Over 75s to see GP on same day
PM’s vow on appointments as he pledges another £8bn for the NHS
PENSIONERS aged over 75 will be guaranteed same-day appointments with their GP, as part of Tory plans for a huge cash injection for the NHS.
David Cameron will announce the move today as he pledges to commit £8billion to fund the health service.
This is the figure named by NHS boss Simon Stevens as the amount needed to help plug a £30billion hole in the health service’s accounts over the next five years.
The move is designed to demolish cynical Labour claims that the Tories would ‘cut the NHS to the bone’ and will mean ‘at least’ an extra £8billion a year for the NHS by 2020. The Prime Minister said last night he was ‘utterly committed’ to the health service.
However, the promise that all over-75s will get a guaranteed same-day GP appointment will raise eyebrows among critics who say GPs are already struggling to cope.
Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt last year announced a plan to ‘train and retain’ an extra 5,000 GPs, which Tory sources said last night would allow them to deliver the same- day pledge. The Royal College of GPs welcomed the move as a ‘good start’, but warned that, on current trends, an extra 8,000 GPs would be needed by 2020 just to stand still.
Mr Hunt said: ‘The NHS has set out its vision for how we best improve the health service for patients, and today we are backing that plan with the money it needs. But we can only have a strong NHS if we have a strong economy.
‘We need to do much more to ensure our vulnerable elderly can be treated in the community. That is why we are building on our decision to bring back named GPs for the over-75s by ensuring that, as part of this, they are guaranteed a same-day GP service when they need it.
‘This means family doctors can focus on giving elderly people the care they need, and prevent unnecessary trips to hospital.’
The guarantee will build on the new ‘proactive care programme’, which requires GPs to offer a priority service to their most vulnerable 2 per cent of patients. The decision to back the ‘ Stevens plan’ is designed to neutral- ise Labour attacks on the issue. Mr Cameron said the commitment to find the money would be included in next week’s Conservative Party manifesto.
Referring to the care given to his late son Ivan, the Prime Minister said: ‘As someone who has been supported by the NHS at the most difficult time in my life, I’m utterly committed to ensuring it is there for everyone when they need it too.
‘That’s why I’m backing the NHS’s own plan with the cash required to ensure it can continue to deliver an amazing service to patients and their families in the future.’
The Tory move will pile pressure on Labour to put its money where its mouth is on the NHS.
This week, Labour health spokesman Andy Burnham said he could not commit to Mr Stevens’s five-year plan, adding: ‘I’m not in the business of making false promises or giving cheques to the NHS that will bounce a few days after the election.’
Tory sources last night insisted the money could be found through efficiency savings and the proceeds of economic growth. They pointed to official figures showing that NHS spending has increased by £7billion in real terms since 2010, despite the austerity programme.
A source said: ‘We have delivered a £7billion increase even when the economy was really struggling from Labour’s recession in the first few years. Now we have got years of economic growth forecast, so it is do-able and we will do it.’
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