The first important point is that I absolutely believe in an NHS which is free at the point of use. People deserve the best possible healthcare - especially the sick, the young, and the elderly. When I was a child, I spent a lot of time in Great Ormond Street hospital, and if not for the NHS at that time I would now almost certainly be in a wheelchair. So I know its value.
Some people are saying that the Government's NHS reform - giving power to doctors, nurses, and GPs - will cost £16 million in West Essex. It is important that this is a one-off cost. Also, it is more than covered by the extra £24 million that has been invested into our local NHS, since 2010.
In Parliament, I voted to bring this extra money to our health service. Labour opposed it - and Labour MPs voted against it in Parliament. At a national level, Labour's plan is still actually to cut funding to the NHS. That is why we must look very carefully at what is happening on the ground.
In the past 18 months, thanks to the investment of this Conservative-led Government, we have seen 100,000 more patients treated every month. Britain now has 4,000 extra doctors and 4,000 fewer managers; more clincal staff; and the number of people in mixed-sex wards is down by 94%. Waiting lists are down to their lowest ever levels. The number of people on long-term waiting lists has also hit record lows.
People will remember that Labour wasted £6 billion on an NHS computer that didn't work, and signed up to contracts where it cost £300 to change a lightbulb.
By contrast, the Coalition Government's reforms are about stopping the waste, and putting our GPs and hospitals like Princess Alexandra in the driving seat. Altogether, a total of £4.5 billion is being taken out of bureaucracy and ploughed back into frontline patient-care. There is a one-off cost, yes. But it is worth it. We have to invest now to get savings later.
In the East of England alone, scrapping the Strategic Health Authority will save at least £45 million a year, in lower management and administrative costs. This can all be invested in more nurses and doctors for towns like Harlow.
On the issue of contracting out services, it is important to remember that the last Labour Government enabled many private providers to do operations (e.g. Rivers Hospital outside Harlow was contracted by the NHS to do some operations privately).
Of course, the Government must get the detail right. And if there are problems, these must be looked at seriously. But fundamentally, I believe that putting our nurses, GPs, and doctors in charge of our NHS is the right thing to do. It is long overdue. That is at the heart of the reforms.
by Robert Halfon - www.roberthalfon.blogspot.com
