Education and Health

7 May, 2017

Improving mental healthcare

Commitment: On 7 May, the Prime Minister announced that a Conservative Government will change the law to help ensure those suffering from mental health problems get the care they deserve.

• As part of our plan to build a fairer society, we will introduce new policies to transform the way we deal with mental health problems.

• We are going to replace the outdated 1983 Mental Health Act with a Mental Health Treatment Bill, to confront the discrimination and unnecessary detention that takes place too often. We will roll out mental health support to every school in the country, ensure that mental health is taken far more seriously in the workplace, and raise standards of care with 10,000 more mental health professionals working in the NHS by 2020.

• This is the positive difference that only strong and stable leadership with Theresa May can make. Jeremy Corbyn cannot deliver anything.

The Problem:

• If you currently suffer from mental health problems in Britain, there is not enough help at hand. For too long mental illness has been a hidden injustice in our country, shrouded in a completely unacceptable stigma and dangerously disregarded as a secondary issue to physical health.

• The Mental Health Act is outdated and too many vulnerable people are being detained. The current law – which was subject to amendment in 2007 – has attracted significant criticism for its anachronistic approach to mental health and the unintended consequences of how it is applied.

Our Solution:

• We will give those with mental health problems the respect and care they deserve. We will do this by:

o Having 10,000 more staff working in NHS mental health services by 2020, to raise standards of care. As part of this, we have pledged to increase medical training places by 1,500 in the coming years and to focus these on targeting shortage specialties including psychiatry.

o Replacing the flawed 1983 Mental Health Act to confront the discrimination and unnecessary detention that takes place too often. The Act will be replaced in its entirety with a new Mental Health Treatment Bill will enshrine the principle of parity of esteem at the heart of mental health treatment. This will include: revised thresholds for detention, new codes of practice to reduce the disproportionate use of mental health detention for minority groups, and safeguards so that when people with mental health problems have the capacity to give or refuse consent, they can never be treated against their will. We will consult widely with mental health charities, clinicians, patients and their families about its replacement.

o Giving every child access to mental health services, so they get the support they deserve. Over half of mental health problems start before the age of 14, so every primary and secondary school in England and Wales will have staff trained in mental health first aid and a single point of contact with local mental health services. Proposed changes to the curriculum will teach children more about mental wellbeing and Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services will be reformed so that children can access treatment in their local area.

o Introducing more protection at work for those suffering from mental health problems, to help alleviate discrimination. The Equalities Act will be amended to protect those with mental disorders from discrimination at work. Health and Safety at Work regulation will be reformed to take into account risks to mental and physical health. First aid and needs assessments at work will be required to factor in mental health risks, and large organisations will be required to train mental health first-aid responders.

o Guaranteeing funding for helplines, places of safety and crisis cafes. Funding for helplines, such as the Samaritans will be guaranteed and the £15 million of funding announced by the Prime Minister for community places of safety and crisis cafes will be maintained. We will end the practice where indebted patients are charged up to £150 by their GP for a mental health and debt form to prove their mental ill-health to their creditors.

Our Achievements:

• We have invested more in mental health than ever before, to improve mental health support. We are spending an estimated £11.7 billion a year on mental health.

We introduced the first ever waiting times for mental health treatment. The first ever access and waiting standards have been introduced for both talking therapies and early intervention in psychosis.

Costing and funding:

• This training will be funded from within the existing NHS training budget, operated by Health Education England, not frontline health spending, and from within Department for Education administrative funding, not from the core schools grant.

What Labour would do:

• Jeremy Corbyn’s coalition of chaos would put our growing economy at risk and cannot provide mental health the funding it needs. In Wales, Labour have already cut the budget for the NHS by 8 per cent and in Scotland health spending increased by 3.4 per cent between 2011-12 and 2015-16 compared to a 9 per cent increase in England.

Theresa May will transform the way we deal with mental health to make sure that those with mental health problems get the respect and care they deserve. Jeremy Corbyn can promise anything but we all know he can’t deliver.

2 May, 2017

HEALTH

 You can only have a strong NHS with a strong economy. Every vote for Theresa May and your local Conservative will help secure the strong and stable leadership we need to protect the growing economy our NHS needs.

 We’ve protected and increased the NHS budget and got thousands more staff in hospitals. But all that’s at risk with Jeremy Corbyn’s nonsensical economic policies that would mean less money for the NHS. Just look at Wales where Labour’s mismanagement mean they had to cut funding.

 There’s a real risk of Jeremy Corbyn getting into government because the SNP and Liberal Democrats would do a deal to put him there. Only a vote for Theresa May and your local Conservative candidate can protect our economy and public services.

Because of the economic progress we have made we have protected our NHS

 We have protected and increased health funding – so people get the care they need. Thanks to our strong economy, we have given the NHS an extra £10 billion, are spending £11.7 billion a year on mental health, and in response to the additional pressures on social care we have given an additional £2 billion.

 There are more doctors and nurses in our hospitals looking after patients. Since 2010, there are more than 11,000 doctors and more than 12,100 nurses and midwives on hospital our wards and more mental health trained professionals treating patients.

 We have improved patient care – so people are treated with the dignity they deserve. An independent NHS report says ‘outcomes of care for most major conditions are dramatically better than three or five or ten years ago. We have introduced the first-ever waiting time standards for mental health, cancer survival is at a record high and dementia diagnosis rate is up from a half to more than two thirds.

That’s all at risk from a coalition of chaos with Jeremy Corbyn and all the other parties who would put our growing economy and the NHS at risk

 The other parties have already shown they cannot provide the NHS the funding it needs. In Wales, Labour have already cut the budget for the NHS by 8 per cent and in Scotland health spending increased by 3.4 per cent between 2011-12 and 2015-16 compared to a 9 per cent increase in England.

 The other parties’ mismanagement of the NHS has impacted on patient care in Wales and Scotland. The NHS in Scotland failed to meet seven out of eight key waiting time targets and almost one in six patients are waiting too long for treatment. In Wales, the cancer waiting time target hasn’t been met since 2008 and over 19,000 patients have been waiting over 36 weeks for treatment, when it should be zero.

GENERAL ELECTION ANNOUNCED FOR JUNE 8, 2017

19 August, 2016

University Fees

Issue: On 18 August 2016, students across England, Wales and Northern Ireland received their A-level and AS level results.

• We have, yet again, seen record university application rates, including from disadvantaged pupils. But, there is an unacceptable patchiness in teaching standards that we cannot ignore.

• We want our universities to wipe out mediocre teaching and drive up student engagement so that every student can go as far as their talents will take them. For the first time we are placing the quality of teaching on a par with academic research through our new Teaching Excellence Framework.

• As we build a Britain that works for everyone and not just the privileged few, we want to ensure that every young person going to university receives the high standard of education they deserve.

Our record:

• A record high number of students recorded on the first day going onto university. UCAS figures show a three per cent increase in the number of applicants (592,290) to higher education courses in 2016 compared to the same point in 2015.

• More students are applying to university from across the country. More students from each of the four UK nations have been placed in higher education than at this point last year (England 307,200, Scotland 31,900, Wales 16,600 and Northern Ireland 12,000).

Key points:

• More people from disadvantaged backgrounds going to university. 18-year-olds from the least advantaged backgrounds are seven per cent more likely to be placed than in 2015.

• Young people are more likely to go to university than they were last year. Young people from the UK are four per cent more likely to have been placed in higher education than last year.

• More people from disadvantaged backgrounds go to university in England than in Scotland despite free tuition from the Scottish Government. For 2014, the latest figures available, the entry rate of university students were from disadvantaged backgrounds was 18.2 per cent, up five per cent from 2009. For Scotland the comparable figure was nearly half that at 9.5 per cent despite free university education.

Record numbers of students are applying to go to university, and more people from disadvantaged backgrounds are going to university. Even by Jeremy Corbyn’s own analysis, scrapping tuition fees would leave a £7 billion black hole in the public finances.

The OECD has said that among all available approaches, the UK offers the most scalable and sustainable approach to university finance.

18 August, 2016

NHS

• We believe in the NHS and its values. We are committed to securing high quality free healthcare for everyone – wherever you are and whenever you need it.

• This Government will spend over half a trillion pounds on the health service. In the Spending Review we committed to increase funding for the NHS by £10 billion a year by 2020, of which £6 billion will be delivered by the end of 2016-17. This will allow the NHS to offer 800,000 more operations and treatments and spend up to £2 billion more on new drugs that patients need. It will also ensure that by 2020, everyone will be able to access GP services in the evenings and at weekends. With this historic level of investment we are delivering the NHS’s own plan for the future of the service.

• It’s thanks to our growing economy and the decisions we’ve made that we can support a stronger NHS that makes a real difference for millions of patients. Our investment will give people the security of world class care seven days a week and allow the NHS to implement its own plan for the future.

We are doing this by:

• Backing the future of the NHS with a further £10 billion a year in real terms – supported by a strong economy. We will bring forward £6 billion of this investment by the end of 2016-17.

•   Hiring thousands more clinical staff to ensure better patient care. Since 2010, there are more than 10,000 additional doctors and almost 10,600 more nurses on our wards.

•   Delivering a truly 7-day NHS. We are expanding access to GP surgeries and hospital based consultants at weekends and in the evenings. We are also investing in local health facilities, so that better treatment can be delivered closer to homes and away from hospitals.

Key point:

• Labour run Welsh NHS last met its cancer waiting times target in 2008. Wales has not met its target that 95 per cent of patients newly diagnosed with cancer via the urgent route should start treatment within 62 days since 2008. In the latest statistics for May 2016, only 88.6 per cent of patients newly diagnosed with cancer had started treatment within 62 days.

What does Britain leaving the European Union means for the NHS?
We value the 110,000 EU workers in our health and care system who do a brilliant job for patients and are a crucial part of the NHS. Ten per cent of our doctors and more than 20,000 NHS nurses are from another European Union country and we need their contribution. As Professor Sir Bruce Keogh has said, we must now do everything we can to ensure the whole workforce feels secure, so we can continue to deliver high quality healthcare for all.

Protecting and improving the NHS.Our plan for the economy means we can invest in a strong NHS

• Our plan for the economy means we can afford a strong NHS. We will increase funding for the NHS by £10 billion a year by 2020, of which £6 billion will be delivered by the end of 2016-17. The NHS budget will rise from £101 billion today to £120 billion by 2020-21 (HMT, Spending Review and Autumn Statement, 25 November 2015).

• We are hiring thousands more doctors, midwives and nurses to look after patients. Since 2010, There are already more than 10,000 more doctors and more than 10,600 additional nurses - meaning people can be confident they will be looked after properly (HSCIC, NHS Workforce Statistics, April 2016).

• We are reducing the number of managers – so money goes to the frontline where it is needed. There are now over 7,200 fewer managers in the NHS than under Labour).

• Funding the £1.16 billion Cancer Drugs Fund. This has helped more than 84,000 people access the most pioneering, life-extending cancer drugs which would not otherwise been available to them and our reforms will ensure that the most promising and innovative medicines get to patients as quickly as possible (NHS England, 23 July 2015, link, Hansard, 2 December 2015).

Treating patients in cleaner, safer hospitals – with the dignity they deserve

• We are putting patients first by exposing poor care and improving patient safety. Our public inquiry into the Mid Staffs tragedy exposed systemic failings in the NHS. By making the CQC independent, putting in new ratings system and appointing a chief inspector for hospitals, GPs and social care we are helping to improve care (Department of Health, 1 October 2013, link; Hansard, 16 July 2014, Col. 863).

• We are respecting patients’ dignity, nearly eradicating mixed sex wards. The number of patients facing the indignity of mixed-sex wards has fallen from 11,802 in December 2010 – when we started measuring this – to 422 (NHS England, Mixed-Sec Accommodation Data, June 2016).

• Hospital infections have been virtually halved since 2010. The level of MRSA has virtually halved, and C. difficile cases are down by more than 50 per cent (Public Health England, MRSA bacteraemia – Monthly Results, link; C. difficile infection (CDI) - Monthly Results).

Delivering a 7-day NHS

• Delivering a 7-day GP service by 2020. We are offering a new voluntary contract for GPs to deliver a 7-day service for all patients. This contract which will be better for GPs and for patients is funded from the £10 billion of additional investment in the NHS due to a strong economy. We are committing £750 million over the next three years to funding improvements in GP premises, technology and modern ways of working to support a fully 7-day health service (Department of Health, 4 October 2015).

• Ensuring there is a 7-day mental health service so people get the care they need. We are investing an extra £1 billion into mental healthcare by 2021 and placing mental health services in hospital emergency departments so people receive support 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. We will also ensure that psychiatric services are available in A&E (Department of Health, 15 February 2016).

• Bringing a 7-day service to hospitals. Around 6,000 people lose their lives every year because we don’t have a proper 7-day service in our hospitals. We are reforming consultant contracts to remove the opt-out from weekend working for newly qualified hospital doctors. A 7-day NHS will mean safer and more integrated care (Department of Health, 16 July 2015).

Health: Labour’s failures. Labour wasted money in the NHS.

• In government Labour ran the NHS inefficiently – wasting money that could have helped patients. Productivity in the NHS fell under Labour and they wasted £10 billion on an IT project that had to be scrapped. If Labour had managed similar productivity increases as we have, this would have been worth an extra £40 billion to the NHS (University of York, CHE Research Paper 94, 2014, link; PAC, The dismantled National Programme for IT in the NHS, 18 September 2013).

• The number of managers increased by 81 per cent under Labour. In 1999, there were 23,378 managers and senior managers in the NHS. By 2009, this had risen by 81 per cent to 42,509 (NHS Health & Social Care Information Centre, NHS Staff 1999-2009 overview, 25 March 2010).

• The total bill for NHS PFI contracts signed under Labour is more than £80 billion. Of this total, Labour only paid off £5.9 billion (seven per cent) whilst they were in power, They are costing the NHS nearly £2 billion per year in unitary charge payments (HMT, Private Finance Initiative Projects: 2014 summary data, 15 December 2014).

Labour failed to provide good patient care

• Labour ignored 81 requests for a full public inquiry into the Mid Staffs tragedy between January 2009 and May 2010. Between 1 January 2009 and 1 May 2010 the Department of Health’s ministerial correspondence unit received 20 letters from MPs, 36 from members of the public and 25 from organisations (Hansard, 13 February 2013, Col. 735W).

• Labour put political pressure on the hospital watchdog – meaning problems were not dealt with. Former CQC chair Baroness Young of Old Scone said ‘we were under more pressure...when Andy Burnham became minister.’ The country’s leading expert on hospital death rates, Professor Sir Brian Jarman said there was ‘political pressure’ for information about high death rates to be ignored (Barbara Young, Evidence to Mid Staffs Public Inquiry, 4 July 2011, p. 82 & p.130, link; ITV.com, 16 July 2013).

• Labour’s 48-hour GP appointment target meant that patients could not get the appointments they wanted. The 2010 GP patient survey said a quarter of patients who wanted to book an appointment more than two days in advance were unable to do so (Department of Health, GP patient Survey 2010, September 2010).

Labour are failing the NHS in Wales

• The Welsh Government last met its cancer waiting times target in 2008. Wales has not met its target that 95 per cent of patients newly diagnosed with cancer via the urgent route should start treatment within 62 days since 2008. In the latest statistics for May 2016, only 88.6 per cent of patients newly diagnosed with cancer had started treatment within 62 days. (Welsh Government, NHS cancer waiting times, May 2016).

• Over 10 times as many patients have to wait too long for diagnostic tests in Wales than in England. In May 2016, 1.4 per cent of English patients waited over six weeks for diagnostic tests, compared with 18 per cent of patients in Wales waiting over the longer target of eight weeks in the same month. (Welsh Government, NHS diagnostic and therapy service waiting times, link; NHS England, Monthly Diagnostics Data 2016-17).

18 August, 2016

A-level students across the UK received their results yesterday with a record number of applicants securing a university place.Congratulations to everyone collecting their results yesterday, which are the culmination of years of hard work by students and teachers.

We wish everyone getting their results success as they embark on the next stage of their lives. With a growing jobs market, the choice of a high quality apprenticeship, university or college place on offer, we are confident that with hard work and commitment, whatever option they pursue they will go on to fulfil their potential.

We want to make our country a place where there is no limit on anyone’s ambition or what they can achieve. It is hugely encouraging that this year sees a record 424,000 applicants already securing a place at one of our world-class universities, with increasing numbers from disadvantaged backgrounds gaining a place as well.

16 August, 2016

Dementia

We are doing more to tackle dementia, launching a new ‘Dementia Atlas’ to improve prevention, diagnosis and support for people living with dementia.

We have made great strides in improving diagnosis rates for dementia, investing in research and creating the first dementia friendly communities, but we still have much further to go to promise everyone that they will be able to live well with the condition.

A new ‘Dementia Atlas’ will shine a spotlight on areas where work still needs to be done to improve dementia care. By publishing current levels of care we will drive improvement across the country, whilst highlighting where we can learn from best practice. Carey Mulligan will be the first-ever UK Global Dementia Friends Ambassador and will be a great asset in raising awareness on dementia.

The impact of dementia tears at families and at our social fabric – that’s why making progress is a key government priority, ensuring people living with dementia deserve the best possible care.

11 April, 2016

There is coverage of mental health services for children.

We are delivering on our commitments on young people’s mental health, funding the biggest transformation the sector has ever seen.

We are making £1.4 billion available for young people’s mental health, with the full amount made available as promised over the next five years. This funding will help every local areas revolutionise their service and £28 million will be used to continue the roll out of talking therapies for children, to help more children get the help they need before they get to a crisis point.

Our shared vision of a 7-day mental health service means young people will get the care they need, when they need it, and will help us do much more to prevent mental illness in the first place. For the first time we will truly deliver equality between mental and physical health.

4 April, 2016

The Education Secretary announced a new £200 million investment to overhaul services for the most vulnerable children and young people.

Every child deserves the chance to fulfil their potential regardless of their background. Yet it remains a stark fact that we don’t yet have excellent children’s social services everywhere.

The Children’s Social Care Innovation programme will kick start the most promising proposals for new ways of delivering vital help for troubled children and young people. We want councils and charities to come forward with bids for innovative and creative ideas to improve life chances for young people in their local area. Ministers have announced a further expansion of an important collaboration between universities and councils to ensure a steady stream of high-calibre social workers to the frontline. Plans were also unveiled to improve the life chances of the most vulnerable children who are cared for in secure children’s homes.

This One Nation Government is committed to extending opportunity to all. We want to make sure all children have the best start in life and we will make sure that no single child is left behind.

30 March, 2016

In yet another sign that Labour are a threat to the security of every family, Christine Blower, the hard-left leader of the National Union of Teachers, has joined Labour.

20 January 2016

We will be investing an extra £1.85 billion in general practice over this parliament to improve services – and work to reduce the burden of bureaucracy that GPs face.

General practice is the jewel in the crown of the NHS and central to the future of the health service in the five year forward view. But there are growing pressures on GPs that we are determined to address.

That’s why next month we’ll be announcing a new package of measures to support the profession, we’ll continue to reduce the burden of bureaucracy in general practice, and the Care Quality Commission will be looking at what more they can do to streamline their inspections. On top of that we are now promising to invest four to five per cent more per year in general practice for the rest of this parliament on top of the extra funding Clinical Commissioning Groups will put into primary care – meaning an extra £1.85 billion for general practice in this parliament.

This investment will help deliver the high quality health service that working people rightly expect to be able to rely on – something we can only deliver because we’ve been working through a plan and taking the difficult decisions needed to build a strong economy.

19 January 2016

Today, the Education Secretary will deliver a speech on tackling extremism in schools.

We are determined to keep children safe in and out of school. We have seen all too starkly and tragically the devastating impact radicalisation can have on individuals, families and communities. Terrorists have targeted our young people with their poisonous propaganda with terrible consequences.

That’s why today we are announcing more resources and tougher powers to protect young, impressionable minds from radical views, sending a clear message to extremists: our children are firmly out of your reach. Educate Against Hate will provide teachers and parents with the expertise they need to challenge radical views and keep their children safe. Our tougher stand against illegal schools will help prevent children from falling under the grasp of extremists. And by improving intelligence on where children go when they deregister from schools we will help prevent future incidents of young, promising children falling under the spell of twisted ideologies.

There will be no single knockout blow against those who seek to corrupt young people – but the action we are taking will put us firmly on the front foot.

18 January, 2016

Writing in The Times, the Prime Minister announced new measures to encourage Muslim women to play a full part in British society.

We will never truly build One Nation unless we are more assertive about our liberal values, clearer about the expectations we place on those who come to live here and build our country together and more creative and generous in the work we do to break down barriers. In Britain, men are not frightened of women’s success; it is celebrated proudly. So we must take on the minority of men who perpetuate these backward attitudes and exert such damaging control over their wives, sisters and daughters.

We’ve already introduced a language test for new migrants, but it’s time to be much more demanding. We will fund £20 million to make sure that woman from isolated communities speaking no English at all have access to classes, whether through community groups or further education colleges. Also, we will introduce a requirement for new migrants to improve their fluency in English over time, with failure to do so affecting their chance to stay in the UK. Additionally, we will end forced gender segregation in schools and review the role of religious councils, including Sharia councils.

Britain has a claim to be the most successful multi-faith, multi-racial democracy on the planet but the job of building a more cohesive country is never complete. With English language and women’s empowerment as our next frontier, we believe in bringing Britain together and building the stronger society that is within reach.

15 January, 2016

The Health Secretary has set out strict conditions hospitals must meet in order to access £1.8 billion of transformation funding next year to improve the finances of the NHS.

We believe in the values of the NHS and are committed to its future – which is why we are investing £10 billion to fund the NHS’s own plan.

But patients and taxpayers rightly expect a return on this investment, so hospitals must improve their financial performance and balance their books in order to unlock this funding. These new, tighter controls will help hospitals clamp down further on rip off staffing agencies and make our hospitals safer. Our clear expectation is that we will not support the use of agencies unless their rates are in line with nationally agreed limits.

Our best hospitals are simultaneously showing tight financial grip, reducing waste and living within their means. We need trusts to raise their sights. This is a clear message: there can be no choice between safe care and strong financial performance.

30 October, 2015

Junior Doctors’ Contracts

On 28 October 2015, the Health Secretary wrote to the Chair of the Junior Doctors Committee regarding junior doctors’ contracts.

• We believe in the NHS and its values. We are passionate about what it stands for: giving people access to the best healthcare free at the point of use.

• The Health Secretary has given a firm guarantee that no junior doctor will receive a pay cut compared to their current contract, and we are not going to save a penny from the junior doctors’ pay bill. Junior doctors work incredibly hard and, as we have consistently said, we want to reward them fairly while ensuring that patients get proper 7-day care.

• Our changes will mean that hardworking families have the security of knowing they can get world-class care whenever they need it, not just Monday to Friday. Supporting the NHS to provide 7-day care is part of our plan to deliver security, stability and opportunity for Britain.

We are doing this by:

• Our new contract will result in no junior doctors being overworked. No junior doctors will be required to work more than an average of 48 hours per week with tougher limits on unsafe hours. There will be a new maximum working week of 72 hours, down from the current maximum of 91 hours.

• Our changes to improve basic pay and reduce overtime will increase doctors’ pensions. By increasing basic pay we will increase the pension contribution payed to junior doctors, as basic pay is pensionable whereas overtime is not.

• Our changes will not result in savings. We have been clear that we will not cut the overall doctor’s pay bill. We will end automatic increments but will instead increase pay with increasing responsibility as junior doctors progress through their training. This will mean that junior doctors would still benefit from four or five progression pay rises as they move through training.

• Our changes will increase flexibility in pay scales for certain specialities. We will pay flexible pay rates to support recruitment into shortage specialties, to provide pay protection to doctors who change to shortage specialties, and to support agreed academic work.

We recognise the vital role junior doctors have in the NHS. Our contract changes would not cut pay and would help prevent doctors from being overworked. Our primary concern is for patient safety including by better supporting a 7-day NHS. The Health Secretary has always made clear that thousands of staff up and down the country work weekends. But there is strong evidence that there is currently insufficient clinical cover at weekends and we have a duty to patients to put this right.

NHS

• We believe in the NHS and its values. We are committed to securing free healthcare for everyone - wherever you are and whenever you need it.

• In the last Parliament we increased spending on the NHS by over £7 billion in real terms, which meant more doctors, more midwives and a higher number of nurses treating patients in cleaner, safer hospitals. Over the next five years we will go further and increase health spending in real terms by a minimum of £8 billion so we fully fund the NHS’s own plan for its future.

• This will help secure a better future for Britain, where people can be confident that their NHS will be there for them. But this will only be possible if we have a strong, growing economy – something our long-term economic plan is delivering.

We are doing this by:

• Backing the future of the NHS with a further £8 billion – supported by a strong economy. We have increased spending on the NHS by £7.3 billion in real terms over five years. This Government committed to increasing health spending in real terms by a minimum of £8 billion in the next five years.

• Hiring thousands more clinical staff to ensure better patient care. Since 2010, there are over 8,500 more doctors, over 6,300 more nurses and over 1,900 more midwives in the NHS.

• Delivering a truly 7-day NHS. We are expanding access to GP surgeries and hospital based consultants at weekends and in the evenings. We are also investing in local health facilities, so that better treatment can be delivered closer to homes and away from hospitals, and are encouraging health and social care to become more closely aligned, to deliver more integrated care.

Jeremy Corbyn said that the Welsh NHS model should be replicated across Britain. ‘I thank Carwyn Jones for his leadership and the way in which we are going to fight in Wales, and I congratulate them on ending the internal market in the health service in Wales – something we want to do in the rest of Britain. Labour run Wales has seen an alarming fall in NHS beds. The number of NHS beds lost in the last two years in Wales is equivalent to an entire district hospital, with a fifth of beds being axed in the last decade.

Our plan for the economy means we can invest in a strong NHS

• We are hiring thousands more doctors, midwives and nurses to look after patients. There are now over 8,500 more doctors, 1,900 more midwives and 6,300 more nurses working in the NHS than when we took over – meaning people can be confident they will be looked after properly

• We are reducing the number of managers – so money goes to the frontline where it is needed. There are now over 6,500 fewer managers in the NHS than under Labour

• Funding new treatments like the £1.16 billion Cancer Drugs Fund. This has helped more than 72,000 people get the most pioneering, life enhancing medicine available

Treating patients in cleaner, safer hospitals – with the dignity they deserve

• Hospital infections have been virtually halved since 2010. The level of MRSA has virtually halved, and C. difficle cases are down by more than 50 per cent

Delivering a 7-day NHS

• Helping people see a GP when they need one. We want people to be able to get an appointment at a time that fits around a busy working week and family commitments. Our £50 million GP access fund already covers more than 1,100 practices, improving access for 7.5 million people. By March next year, a further £100 million will support a further 1,417 practices across the country – meaning 10 million more people with increased access to their GP services. We will also train and retain 10,000 more clinical staff in surgeries including 5,000 more GPs by 2020.

• Ensure hospitals offer consultant-led services at the weekend, so that patients have access to the services they need. We will also ensure that diagnostic laboratories have the same availability, giving patients quicker access to information and advice on their condition

• Removing the opt-out from out of hours working in contracts for newly qualified consultants. This will prevent consultants from charging up to £200 an hour to work out of hours. Under new plans, doctors will still continue to receive a significantly higher rate for working unsocial hours and there will be a new contractual limit of working a maximum of 13 weekends a year.

NHS

NHS England have published their National Transformation Plan, which includes plans to improve care for people with a learning disability or autism in the community.

This plan is about improving the quality of care and life for a vulnerable group of patients and improving community care.

This £45 million investment in better services for people with a learning disability or autism will help provide more of the right care closer to home. We will be working tirelessly with NHS England and others to make sure this improves care for people with learning disabilities in the way we all want to see.

It is right that we support people with learning disabilities to live independently, this is what they and their families have told us they want. Hospitals will always be there when patients need them, but they should not be depended on for long-term care.

4 October, 2015

NHS

NHS England is meeting its A&E target. For the month of July 2015, A&E departments saw 95 per cent of patients in 4 hours or less.

• There is nothing that embodies the spirit of One Nation coming together more than the NHS, and nothing that working people depend on more. We are committed to securing free healthcare for everyone - wherever you are and whenever you need it.

• This Government will deliver the NHS’s vision of a better health service for you and your family. In the last Parliament we increased spending on the NHS by over £7 billion in real terms, which meant more doctors, more midwives and a higher number of nurses treating patients in cleaner, safer hospitals. Over the next five years we will go further and increase health spending in real terms by a minimum of £8 billion so we fully fund the NHS’s own plan for its future.

We are doing this by:

• Backing the future of the NHS with a further £8 billion – backed by a strong economy. We have increased spending on the NHS by £7.3 billion in real terms over five years. This Government committed to increasing health spending in real terms by a minimum of £8 billion in the next five years.

• Hiring thousands more clinical staff to ensure better patient care. Since 2010, there are over 8,500 more doctors, over 6,300 more nurses and over 1,900 more midwives in the NHS.

Health: Protecting and improving the NHS

Our plan for the economy means we can invest in a strong NHS

• Our plan for the economy means we can afford a strong NHS. We will increase the NHS budget in real terms in every year of this Parliament – with an extra £10 billion being spent every year by 2020 (HM Treasury, Autumn Statement, 3 December 2014, link; HM Treasury, Budget 2015, 8 July 2015, link).

• We are reducing the number of managers – so money goes to the frontline where it is needed. There are now over 6,500 fewer managers in the NHS than under Labour (ibid).

• Funding new treatments like the £1.16 billion Cancer Drugs Fund. This has helped more than 72,000 people get the most pioneering, life enhancing medicine available (NHS England, Future Delivery of the Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF), 23 July 2015, link).

Treating patients in cleaner, safer hospitals – with the dignity they deserve

• We are putting patients first by exposing poor care and improving patient safety. Our public inquiry into the Mid Staffs tragedy exposed systemic failings in the NHS. By making the CQC independent, putting in new ratings system and appointing a chief inspector for hospitals, GPs and social care we are helping to improve care (DH Press Release, 1 October 2013, link; Hansard, 16 July 2014, Col. 863, link).

• We are respecting patients’ dignity, nearly eradicating mixed sex wards. The number of patients facing the indignity of mixed-sex wards has fallen from 11,802 in December 2010 – when we started measuring this – to 418 in August 2015 (NHS England, Mixed-Sec Accommodation Data, link).

• Hospital infections have been virtually halved since 2010. The level of MRSA has virtually halved, and C. difficle cases are down by more than 50 per cent (Public Health England, MRSA bacteraemia – Monthly Results, link; C. difficile infection (CDI) - Monthly Results, link).

Delivering a 7-day NHS

Health: Labour’s failures

Labour wasted money in the NHS.

• The total bill for NHS PFI contracts signed under Labour is more than £80 billion. Of this total, Labour only paid off £5.9 billion (7 per cent) whilst they were in power, They are costing the NHS nearly £2 billion per year in unitary charge payments (HM Treasury, Private Finance Initiative Projects: 2014 summary data, 15 December 2014, link).

Labour failed to provide good patient care

• Labour put political pressure on the hospital watchdog – meaning problems were not dealt with. Former CQC chair Baroness Young of Old Scone said ‘we were under more pressure...when Andy Burnham became minister’. The country’s leading expert on hospital death rates, Professor Sir Brian Jarman said there was ‘political pressure’ for information about high death rates to be ignored (Barbara Young, Evidence to Mid Staffs Public Inquiry, 4 July 2011, p. 82 & p.130, link; ITV.com, 16 July 2013, link).

• Labour’s 48-hour GP appointment target meant that patients couldn’t get the appointments they wanted. The 2010 GP patient survey said a quarter of patients who wanted to book an appointment more than two days in advance were unable to do so (Department of Health, GP patient Survey 2010, September 2010).

Labour are failing the NHS in Wales

• Jeremy Corbyn has said that the Welsh NHS model should be brought to the rest of Britain. ‘I thank Carwyn Jones for his leadership and the way in which we are going to fight in Wales, and I congratulate them on ending the internal market in the health service in Wales – something we want to do in the rest of Britain.’ (Wales Online, 12 September 2015, link).

• Labour run Wales hasn’t hit its A&E target for seven years. The target of 95 per cent of patients to be seen by A&E departments within 4 hours has not been met since 2008. (StatsWales, Performance against 4 hour waiting times target, all emergency care facilities by local health board, link; House of Commons Library, NHS Wales Statistics, 30 December 2014, link).

• In the NHS in Wales over 27,000 patients waited more than 36 weeks for treatment, when the target is supposed to be zero. For month of June 2015 27,313 had been waiting more than 36 weeks for treatment when the target is that 100 per cent of patients are to be treated within 36 weeks (NHS Wales, Referral to treatment, link).

4 September, 2015

Free Schools

On 2 September 2015, the Prime Minister and Education Secretary announced the approval of 18 more free schools.

• We will not waver in our commitment to open 500 new free schools over the next five years – as we announce the first wave to be approved this Parliament and pledge to deliver two waves of new schools every year until 2020.

• Free schools will create more good school places across the country – giving parents more choice while challenging existing schools to up their game. This week, the first 18 projects of this Parliament will get the green light – creating over 9,000 places across the country, giving more families the choice of an excellent education for their children than ever before.

• As a One Nation Government we believe that every family should have access to a great local school and every child should get the very best education - and free schools are a crucial part of that aim. We want to increase the number of good and outstanding school places so that more parents have the security of knowing their child is getting a great education.

• This Conservative Government will establish 500 more free schools in this Parliament – boosting choice for parents and helping drive up standards across the board. We are letting parents and teachers open new schools in areas where parents are unhappy with the provision on offer and want more good school places.

• This will create 500 more free schools and 270,000 new school places across the country. There are currently over 300 open free schools; creating more than 236,000 new places.

• Free schools are more likely to be outstanding. 24 per cent of free schools inspected by Ofsted are outstanding, compared to 19 per cent of all other schools.

Labour say these schools are in areas which don’t need them, and are dominated by the middle class. This is wrong. 72 per cent are in areas with a shortage of places with around half located in the 30 per cent most deprived communities.

The number and quality of teachers is at an all-time high. We have exceeded our target for primary school trainees and are making progress for the secondary sector. As the economy improves, recruitment is a challenge, but we are focused on attracting more top graduates.

Our priority is to open free schools with the best chance of performing strongly from the outset. We have developed a rigorous assessment and pre-opening process to ensure that only the best projects are approved and that momentum is maintained throughout pre-opening to enable a school to open on time. The great majority of free schools open on time as planned and the decision to delay a project is not made lightly.

26 August, 2015

The Education Secretary has called on councils and childcare providers to come forward with innovative ideas for implementing our manifesto pledge to double free childcare in a year.

Finding the right care for children is a major concern for many working families and it must be flexible, affordable and high quality so parents can enter work and work sufficient hours to support their families.

That’s why we are asking innovative childcare providers to come forward as the first in the country to work with us on delivering our manifesto pledge of 30 hours of free childcare a week. In addition, the Department for Education and Facebook are joining forces to ask parents for their views on how this childcare offer will work for them. The Education Secretary, Nicky Morgan will also host discussions with major UK employers including BT and O2 to hear from employees on how free childcare will help them balance work and family life.

This Conservative government is on the side of hard working people which is why we are committed to delivering innovative, high quality childcare that helps parents return to work while keeping more of their hard-earned money in their back pocket.

August 20, 2015

GCSE Results for England and Wales published

• This marks the culmination of years of hard work for pupils, teachers and parents and they should be congratulated on their achievements.

• With this One Nation government focusing on extending opportunity, a generation of young people from all backgrounds are now securing the GCSEs that help give them the widest range of options in later life – whether looking for a rewarding job or a top apprenticeship.

• This not only means our workforce for the future is properly trained to compete in a global economy, but it means that young people are having every opportunity to realise their full potential.

We are doing this by:

• Ensuring young people have the literacy and numeracy skills fundamental to success in later life. Our reforms to ensure that pupils who don’t achieve at least a C in English and Maths at 16 continue to study these subjects are working. For 17-year-olds and over, entries in Maths are up 30 per cent and entries in English have risen 23 per cent.

• Encouraging more young people to study the core academic subjects. GCSE entries to the EBacc subjects are up once again, with the number of entries for valuable STEM subjects including Maths, Science and Engineering jumping by more than 78,000 since 2014.

• More girls are studying STEM subjects. Overall entries for girls in STEM subjects increased by more than 30,000 since last year, including more than 14,000 in Maths.

19 August 2015

Literacy: Education Secretary Nicky Morgan and comedian David Walliams launched plans to make our students the most literate in Europe.

• No matter where they live or what their background, every single child in this country deserves the opportunity to read, to read widely, and to read well – it’s a simple matter of social justice.

• Our reforms have already helped tens of thousands more pupils to leave primary school as confident readers – but we must go further. That’s why we’re making it a national mission to ensure our young people are the most literate in Europe.

• That’s what being a One Nation Government means – making sure that every child receives an education that allows them to realise their full potential.

We are doing this by:

• Creating at least 200 more book clubs. We are funding The Reading Agency to extend their popular Chatterbooks scheme by setting up new book clubs in 200 more primary schools across the country so that more children are encouraged to enjoy reading with their friends.

• A library card for every eight year old. One in seven children aged 8-16 rarely or never read outside of school. We will tackle this by supporting the Reading Agency to help more children get into the habit of reading early. Children with strong reading skills are much more likely to succeed at school and gain the qualifications they need to get on in life.

Education: Improving our schools

Ensuring our schools and teachers are world class

• Protecting the money spent on every child. Current school spending has been protected compared with other areas of domestic spending. The current schools budget has increased by 3 per cent in real-terms between 2010–11 and 2014–15; a 0.6 per cent rise in spending per pupil after accounting for growth in pupil numbers (IFS, ‘School Spending’, 26 March 2015, link).

• We have committed £18 billion for new school buildings so that children can learn in the best environment possible. This Government has built or improved the condition of almost 900 schools – twice as many as the previous Government (DfE Press Release, 1 May 2014, link).

• The quality of new teachers has never been higher, with record levels of top graduates becoming teachers. Driven by more rigorous selection, incentives to the best graduates and recruiting teachers who have worked in other professions, 73 per cent of graduates starting teacher training have a 2:1 degree or better, the highest proportion ever (DfE Press Release, 27 November 2014, link).

Giving schools the freedom to help every child reach their full potential

• We have given new freedoms to teachers in over 4,300 schools, allowing them to help each child to reach their potential. These schools are now benefitting from the freedoms of academy status, with more power over what happens in their classrooms, discipline and budgets (DfE website, 12 January 2015, link).

• Over 400 schools being set-up by communities – allowing them to respond to local need. Free Schools give parents more choice and raise standards by letting talented and committed teachers, charities and parents respond to local demands and improve education in their community. Once up and running they will provide around 230,000 extra school places (DfE Press Release, 9 March 2015, link).

Ensuring young people have the skills they need to get on in life

• Over a million more pupils are being taught in good or outstanding schools since 2010. The number of children being taught in good or outstanding schools rose from 4.8 million at the time of the last election to nearly 6 million in March 2015. That is more than one million more pupils being taught in good or outstanding schools (Ofsted Statistics, 16 June 2015, link).

• Due to the EBacc, 71 per cent more pupils are taking the subjects they need to fulfil their potential. For the EBacc, pupils need to get a C or above in English, Maths, two Sciences, a Language and either History or Geography. The proportion of pupils entered into the EBacc has almost doubled, rising from 22 per cent in 2010 to 39 per cent in 2014 (DfE Press Release, 16 June 2015, link).

• We have toughened the National Curriculum, so that all children get a rigorous education. This focus on the building blocks of study, and our new rigorous qualifications, mean more extended writing in English and History; more testing of advanced problem-solving skills in Maths and Science; and a greater focus on foreign languages. (Hansard, 11 June 2013, Col. 161, link).

A Conservative Government will continue to elevate the status of teachers

• The Conservatives trust teachers to know what is best for their schools. We have reduced the burden on teachers by increasing autonomy and streamlining unnecessary paperwork, and have reviewed the work load challenge, which asked for their experience and ideas, to allow our dedicated and inspiring teachers to spend more time teaching (Hansard, 19 January 2015, Col. 11, link).

4 June 2015

NHS regulators will take over health services in three English regions.

Everybody knows that there are areas of the country where problems involving staffing, finances and quality of care are really deep-seated, sometimes linked to the geographical isolation of the major local hospitals.

Usually the response to failings in an individual trust is to sack the chief executive, even though the reality is that the problems are in the whole area, such as out-of-hours GP services not working well and that causing hospitals to not meet the target of treating 95 per cent of A&E patients within four hours of their arrival. The ‘success regime’ will end that short-term approach by giving such areas external, coordinated help, because they are struggling.

This will help ensure that people can be confident the NHS will be there for them, when they or their loved ones need it

Social Care

You can only have a healthy NHS and social care system with a strong economy – and we have been working to a long-term economic plan to build that healthy economy.

This has meant we’ve been able to protect and increase the NHS budget, and the £5.3 billion Better Care Fund will see the NHS and councils work together to look after people better – so they can stay in their own homes rather than being in hospital. At the same time, councils can work more efficiently by cutting waste and protecting frontline services. We are also changing the system to cap the costs of care so people have more certainty about how much they will have to spend on social care.

We want people to be confident that the NHS and their local care services will work together to provide the best patient care. We can only fund this because of our growing economy.

3 June 2015

New measures to transform failing schools

Today the Education Secretary, Nicky Morgan, will announce tough new measures in the Education and Adoption Bill which will transform up to 1,000 failing schools.

Hundreds of schools, often in disadvantaged areas, are already being turned around thanks to the help of strong academy sponsors – education experts who know exactly what they have to do to make a failing school outstanding. But we want to do more to ensure young people get the best start in life.

That’s why we’re taking action to sweep away the bureaucratic and legal loopholes that could be used to delay improvements to schools – allowing the best education experts to intervene in poor schools from the first day we spot failure. This will ensure thousands more pupils, from across the country, get the world class education they deserve.

At the heart of this is our belief that every pupil deserves an excellent education and that no parent should have to be content with their child spending a single day in a failing school – and that’s exactly what these changes will deliver.

New figures show that spending on schools in Scotland fell to its lowest levels since 2009 in real terms last year.

Good, well-funded, schools are essential to make sure that young people get the best start in life. But at a time when the schools budget in England has been protected, these new figures reveal another cut in funding for schools in Scotland.

The cost of the SNP’s failure to take responsibility for schools in Scotland, or make the reforms needed to turn them around is clear – with 3,000 more full-time teachers in England between 2010 and 2013, but around 1,000 fewer in Scotland.

Nicola Sturgeon now needs to take responsibility for the failings that have happened over that period, and make the reforms necessary to give Scottish pupils the education they deserve.

June 1, 2015

30 hours' free childcare

Today the Prime Minister is announcing that the Government will bring forward plans to double free childcare for working parents – with some families set to benefit as early as next year.

The Childcare Bill will double free childcare available for all working parents of three- and four-year-olds to 30 hours a week. And to underline our commitment to support working families, the Prime Minister is announcing plans to introduce the changes for some families a year earlier than planned, together with a commitment to increase the average funding rates paid to childcare providers.

Our message is clear – this Government is on the side of working people – helping them get on and supporting them at every stage of life.

That is exactly why we are pressing ahead with these reforms – so that not a moment is lost in getting on with the task – going further than ever before to help with childcare costs, helping hardworking families and giving people the opportunity to get into work.

Cost of agency staff to NHS

There is coverage of a Daily Telegraph investigation into the costs of agency staff to the NHS.

The Health Secretary has been clear that the NHS needs to reduce the amount of money it spends on agency staff and use the money more efficiently – and the investigation by the Daily Telegraph shows exactly why.

Since May 2010, we already have more than 23,000 extra clinical permanent staff working in the NHS, including more than 9,000 extra doctors and more than 8,000 extra nurses. And we are committed to increasing health spending in real terms by a minimum of £8 billion in the next Parliament to fully fund the NHS’s own plan for its future.

This will help secure a better future for Britain – one where people can be confident that their NHS will be there for them – but you can only have a properly-funded NHS if you have a strong economy.

The Independent reports on the number of GP surgeries.

It is wrong to say that patients have been displaced by the closure of GP practices – surgeries have been closing, opening and merging for a long time. When a practice closes, NHS England has a responsibility to make sure patients can still get services.

We are planning to train 5,000 more GPs, invest the extra £8 billion the NHS says it needs over the next five years and our plans for improving access to general practice are backed by £100 million this year.

This puts our plans to create a truly seven-days-a-week NHS firmly on track – delivering the best care in the world for everyone in our country.