TORIES SET TO CREATE TWO TIER HEALTH SYSTEM

12.00.00am UTC (GMT +0000) Tue 20th Feb 2001

Proposals for health just don't add up.

Responding to proposals made by the Conservatives to increase the part played by the private sector, Sue Doughty said:"The proposal to give tax relief on private health care does not add up. In an area such as Surrey with a much higher than average number of patients already using the private system, there is not enough money to fund the National Health Service. The £500m of tax relief expected under this proposal is needed within the health service. We should be paying NHS staff more, creating a good career path for them, and setting up housing schemes to enable us to retain our nurses. We also need to train more doctors and to bring our health spending up to the European average.

Many people only use private health care to enable them to schedule operations which they would otherwise have had on the National Health. We should be ensuring that systems are in place to guarantee booked places with consultants and that patients are seen on the basis of need, not bank balance.

The local Conservatives seem to forget that the problems in the hospitals were created by them and that tinkering round the edges will not undo the years of damage inflicted. Turning up at the Commons and demanding that the government puts right the problems which they have caused may be good for headlines but will make no difference to the outcome. This latest proposal is just another example of how their proposals for the public sector just don't add up.