The health service, for all its faults, is much better than 11 years ago.

Waiting lists are down from an average of 18 months, to 4-6 weeks. The infrustructure of the hospital buildings, and clinics have dramatically improved in some areas. Cancer and heart deaths are down. Funding has made a real difference, and the NHS is undoubtedly better with 78,000 more nurses and 20,000 more doctors.

There have been some great reforms, some I'm not supportive of. I support the latest polyclinic plan, which can make a real difference in poorer areas. I don't mind if the state picks up the tab for private operations, as long as my gran gets the same treatment as a duchess. However, foundation hospitals may have led to middle-class areas creaming off funding.

Another greatreform of this government, is that they didn't divert funding to poorer peforming hospitals. This has meant that poorer wings and hospitals have to close. However bad in the short term, it is the long term right decision.

The government announced that quality, and not money or quantity would define funding yesterday. The particular problem with the cleaning industry, is that its marketisation has led to funding being directed on the issue of cost, rather than quality.

This is the greatness of the constitution. Rather than inciting people to fall for wonder drugs, it ends the postcode lottery by allowing people to demand any drug that NICE recommends. It needs more than £100 mn to ease the costs, but its a start.

The issue of choice doesn't weaken the roots of the NHS in the latest reforms. Everyone now has a legal right to choose their GP and hospital.

For those who say we need to change our funding structure, it is important to know that countries like France and the US are moving towards our funding structures.

It is more cost effective, as the Tories found when they wanted to abolish the NHS in the '50's, as public and private costs combined took up less of GDP. Ironically, the same things were said then: an ageing population, galloping technological advance and rising public expectations make the NHS unsustainable.

The NHS is in good health. 10 years ago, it needed serious operating on. But there are no more defecits, no more annual crises, and no more winter ward closures. Avoidable death rates show a 23% improvement-in the years of 1998-2003, before the big Labour spend.

I'm driven day by day, further into disbelief, when I see that the government thinks by talking right, they'll win votes. Our core voters had never been seeked out for political retribution before, but with the 10p tax rate, they found a reason to think of Labour as bad as, if not worse than the Tories. Our supreme electoral coalition has disintegrated. The only way we will win, is by uniting our natural coalition, stretching from metropolitan liberals, to working class socialists.

Sweden has many lessons to offer. Their current PM, is who David Cameron bases himself on. The government were convinced that the Social Democrats loss in 2006 was a result of centre-left policies. But again, the parallels to Britain are striking. They wanted to kick out a leader who had been looking tired, and had been running the country for 10 years.

If Brown is radical, he can shake off this old, tired milieu that seems to haunt him. I said the other day that the time had come for a Labour revolution. Brown can lead it if he is successful. He needs a right-to-buy, or an NHS to get him to win.

He should stand on the doorstep of No. 10, and say, "I have persued the policies of Thatcherism, and they haven't helped the citizens of this country when they are already worrying about the economy. I am sorry for the 10p tax fiasco, and the failure to adequately tax the super rich. I am sorry for the civil service cuts that have lead to data losses, and the lack of financial regulations that have exacerbated fears about the economy.

I have to take tough decisions in this job. The era of cheap fuel is over. I know it's difficult to hear, but we do need higher taxes to make public services excellent. I, like the opposition leaders, have persued the same undiluted ideology for too long. It is only Labour though, that has the philosophy to correct many of these mistakes.

So I announce to you today, that I'm not going to cut fuel tax. But, what I will do, is use every penny, and I mean every penny, to subsidise public transport. I will use windfall taxes on polluting companies, to fund a new global project to find renewable sources, which I hope my colleagues across the world will join me in funding. I want a world without nuclear weapons, and we must engage other countries, to start the process of multilateral non-proliferation. I will stop the tax breaks on the super-rich, and will redistribute much of those taxes to the lower paid in our society. Not only is it morally the right thing to do, it is economically prudent. I will place more regulations on the financial markets, to stop exploitation of the British people.

I am not going to promise the British people the world. But it is my duty, in the name of social justice, to help them. We're all going to have to be a bit disappointed with pay checks, and prices, but I will do my best with the tax system, to ensure the well off aren't profiting at the expense of most Britons. We do need higher taxes, but it can get us excellent public services. I said in 2003, that Labour is "Best when we are boldest". Let Labour fulfil this promise."


Of course, perhaps he can say this in a less blunt way. But we need a radical path. The only way to lift the fake liberal mask covering David Cameron, is to persue a bold agenda. It has to be a bold progressive agenda. It seems to be universal childcare to me, that will guarantee Labour a couple of more terms, like right-to-buy guaranteed Thatcher 3 successive election victories.

Mostly though, it will not be radical policies, but the general state of affairs that will determine his legacy. I support the current polyclinic plan, but we shouldn't hear 'Reform. Reform. Reform.' constantly. The NHS has drastically improved, but the bread and butter issues of more doctors, more midwives, more nurses, more funding etc. should be the key battleground. I remember reading an article by Polly Toynbee (04/01/08) which showed the model of the Nottingham University Hospital Trust, a model I think we should follow, as it showed that it is not reshaping the beaurocracy, but the attention to the patients that has dramatically improved the hospital. The NHS defines my support for Labour, and I think the model of this hospital should be copied throughout the NHS.

On some levels, he needs radical new policies, and on other matters, he needs to stop pretending that his policies are radical. I think Brown can win, and we can cement Labour's place in government for a long time.

Following the launch of the pamphlet Machines, markets and morals: the new politics of a democratic NHS we can announce a major debate in the House of Commons at 6pm on Thursday 28 February with Compass Chair Neal Lawson, Professor Julian Le Grand, UNISON's Head of Health Karen Jennings, Anna Coote from the Healthcare Commission and chaired by The Observer's Mary Riddell.

In 2006, Gordon Brown asked the Fabian New Year Conference: "What is the British equivalent of the US fourth of July, or even the French 14th of July? ... What is our equivalent for a national celebration of who we are and what we stand for?" He said he had in mind giving the country a new public holiday. 2008 should be the year to make it happen, And why not choose the birthday of the NHS to celebrate this great symbol of our shared values?

David Cameron has now retracted his apology for claiming that hospitals were under threat of closure or downgrading services when they weren’t. The Tories have said that a “junior researcher” has apologised in error.

A Conservative MP has suggested that David Cameron’s campaign to save emergency and maternity services at 19 district hospitals is a scaremongering exercise exploiting older people and the vulnerable...
Henry Bellingham, Conservative MP for Norfolk North West said, “As a local MP I wasn't consulted on this and I apologise unreservedly to the staff of the hospital”.

Tuesday, 12 June - 1800-1930 

With Andy Burnham MP, Minister of State, Department of Health; Stephen Burke, CEO, Counsel and Care; David Walker, Editor, Guardian Public; and Jane Roberts, former leader of Camden Council. Delyth Morgan, Vice-Chair of Progress, will chair.

Committee Room 11, House of Commons 

To register, send your name and email address to Tom Brooks Pollock (tom@progressives.org.uk; 0203 008 8180).

Tuesday, 12 June - 1800-1930 

With Andy Burnham MP, Minister of State, Department of Health; Stephen Burke, CEO, Counsel and Care; David Walker, Editor, Guardian Public; and Jane Roberts, former leader of Camden Council. Delyth Morgan, Vice-Chair of Progress, will chair.

Committee Room 11, House of Commons

To register, please submit your name and email address to Tom Brooks Pollock (tom@progressives.org.uk; 0203 008 8180).

http://www.progressonline.org.uk/100

Tuesday, 12 June - 1800-1930 

With Andy Burnham MP, Minister of State, Department of Health; Stephen Burke, CEO, Counsel and Care; David Walker, Editor, Guardian Public; and Jane Roberts, former leader of Camden Council; and Delyth Morgan, Vice-Chair of Progress, in the chair.

Committee Room 11, House of Commons 

To register, send your name and email address to Tom Brooks Pollock (tom@progressives.org.uk; 0203 008 8180). 

 

This is an article published in last week's Tribune. It argues that the NHS, once Labour's electoral trump card, has become our Achilles' heel.

This is an article published in last week's Tribune.

The NHS has seen unprecedented levels of funding in the last few years. The vast majority of it spent on acute hospitals. Despite this, health inequalities have persisted. I argue that public health and preventative measures should be given greater priority under our next Prime Minister.

Is the intention of increased privatisation and competition in the NHS to create a 'brand' which carries a guarantee of certain quality standards? After all how may patients are actually concerned about whether they get care or treatment directly from NHS staff or from some agency paid for by the NHS?

The Socialist Health Association has published a very useful discussion document that outlines an alternative vision for the development of the health service in England.

The NHS is clearly in crisis.  I was at the labour nhs supporters network, where the two ministers got a tremendous headache from the debate.  They clearly weren't expecting the tirade, with only one out of the forty in the room saying that there was no problems in the NHS at present.

This is an article published in last week's Tribune.

If anyone has recently been into an NHS hospital as a patient or visitor - you may have noticed the wall-mounted combined telephone and television units. The exhorbitant prices they charge can be problematic for those that regularly use hospital services.

I explain why these charges are so high.

Has anyone got any experience of using these over-priced facilities?

The NHS is paying drug companies hundreds of millions of pounds too much for branded medicines, according to the Office of Fair Trading.

This is an article published in Tribune last week.

Reconfiguration of NHS services is causing significant political waves. Thirteen ministers have been campaigning against proposed closures to NHS services in their constituencies.

They are Hazel Blears, John Reid, Tessa Jowell, Harriet Harman, Jacqui Smith, Phil Woolas, Ivan Lewis (Health Minister!), Mike O'Brien, Derek Twigg, Joan Ryan, James Plaskitt, Kitty Ussher (PPS), Mary Creagh (PPS).

This article concerns reconfiguration of maternity services.

According to Charles Clarke Labour should consider extending charging to more areas of the NHS.

Today marks the lowest NHS waiting lists since records began - but does anyone believe it or care?