Cameron's Conservatives

Elliot

“David Cameron would scrap the right for every patient to see a cancer specialist within two weeks if they are suspected of having cancer”

The Labour Government has introduced a target that if your GP suspects you have cancer, you will see a specialist within two weeks of referral from your GP. The NHS has met this target.

Under the Tories in 1997, fewer than two thirds of suspected cancer patients were seen this quickly. Now, thanks to the Labour Government’s tough target, 99.8% are, guaranteeing that you will wait no more than two weeks to see a cancer specialist after GP referral.

David Cameron opposes NHS targets and has promised to abolish them, as the quotes below show.  This means that there would be no guarantee for patients of short cancer waits and that a Conservative Government could allow waiting times to rise across the NHS.

“So yes, to make sure our health outcomes are among the best in Europe, a Conservative Government will scrap all centrally-imposed process targets. “
David Cameron speaking to the Royal College of Surgeons on 24 June 2008 

“We will take the politics out of the management of the NHS, getting rid of centrally-imposed and politically-motivated targets.”
David Cameron, speech at the King’s Fund , 9 October 2006

“We will scrap all centrally-imposed targets relating to clinical processes, and replace them with a new focus on outcomes.”
From page four of Conservative Party official policy document entitled, “The patient will see you now, doctor: How the next Conservative Government will create an NHS personal to all”, published 29 September 2007