It’s the week of the 60th Anniversary of the NHS. And, to mark the occasion, the Government is today releasing the final report in Lord Darzi’s review of the health service. It’s set to be reform-minded and geared towards ending the “postcode lottery”.
Early signs, though, suggest Brown’s reputation has poisoned the operation from the outset. A YouGov poll for the Telegraph finds that only 23 percent of voters think Labour will improve the NHS over the next ten years. That contrasts with 31 percent who think the Tories will.
The poll also records an important public shift away from spending towards value and reform. Only 24 percent of respondents think that the NHS needs more money, compared with 59 percent in 1998. Whilst 69 percent want the service to be reorganised, compared with 38 percent in 1998.
All of which spells trouble for Brown. During his time as Chancellor, he was able to get away with being the “roadblock to reform”, primarily because Labour had so forcefully pressed the argument that increased spending = improved services. But no-one’s buying that any more. Voters want reform, and they know Brown’s not the person to deliver it.
Besides, even if Brown were to unreservedly push the Darzi recommendations, there’s the sense that there’s no time left for him to see the program through. A minister once told Rachel Sylvester that the Government is “about three years behind where we would have been [on public service reform] if Gordon hadn’t been so difficult when he was Chancellor.” With two years, at most, until the next general election, the wastefulness of those three years is now in even starker relief.
All of which is excellent news for the Tories. Cameron pledged to make the NHS his number one priority. But his party’s health policy is far from encouraging, and we now know a first-term Tory government would concentrate its efforts elsewhere. Despite this, the Tories are still being regarded as the “party of the NHS”. By default.
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