Clegg sets out plans for a people's Health Service

1.12.33pm UTC (GMT +0000) Wed 23rd Jan 2008

Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg

Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg has outlined his vision for the NHS, setting out plans to give communities genuine control over local health services, and providing for older people with personal care needs. The Policy Paper, which will go to the Party's Spring Conference in March, proposes a 'Care Guarantee', with an additional £2 billion spent on a personal care payment for all elderly people requiring care, based on need and not their ability to pay. The paper also proposes a 'Patient Contract' guaranteeing every citizen access to a high standard of core healthcare entitlements within maximum waiting times, directly elected local Health Boards instead of unaccountable Primary Care Trusts, and the rolling out of direct payments and individual budgets for people with chronic, long term conditions, for mental health services and support for those with learning disabilities.

Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg said "Sixty years after it was founded, the NHS is in desperate need of a new direction. The service we are getting is simply not good enough. Cancer survival is below the European average and health inequalities have widened under Labour. Many older people are not getting the personal care they so desperately require. We are letting down those most in need. The question is not 'how much', but 'how we spend the money' so that everyone gets the healthcare they need."