Brown warns over scrapping health targets
Reporter: Lobby Correspondent
Date published: 16 April 2010
GORDON Brown has claimed the Tories pose a risk to the NHS as they will scrap targets which has led to almost 95 per cent of patients in Oldham suspected of having cancer seeing a specialist within two weeks.
Mr Brown insisted that Labour’s promises on NHS treatment would be “on the ballot paper” at next month’s General Election as he sought to emphasise his dividing lines with the Tories on public services.
Under existing Department of Health targets — which the Tories have vowed to scrap — health providers must aim to ensure that all patients can see a cancer specialist within 14 days of a GP referral.
Official figures show that 94.9 per cent of patients were treated at Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, which cares for Oldham patients, within the time period in the three months to December last year.
Under Labour’s manifesto plans, this target would be turned into a legal guarantee and any patient forced to wait longer would be entitled to private treatment paid for by the NHS.
A further guarantee would be introduced to ensure all cancer tests were completed and the results received within a single week.
The Conservatives have said they will scrap all NHS waiting time targets.
The Prime Minister said: “The guarantees for the health service are an issue. They are going to be on the ballot paper, because we want to continue these guarantees, we want to step them up during the next Parliament.
A Conservative Party spokesman said: “We will scrap these targets but we believe our policies will mean people will get seen quicker.
“Close to 100 per cent of cancer patients are now seen within two weeks so Labour’s pledge on this won’t really change anything. We’ve pledged to put the money in to the NHS. The doctors will be there. The choice will be there.
“So our plans will keep waits short. And yes, we can guarantee this - and we can guarantee it will work better under our system than theirs.”
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