NHS (60th Anniversary)

I am pleased to join in celebrating the 60th anniversary of the NHS. It is right to acknowledge and express appreciation for the massive contribution of the staff in the NHS, from those at the bottom of the organisation to the most specialist clinicians. The motion also rightly identifies the role of volunteers and charitable organisations, which often work in partnership with the NHS. They play a vital role, and are often staffed by people who have had a particular experience, or whose loved ones have, and who demonstrate a real commitment to the care provided. It is also right to acknowledge and celebrate the extraordinary founding principle of the NHS—that everyone, irrespective of income, should have the same access to care, based on need, not on ability to pay. As the other two Members who have spoken have acknowledged, it was a Liberal, William Beveridge, who laid the foundation stones of the NHS. It is a pity that the Liberal Democrats have not yet had the opportunity to administer the national health service, but one day our turn will come. We should never be complacent about the future of the NHS, its safety and security. It could be undermined by two factors: first, funding levels; and secondly, the way in which the money is spent. Back in 1997, at the end of the Conservative Government, this country was spending a third less than the average European spend on health. The consequences were there for all to see. Hospitals were decaying, and not enough doctors, nurses or other health professionals were being trained or recruited. There were real weaknesses. At the end of the Conservative years in government, whether we look at cancer, heart disease or stroke care, the outcomes—the issue on which the Conservative spokesman focused—for people in this country were poor compared with those in other European Union countries. Today, a difference has been made to funding. This country now spends about £100 billion a year, which is a dramatic increase in investment in the health service. We supported that all the way through. We called for it in 1997, and when it came we supported it in votes in this Parliament. Given that funding has increased, however, we must ask, first, whether we are getting enough out of the investment, and secondly, how the NHS will cope with the challenges of the future. As has been said, the current spend is at about the European average. Yet, as the Conservative spokesman has said, our outcomes still lag behind Europe's on heart disease, cancer, stroke care—