Labour draws up NHS battle lines as general election looms nearer

摘要

A Labour government would recruit 20,000 extra nurses, which would include 10,000 more newly trained nurses. Other pledges include joined up services from home to hospital and introducing measures such as tackling stress and lifting morale to boost staff wellbeing, the party's leader Ed Miliband has said. The future of the health service will be one of the key battlegrounds in May's general election and Mr Miliband has set out his ten-year vision for the NHS. The opposition leader committed to invest an extra ￡2.5 billion for a new NHS Time to Care Fund. He also promised another 20,000 NHS nurses, half of them newly trained, with plans to boost the number of training commissions from September. Health pledges Another 8,000 GPs and 3,000 more midwives will also be recruited, as well as 5,000 homecare workers, who will be paid for from the annual ￡2.5 billion fund drawn from cracking down on tax avoidance, a mansion tax and a levy on tobacco firms. The party also wants to repeal the government's 'privatisation laws' (the Health and Social Care Act) and 'recommit to the pay review body' process. Other pledges include guaranteeing GP appointments in 48 hours and cancer test results within a week; prioritising investment in young people's mental health; and introducing limits on the amount of sugar, fat and salt in food marketed to children. Nursing Standard quizzed Mr Miliband and shadow health secretary Andy Burnham on these pledges, during their visit to George Eliot Hospital in Nuneaton, Warwickshire last week. Some of Labour's key promises for the health service are outlined below.