Busting the myths
Myth 1: The NHS is being cut.
Fact: We are increasing the NHS budget above inflation year-after-year-something which Labour opposes. But this does not mean that we can continue to put up with inefficient services, because of the rising demands on the NHS due to an ageing population and better technologies. That is why we are modernising the NHS-any savings we make will be ploughed straight back into patient care.
Myth 2: The NHS doesn’t need any change.
Fact: Someone in this country is twice as likely to die from a heart attack as someone in France. Survival rates for some cancers are amongst the worst in the OECD. Premature mortality rates from respiratory disease are worse than the European average. The number of managers in the NHS doubled under Labour, and productivity went down year-on-year.
Myth 3: These changes represent the privatisation of the NHS.
Fact: We will never privatise the NHS. The NHS will always be there for everyone who needs it, funded from general taxation, and based on need and not ability to pay.
Myth 4: Private hospitals will take over the NHS.
Fact: We want patients to be able to choose to be treated wherever they want to be-whether it’s an NHS hospital or one in the voluntary or private sectors. This is because more choice and more competition will lead to benefits for patients. But we don’t want to set a target for the amount of private sector involvement in the NHS-unlike Labour- and unlike Labour we won’t pay the private sector any more than we would pay the NHS. And we will establish a powerful new regulator to enforce these rules.
Myth 5: The policy of price competition in the NHS will lead to a “race to the bottom” on quality.
Fact: Patients won’t know how much a service costs, because NHS services are free at the point of use. Patients will therefore choose to be treated at the highest-quality provider. There will be competition on quality, not price.
Where prices can be reduced, in agreement with both frontline GPs and those offering the service, we will allow it in certain cases. This is the policy Labour set out in 2009, when in government.
Myth 6: Private providers will just cherry-pick the easiest cases, undercutting the NHS.
Fact: The less complex the procedure, the less someone-including in the private sector- will be paid. Unlike Labour, we will not rig the market in favour of the private sector.
Myth 7: Waiting times will increase.
Fact: We are not removing any guarantees which benefit patients. That’s why we’ve retained the cancer waiting time targets. It’s why we will ensure that patient experience is central to how we measure NHS performance. And it’s why we’ll allow patients to choose where to be treated, which will drive improvements in quality and waiting times. But when a quarter of patients with cancer are diagnosed only after an emergency, it’s not enough to focus simply on waiting times. That is why we’re focusing on the actual results which matter as well, like survival rates from cancer.
Myth 8: These changes will lead to a postcode lottery.
Fact: Clear national standards of care will be set, so patients can be confident that-wherever they are treated-NHS care will be of the same high standard, wherever they live.
Myth 9: Doctors and nurses will be turned into accountants.
Fact: Frontline doctors and nurses will not be turned into accountants. They will bring clinical leadership into the NHS. They will be given all the support they need to help them take decisions in the best interests of their patients, so that they have even more power to do what they do best: caring for patients.
Myth 10: These plans will result in the closure of hospitals.
Fact: There are no plans to close hospitals. Indeed, our plans will prevent the kind of top-down closures Labour made without reference to local communities. And our changes will make the NHS more efficient by cutting back on bureaucracy, ensuring that every penny spent in the NHS is spent where it should be.
Myth 11: Patients with rare conditions will suffer, because GPs don’t know enough about them.
Fact: Like now, the care of people with rare conditions won’t be commissioned by GPs, but by national experts in these conditions.
Myth 12: This is a huge, top-down reorganisation.
Fact: We’re moving away from top-down organisation and control. We’re removing targets that tie up NHS staff in red tape and we’re getting politicians out of decision-making. We’re removing whole tiers of management that sit above doctors and nurses and instead giving them the power to decide what’s best for their patients. We’re giving patients more choice and control over care, rather than managers telling them what they get. Our changes are about simplifying and modernising the NHS; not top-down change.