NHS (60th Anniversary)

I want to make progress and I do not want to take much time because I want as many Members as possible to have a chance to express their views about the NHS. It is not an occasion for me to make many—or, indeed, any—party political points or to talk about policy in great detail. However, when one considers the current position in the NHS, we should take account of some things from the past. A couple of years ago, I was at Papworth hospital, which was celebrating the 25th anniversary of the first heart transplant. I was surprised to hear Sir Terence English, who carried out that transplant, say that the 1980s was a golden age in the NHS. That is not a phrase that I normally hear applied to the 1980s, so I asked him what he meant by it. He replied that, in those days, if he could convince the board of governors at Papworth hospital that he should innovate through undertaking something groundbreaking, there was nothing to stop him. We need to consider that carefully. The Conservative party is geared towards health outcomes because the structures of targets and micro-management in the NHS have made many NHS staff believe that they are no longer in a position to innovate or have the freedom to deliver high quality care in the way they should.