Bristol East 2005 Tory Prospective MP to End NHS 'Minor Treatments'

9.16.00am GMT Mon 11th Jan 2010

Bristol East 2005 Tory Prospective MP wants end to minor treatments on the NHS. Julia Manning, who stood for Parliament in Bristol East in 2005, coming 3rd, is currently director of the 2020Health.org think tank and a close adviser to the Tory leadership. She claims that ending free treatment for minor or "lifestyle" illnesses could save £20 billion a year - about a fifth of the annual budget. "Examples of this include varicose veins, acne, short stature, IVF, cosmetic surgery and moderate increases in blood pressure or cholesterol." she said.

Mike Popham, Bristol East's Lib Dem Prospective MP for the coming general election said "The NHS represents values which unite us as a nation - a comprehensive health service, which treats all people equally, and is free when we need it. We now know that the Tories' supposed commitment to decentralised control of the NHS is false. It is the hospitals themselves that change the course of our lives, not central think tanks making detailed statements about what doctors and nurses should decide themselves - at the point of patient care."

"The Liberal Democrats know how important the NHS is and that's why we will ensure that the NHS provides high quality care and the best possible service long into the future - driven by priorities set by doctors and nurses. A lot of money has been invested in health in recent years but too much of that has been wasted on bureaucracy rather than investing in frontline services. Doctors and nurses are forced to spend too much time trying to meet government targets rather than caring for patients. And we now know that it is not only Government ministers that make decisions about closing local services from the comfort of their offices rather than facing the people it affects, but the Tories too.", he said.

"Patients must come first and local people, not Tory think tanks, must say how their local hospitals are run. Julia Manning, her Tory think tank, and the Tories still pursue central targets, in this case precise clinical decisions about varicose veins, acne, short stature, IVF and cosmetic surgery. Only the Lib Dems will put doctors and nurses back in charge of their hospitals and wards.", Mike added.

Links:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article6982400.ece