Cameron says Tories are guardians of NHS despite his minister's links to private care

Published on Wednesday 19 August 2009 22:06

DAVID Cameron will defend the Conservative's commitment to the NHS in a keynote speech today, after one of his shadow health ministers was found to have links to private healthcare.

The Tory leader will tell a London audience that his party is wholly committed to the NHS despite his shadow health minister Lord McColl being a paid consultant for Endeavour Health, which offers a rival service to the NHS to beat patient queues.

Mr Cameron will accuse Labour of political point-scoring but will also admit that the Tories want to open up the NHS to "new providers".

While the Conservatives would increase spending on the NHS in real terms, Mr Cameron questioned whether this would be sustainable when faced with an ageing population.

"Given the huge pressures faced by the NHS over the coming decades, that increase in spending alone is not enough. The gap between what we will have to do and what we can afford to do presents an urgent need for reform," he will say.

"We believe in the NHS, we understand the changes it needs. So we are the party of the NHS today because we not only back the values of the NHS, we have a vision for the future of the NHS."

But Mr Cameron will also call for more competition in the health service, including by "opening up of the NHS to new providers" who would bring "innovation and investment".

Yesterday, Mr Cameron defended Lord McColl, saying he had spent many years as an NHS consultant and was on a mercy ship off Africa carrying out free eye operations.

He said: "My understanding is that yes, he has carried out a couple of consultations for this private company – all of that has been properly declared. I think he himself has said that if there is anything improper about what this company has done, he'll sever any contact with it."

Mr Cameron added: "I think that's perfectly satisfactory."

Mr Cameron said many people used private healthcare in Britain. "It's not illegal to use private health in Britain, but we want to expand the NHS, and make sure it's as good as it possibly can be, so people don't have to use the private sector."

The Tory leader's speech today follows a difficult week for the party when questions were raised over its commitment to a fully taxpayer-funded system.

The debate was sparked by Tory MEP Daniel Hannan, who warned Americans not to follow the NHS model which he described as a dangerous "Stalinist mistake". Mr Hannan waded into the debate over President Barack Obama's planned healthcare reforms, which Republicans warned were too closely aligned to the "risky" NHS.

He was rebuked by Mr Cameron, who said Mr Hannan's views were not mainstream Conservative thinking. But a recent poll of Tory candidates in winnable seats showed a third of them were in favour of not cutting funding to the NHS.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown and his wife Sarah also became involved into the trans-atlantic row, after a campaign group in support of the NHS was started on Twitter last week.

President Obama has since watered down his plans.