The Telegraph is running an excellent series on what the Tories would do in power. Yesterday, Jill Kirby wrote about the Tories and family policy, and this morning Anthony Browne turns the spotlight on the Tory approach to the NHS. Health policy under Cameron has been, to put it mildly, uninspiring. The Tories’ main aim seems to have been to neutralise it as a political issue and keep the BMA on side. The result is a policy that reeks of producer capture.
One of Browne’s main points is that the Tories must not succumb to the short-term political temptation of opposing the closure of every hospital or local doctor’s surgery. As Browne writes:
“Embracing reform means the Tories will have to stop opposing all hospital closures; the configuration of hospitals dates from 60 years ago and is not appropriate for 2008. If patients prefer to travel further to specialist centres because the outcomes are better than smaller local non-specialist centres, the system must evolve to reflect that.
People in some places may prefer family GPs in the next street, others may prefer polyclinics that may be more anonymous but are open at weekends and offer more services. Government should not decide what services are on offer, but should ensure a system that responds to the public demand.”
Over the next 18 months, there are going to be many instances where the Tories are going to have to choose between opportunistic opposition and preparing for government. It is too much to expect of any party that they will pass up every opportunity to land an easy blow on their opponents. But the Tories must be careful to avoid restricting their room for manoeuvre once in government.
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