17/04/05 - Cllr Tomlinson Answers Questions On Health
Cllr Justin Tomlinson Responds To Evening Advertiser Questions On Health
1. Medicine has become target-orientated and almost business-like. What will your party do to reverse this trend and make medicine more about the patient?
A patient-centred approach is at the very heart of Conservative policy. Labour’s “top down” approach is no longer appropriate. Labour’s centralised targets are stifling local initiative in health. We will change this. Our Right to Choose will give everyone power over where and when they are treated, putting the patient before pointless targets.
2. Childhood obesity is a huge problem in this country and yet still people like football stars are advertising junk food. What will your party do to tackle this problem?
Under Labour, the amount spent on school meals per child is less than the price of a tin of cat or dog food. We will increase the funding for school meals, and also remove junk food from school menus, promoting healthy and balanced diets for children.
3. People can go into hospital with a minor problem and come out with MRSA. Where do you put the blame for this and what would you do about it?
Last year more people died from MRSA than from road accidents, it is an issue than simply cannot be ignored. Hospitals are being hampered – they are finding it difficult to make the sort of quick decision about ward closures that is necessary in order to fight infection. We will bring back matrons, who will have the authority to close down infected wards immediately, no longer constrained by pointless targets.
4. What will your party do to bridge the gap between the health of the rich and the poor?
A Conservative Government will not only match Labour’s spending plans, but we will also divert more of the funding to improving frontline health care. We will also give patients the freedom to choose where they are treated, which is currently only available to the rich under Labour. Why shouldn’t local residents be able to choose the hospital that offers the shortest waiting list, and best medical care regardless of postcode?
5. At the moment there are lots of NHS managers who are nothing to do with medicine. Why not hand over the NHS to the doctors and nurses?
The Conservatives fully support allowing doctors and nurses to be free to run the NHS. It is doctors and nurses who understand how to deliver the excellent health care we deserve, and not the meddling Labour politicians who prefer to set and chase endless pointless targets.
