Information supplied by the Martin Ratfelder, Director of the Socialist Health Foundation proves that Labour has stood by it’s pledges made in Labour’s 2005 manifesto to sustain investment in the NHS to deliver it’s commitments to:
*Reduce waiting times
*Expand the NHS workforce
*Improve buildings and facilities
*Triple spending compared to 1997 levels
NHS spending increased from £33.5 billion in 1997/8 to £76.4 billion in 2005/6 and is expected to have reached £96.4 billion for the financial year 2008/9.
Expenditure in real terms will have increased by nearly 7% each year between 2000/01 and 2010/11, compared to average increases of 4% over the lifetime of the NHS. This represents the highest sustained increase in funding since the NHS was established.
The current Labour government has pledged to stick to its planned increase in NHS spending in 2010/11, which will take the total NHS budget to £105.8 billion. Thereafter, ‘frontline’ NHS spending will rise in line with inflation in 2011/12 and 2012/13.
The Conservative Party has not given any details about how it plans to protect health funding.
Kathy Pearce, Labour Candidate for Bridgwater and West Somerset says “Don’t forget what the Tories did to the NHS when they were in power. They cannot be trusted with our NHS”.
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