NHS needs much more than cash

THERESA May is about to make the same mistake with the NHS as prime ministers before her.

Instead of taking the bull by the horns, she will only tickle its tummy.

Of course more money is welcome. But the £20billion extra the NHS will get by 2023 is only enough to tread water.

And of course prevention is better than cure. So it would be churlish to sneer at the support Mrs May promises smokers, drinkers and problem gamblers.

But it took the Tories long enough to cap high stakes gaming machines in betting shops, which are the main cause of addiction. And there are still not enough curbs on advertising.

Labour is proposing a levy on the gambling industry to fund treatment. It is a sensible proposal which Mrs May should adopt.

But the NHS needs something more than money – and that is serious thought over how it should be financed in future.

A system based on a 1948 model requires more than a few quid to meet the medical advances of the 21st century.

That is why Mrs May’s 10-year plan for the health service is another missed opportunity for fundamental reform.

The NHS has only been truly free at the point of use for three of its 70 years.

Consideration must be given to the well-off contributing. Then those who cannot afford expensive treatment will still get it free without becoming victims of a postcode lottery.

But, most of all, the NHS is about its people. It is the eighth largest employer in the world, with 1.3 million staff. And their workloads are too onerous.

Mrs May’s plan contains vague promises of more medics. But we need 40,000 extra nurses now – and she should deliver them.

We accept the Tories at last have a plan for the NHS where before there was none.

Mrs May must accept that this one doesn’t go far enough.