General election 2015 – NHS, Health and care party policies.

With just 17 days to go until the General Election, we think it would be useful to try and clarify what each of the seven major parties are pledging regarding Heath and Care. 

One of the most important topics in the 2015 General Election is how each party is going to manage the NHS over the next 5 years.

Here are the main pledges made by each party:

Conservative

  •   Increase NHS spending in England by at least £8bn above inflation over the next five years
  •   Seven-day access to GPs by 2020 & same day appointments for over-75s when needed
  •   Integrate health and social care
  •   Improve access to mental health treatments

Labour

  •   Extra £2.5bn funding for the NHS, to pay for 20,000 more nurses, 3,000 midwives and 8,000 GPs
  •   Repeal the Health and Social Care Act and cap the amount of profit private firms can make from the NHS at 5%
  •   Integrate NHS health care and social care
  •   End 15 minute care visits

Lib Dems

  •   Increase real terms NHS funding at least £8bn a year by 2020, starting with an extra £1bn a year until 2018
  •   Integrate health and social care budgets
  •   £3.5bn extra for mental health
  •   That includes £1.25bn for children and teenagers and £250m for pregnant women and new mums with depression

UKIP

  •   Extra £3bn a year for the NHS by 2020, used to fund 20,000 more nurses, 8,000 GPs and 3,000 midwives
  •   Spend £200m on scrapping hospital car parking charges
  •   Insist migrants and visitors to UK have private health insurance
  •   Extra £1.2bn a year for social care

Green

  •   Increase NHS budget by £12bn a year
  •   Ensure the NHS is fully publicly-funded, end privatisation and repeal the Health and Social Care Act 2012
  •   Make mental health a greater priority
  •   Social care provided free if needed

SNP

  •   Protect health budget and improve quality
  •   Cut senior management numbers by 25%, give flexible access to healthcare and reduce waiting
  •   One-stop cancer diagnosis
  •   Further integration between NHS 24 and Scottish Ambulance Service

Plaid Cymru

  •   Train and recruit 1,000 extra doctors
  •   Integrate health and social care
  •   New Medicines and Treatments Fund to help treatments not usually available on NHS
  •   Oppose NHS privatisation and inclusion in US-EU free trade agreement, TTIP

 

Which party do you think pledges to best manage the NHS over the next 5 years?

Please select from the following parties
Conservative
0%
Labour
0%
Lib Dem
0%
UKIP
0%
Green
0%
SNP
0%
Plaid Cymru
0%
Based on 596 public votes.

Do you have any comments?

Not a member?

You need to be a member to interact with Silversurfers. Joining is free and simple to do. Click the button below to join today!

Click here if you have forgotten your password
tynes1der
30th May 2015
0
Thanks for voting!
In my view, Politicians have put the NHS where it is today. None of them have reduced over management to a level that allows serious expenditure on front line services
andbrown01
4th May 2015
0
Thanks for voting!
the conservatives are not to be trusted on the NHS
tynes1der
30th May 2015
0
Thanks for voting!
AlexanderG2
29th Apr 2015
1
Thanks for voting!
Most of the people calling for help from the NHS are there through their own fault through a lazy lifestyle all their lives.
The smokers from lack of self-motivation to try to stop.
The big fat obesity ridden bodies from fast foods.
The sports fans on the terraces who think they know it all, except the only exercise they do is from their mouths.
The stupid dog walkers who should walk a bit faster and not spend all their time out watching their lovable canines.
Now I have got that off my shoulders, I can get on my bike and cycle to the swimming pool for thirty lengths.
ray 1314
24th Apr 2015
4
Thanks for voting!
Thank goodness the NHS is a devolved power in Scotland ,the Tory party has destroyed the NHS in England and if they get back in,beware,cause they are going to destroy it even further.
Hawke008
23rd Apr 2015
4
Thanks for voting!
None of these policies spells out how the increases in NHS funding will be met.
Promises to increase numbers of GPs in 5 years? It takes 9years to train a GP. It takes 3 years to train a nurse and midwives longer.
nagonthenet
22nd Apr 2015
-4
Thanks for voting!
Way to go UKIP - look at this result for a "minority" party!
gennie
22nd Apr 2015
2
Thanks for voting!
How can Cameron be ahead of the nhs poll when he is responsible for the current state of the nhs at the moment. I am 70 and know hundreds of people who are suffering from the the situation of no appointments with g ps hospital appointments delayed and cancelled. Ambulances not available. How can this be
pedro
22nd Apr 2015
4
Thanks for voting!
I use the NHS on a regular basis. I've just had a knee replaced and both my eyes relensed. Yes there is a waiting time but with the appointments system, it is very acceptable.
Leave the NHS as it is!
AlexanderG2
29th Apr 2015
3
Thanks for voting!
Yes thank you, my wife had an accident in 2011 Nr. Peterborough after going into a water filled pohole.
The ambulance came promptly the two angels were so caring
and expert.She (my wife) ended up at Addenbrookes in Cambridge with a Subdural hemoerrage. The Phillapean nurse in the critical care unit tended to her every need, then after two weeks, an ambulance and two nurses brought her all the way back to Scotland.
This was made possible by our wonderful NHS.so nobody
dare do anything to change. Human beings make everything
possible not statistics and MPs.
Archiebald
21st Apr 2015
4
Thanks for voting!
Surely for us all the most important thing is our health? Baring that in mind we should stop all this stupidity about who is best placed to run the NHS and just get it sorted for once and all.
dougasteadman
21st Apr 2015
2
Thanks for voting!
All you fellow silver survers need to vote Conservative to get a majority in the Government for Dave. Keep Milliband and that Scottish Woman OUT !!!
rudgy
23rd Apr 2015
2
Thanks for voting!
Oh dear what planet are you on .You have been conned by the media ,but if you want the old Etonians looking out for you .Good luck you will need it .
SuperGrey
21st Apr 2015
4
Thanks for voting!
Interesting how few people choose the Green option with its removing the profit motive from healthcare. It has no business there. And I may be going grey, but I'm not sure why I should be positively discriminated against when I'm 75+ as opposed to those still working to support my pension, health and social care, thank you very much.
Westminster
21st Apr 2015
1
Thanks for voting!
The NHS is jolly good, especially for emergency situations, but I would urge those who can afford it to have Private Insurance.

Belonging to BUPA means that if I need one of the usual operations for someone of my age, I can have it done fairly rapidly, and time is the one thing we Silversurfers are running out of.

We should although always provide a first class NHS, but it should be for British people, not the world.
terryc
20th Apr 2015
4
Thanks for voting!
The Greens have it for me because they want to take it out of private hands. Whatever the 32% so far of Conservatives think, they cannot deny that the NHS has been handled very badly on their watch. It may well have been bad under Labour but it is now extremely poor. Of course people have good experiences with the NHS but that is despite and not because of the privatised service that we now get. Mental health is so low down the list of priorities as to not exist. We have people in my county (Wiltshire) being transported to Leeds to get treatment, if they're lucky.
tonystygal
20th Apr 2015
3
Thanks for voting!
The Tories are only promising the money back which they have already taken from the NHS in real terms.
Peter
20th Apr 2015
4
Thanks for voting!
To be honest I don't believe any of them about the funding amounts - they are all promising the world at the moment to get votes with no idea how to fund it all.

However I do think the conservative idea of seven day a week GP access and same day for the over 75's is a great policy and long overdue. Lack of GP access at the weekends send A&E units into overload with non emergencies that could be dealt with in a local surgery.
Wilf
20th Apr 2015
4
Thanks for voting!
I am sure we all get totally confused by the £ billions all the main parties rant about giving the NHS. The question for me is "how much does it need to reach optimum efficiency?" Its not difficult. get an independent body to access and manage the information and then budget. Surly thats what you do in any business. In terms of voting I thing the SNP has a good point with one-stop cancer care and UKIP to abolish hospital car parking charges-they are stupid when people only go to a hospital to seek health and to see their loved ones.

Community Terms & Conditions

Content standards

These content standards apply to any and all material which you contribute to our site (contributions), and to any interactive services associated with it.

You must comply with the spirit of the following standards as well as the letter. The standards apply to each part of any contribution as well as to its whole.

Contributions must:

be accurate (where they state facts); be genuinely held (where they state opinions); and comply with applicable law in the UK and in any country from which they are posted.

Contributions must not:

contain any material which is defamatory of any person; or contain any material which is obscene, offensive, hateful or inflammatory; or promote sexually explicit material; or promote violence; promote discrimination based on race, sex, religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation or age; or infringe any copyright, database right or trade mark of any other person; or be likely to deceive any person; or be made in breach of any legal duty owed to a third party, such as a contractual duty or a duty of confidence; or promote any illegal activity; or be threatening, abuse or invade another’s privacy, or cause annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety; or be likely to harass, upset, embarrass, alarm or annoy any other person; or be used to impersonate any person, or to misrepresent your identity or affiliation with any person; or give the impression that they emanate from us, if this is not the case; or advocate, promote or assist any unlawful act such as (by way of example only) copyright infringement or computer misuse.

Nurturing a safe environment

Our Silversurfers community is designed to foster friendships, based on trust, honesty, integrity and loyalty and is underpinned by these values.

We don't tolerate swearing, and reserve the right to remove any posts which we feel may offend others... let's keep it friendly!