Protect the NHS says Ed Gonҫalves

Ed sets out where he stands on the NHS in the piece below:

"I believe the NHS is one of our most valuable public services and if I am elected in May I can say with certainty that I will fight to protect it. I and my family have reason to be deeply grateful for the care it has provided to us, in particular to my son who has fought a serious condition. One of the reasons I am standing is to fight to defend the NHS from the cuts a future majority Conservative government would inflict on it - and would have inflicted on it during the last Parliament if the Lib Dems hadn't prevented them. And one of the reasons I am standing as a Liberal Democrat candidate is that the Liberal Democrats are the only Party that has publically committed to increase real terms NHS funding by £8 billion per year by 2020. This is in line with a recommendation from the NHS Chief Executive last year about the amount of extra funding the health service needs. (We have called on the other parties to match our commitment, but they have yet to do so.)

The previous Labour Government's policies on the NHS gave private health companies preferential treatment. Private companies were paid £250 million for operations that were never performed and, on average, 11% more was paid to the private sector than to the NHS, for delivering the same services. Thankfully, the Lib Dems in this Government put a stop to this.

I and the Liberal Democrats will oppose any attempts to privatise the NHS. Like previous Governments, we accept that there is a role for the private and charitable sectors in the NHS. Organisations like MacMillan and the Terrence Higgins Trust have provided important services for patients. But the NHS should always remain free, and access should be based on need and not the ability to pay. I think it is also very important that all providers of NHS services should be accountable to the communities they work in, and am pleased that Lib Dem Health Minister Norman Lamb has announced major plans to improve mental health care".