General Election
2010
Comparison of the health policies of the three main
political parties
This
following page provides a comparison of the key health policies
outlined by the three main political parties in their 2010 General
Election Manifestos. You can also find links to their full health
policies and manifestos.
Health policy comparison
General/Funding
Labour
- £20 billion of
efficiency-savings to be invested in NHS frontline services over
the next four years.
- Refocus capital
investment on primary and community services.
Conservatives
- Increase health spending
in real terms ‘every year’
- Secure funding for
frontline services by cutting back on bureaucracy.
- Scrap politically
motivated targets.
- Stop forced closure of
A&E and maternity wards.
Liberal Democrats
- Cut spending in
management, quangos and bureaucracy and reinvest in to services,
including mental health.
- Limit the pay and
bonuses of top NHS managers so that none are paid more than the
Prime Minister.
- Put front-line staff in
charge.
Choice, Rights, and Information
Labour
- Increase year-on-year
the payments made to hospitals linked to patient satisfaction and
quality outcomes.
- New NHS Constitution to
give right to patients to determine time and place of
treatment.
- NHS Constitution to
guarantee legal rights of patients to NICE approved drugs.
Conservatives
- Patients able to rate
doctors and hospitals using increased performance data available
online.
- Every patient to have
power to choose healthcare provider that meets NHS standards.
- Patients in charge of
their own health records.
- Spreading the use of the
NHS Tariff, so funding follows patient’s choices.
Liberal Democrats
- Reduce centralised
targets and bureaucracy, replacing them with entitlements
guaranteeing that a patient gets diagnosis and treatment on
time.
- Require hospitals to be
open about mistakes, and always tell patients if something is
wrong.
- Private sector to pay if
treatment not provided on time.
Structures
Labour
- No top-down changes to
the structure of Primary Care Trusts and Strategic Health
Authorities.
- All hospitals will
become Foundation Trusts (FTs) with successful FTs being given
freedom to expand in to primary and community care, and to increase
private services where they are consistent with NHS values.
- Active role of
independent sector.
Conservatives
- Independent NHS
board.
- Creation of
‘HealthWatch’, a statutory body with the power to investigate and
support complaints.
- Ensure that NHS
providers become autonomous Foundation Trusts.
Liberal Democrats
- Scrap Strategic Health
Authorities.
- Introduce elected Local
Health Boards to take over commissioning from PCTs.
- Cut the Department of
Health by half.
- Abolish quangos, such as
Connecting for Health.
- Allowed staff to
establish employee trusts to give them ‘a say in how their service
is run’.
Primary Care
Labour
- Expansion in role of NHS
nurses, particularly in primary care.
- Extend right for staff,
particularly nurses, to request to run their own services in the
not-for profit sector.
- Commitment to opening at
least 100 new GP practices in key areas, along with 152 new GP-led
health centres, open 8am-8pm, seven days a week.
- Abolition of GP practice
boundaries
Conservatives
- GP pay linked to quality
of results.
- GPs to hold patient
budgets and to have role in commissioning services.
- Every patient to have
access to a GP from 8am to 8pm, seven days a week.
Liberal Democrats
- Every patent given right
to choose to register with the GP they want, without being
restricted by where they live.
- Ensure GPs are directly
involved in providing out of hours care.
- Reforming payments to
GPs so that those who accept patients from deprived areas receive
extra payment.
Public Health
Labour
- Health-check guarantee
to ensure everyone from 40 to 74 will be guaranteed routine health
checks on the NHS.
- GPs to provide exercise
and healthy eating advice
Conservatives
- Department of Health to
be renamed the Department of Public Health.
- Separate public health
funding will be allocated to local communities.
- Introduce a health
premium – weighting public health funding towards the poorest areas
with the worst health outcomes.
Liberal Democrats
- Reduce ill health and
crime caused by excessive drinking.
- Support ban on
below-cost selling, and principle of minimum pricing.
Mental Health
Labour
- We will pioneer better
mental health care and tackle the scourge of mental illness
- Access to psychological
therapy for those who need it through the funding of 8000 new
therapists
- Extra support for
charities providing debt advice, mental helath and family support
services in the most deprived areas of England
Conservatives
- Changes the rules for
Foundation Trusts to enable welfare-to-work providers and employers
to purchase services from mental health trusts.
- Increase access to
effective ‘talking’ therapies.
Liberal Democrats
- Prioritise dementia
research within health research.
- Improve access to
counseling for people with mental health problems.
- Continue the roll-out of
cognitive and behavioural therapies.