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The Conservative Manifesto 1997

SECURITY IN HEALTH

We have been the guardians of the NHS for most of its life, improving its services and securing its funding. The benefits can be seen in our rising standards of health. 1993 was for example the first year in which no child in this country died of measles. Between 1979 and 1995 life expectancy at birth in England has increased from 70.4 years to 74.3 years for men and from 76.4 years to 79.6 years for women. We are getting healthier and we are better looked after when we are sick.

Growing Resources for a Modern Health Service

This progress has been possible because we have increased spending since 1979 by 70% more than inflation, to nearly �43 billion. And we are not stopping there. The next Conservative Government will honour a unique guarantee to the NHS.

We will continue, year by year, to increase the real resources committed to the NHS, so NHS spending will continue to share in a growing economy.

Under Labour there have been years when resources for the NHS actually shrank - something that would be inconceivable with the Conservatives.

Money is only really a means to an end: better patient care. Now we are treating 9.2 million hospital in-patients and day cases as against 6.9 million in 1992 and 5.1 million in 1979.

Investing in Skilled Staff

We are committed to expanding the medical staff of the NHS. We shall therefore increase medical school intakes to 5,000 a year by the year 2000 and are ahead of schedule in reaching the target.

Good nursing is the bedrock of the NHS. In particular we will increase the number of nurses with specialist qualifications in paediatric intensive care, emergency care, and cancer care. The number of nurses qualifying each year will increase in each of the next 5 years as we continue to expand Project 2000 training.

Higher Standards of Service

We are tackling the problem of long waiting times which can cause so much worry, distress, and pain. We have set tough targets under the Patients Charter and as a result average waiting times for inpatient hospital treatments have fallen from more than 6 months 5 years ago to 4 months last year.

Patients no longer put up with being kept in ignorance. They want to know more.

We will publish more information on how successfully hospitals are treating patients so that they and their GPs can make more informed choices between services in different hospitals and help stimulate better performance.

Better primary care

Our vision of the NHS is one in which hospitals and family doctors gain greater power to run their own affairs. That is why we will continue to encourage the spread of fundholding among GPs. Labour by contrast would destroy the new freedoms that fundholding doctors enjoy by imposing a new layer of bureaucracy on top of them.

However, we do not want the benefits of better healthcare to be confined to patients of GP fundholders. Our proposals to shift more healthcare towards family doctors are open to all.

We shall implement the new Primary Care Act which will enable all family doctors to provide a broader range of patient services within their surgeries. This will include "super surgeries" and practice-based cottage hospitals that can offer faster and more local treatment.

We expect to see the number of nurses working in GP practices continue to grow, as will the number of GPs.

We will extend nationwide our plans to enable more nurses to prescribe a wider range of drugs for patients, recognising their contribution to primary care.

Mental Health

The last decade has also seen major changes to the care of mentally ill people. We will continue to develop a full range of services - including 24-hour nursed hostels and secure units - that can care for them in a way which is most appropriate to them and the interests of the wider community.

We will not close any long-stay mental hospitals unless it can be shown that adequate care services exist in the community.

We will strengthen co-operation between health and social services in the delivery of mental health services. Our recent Green Paper showed how this can be done. And we will monitor the progress of Health Authorities in developing proper mental health care plans.

Health of the Nation

A modern health service is not just about treating illness, it is also about keeping people healthy. This is why we launched the Health of the Nation strategy in 1992 - the first time England has had a strategy for health. Its aim is to reduce illness and premature death by identifying common causes of ill health, like excessive smoking and obesity. Different groups in and outside the health service then work together to tackle the problems.

We are already seeing progress. Between 1990 and 1994, deaths from coronary heart disease among the over- 65s, the suicide rate, and the number of teenage pregnancies fell substantially. And last year we announced that environmental targets would be added to Health of the Nation.

Improved general health means fewer people requiring attention in hospitals and GP surgeries - and more resources to be spent on helping patients. Our Health of the Nation strategy is a vital part of our vision of creating a health service fit for the 21st Century.

A Modern Health Service

Healthcare is changing fast. Modern technology is constantly increasing the range of treatments which are available. Conservatives believe that the benefits of these advances should be made available to patients on the basis of their clinical need, without regard to their ability to pay.

Furthermore we also believe that the NHS must have access to sufficient resources to allow it to invest in the facilities required to deliver up- to- date healthcare. Since 1979 capital investment in the NHS has proceeded at an unprecedented rate. In the future we believe these requirements will be best met in a partnership with the private sector which allows the private sector to improve the facilities in which NHS healthcare is delivered.

We will promote the Private Finance Initiative which will unleash a new flow of investment funds into the modernisation of the NHS.

The NHS is a British success story. It commands universal support in Britain. It is widely admired all over the world. Conservatives are proud of the part we playing in improving it still further.



Diana, Princess of Wales, 1961-1997

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