NHS – Where do Labour, Conservatives and Liberal Democrats stand?
THE NHS is always guaranteed to feature heavily in any general election campaign.
But what are the main parties’ plans for the health service? Here’s what you need to know.
The Conservatives
The party has pledged a £33.9bn cash increase in the health budget by 2023-24.
It says it wants to recruit 6,000 extra GPs and deliver 50 million more appointments a year by 2024-25.
It has also pledged to upgrade 20 hospitals and build 40 new ones.
The party is facing criticism over the current performance of the health service, with data released this week showing delays for hospital care and A&E admissions at their highest levels on record.
Labour
Labour has made the NHS, an issue on which it is traditionally more trusted by voters than the Conservatives, a central plank of its campaign.
Speaking at an event at the Royal Society of Medicine this week, shadow health secretary said the health service had seen a “decade of under-funding and cuts”.
He said Labour would increase annual NHS spending from the current £121bn to £155bn in 2023-24.
The party claims that would leave the budget £6bn higher in real terms than the government’s plans.
Shadow chancellor John McDonnell had earlier said that increases in health spending would be funded by changes to higher-rate tax thresholds.
“Income tax rates, national insurance and VAT will not increase for 95 per cent [of people]”, he said.
“We will reduce the threshold for 45p rates for £80,000 and reintroduce the 50p rate for £125,000.”
The Liberal Democrats
The Lib Dems have pledged a cash injection for the NHS funded by a 1p rise in income tax.
As in the past, they have also made improvements in mental health treatment the focus of their plans to improve the health service.
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They say they would invest £11bn in mental health services, and have reiterated a commitment to achieving parity in the treatment of mental and physical health.
They are also opposed to the government’s plans to introduce an immigration surcharge for EU workers after Brexit, saying it would penalise those coming to the UK to staff the NHS as doctors and nurses.
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