David Oliver: What the party manifestos should cover on health and social care but probably won’t

A general election is set for 4 July, and the next UK government will be key to the future of health and social care. The main political parties have set out some policy positions, but none has yet published an election manifesto. While not intended to be detailed programmes for government so much as statements of intent, to be fit for purpose these manifestos should have credible positions on some crucial health policy areas. I doubt that we’ll get this, especially given current economic constraints and the contentious issue of immigration control, but we can hope.So, what are these essential issues? Firstly, the performance of core NHS services needs to improve considerably. As a tax funded, politically accountable, universal public service, the NHS is currently failing too many citizens too often. Ask people what matters to them, in major surveys or focus groups, and there are three key issues: access…
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