. The NHS belongs to all of us.