6 October 2009
The Conservatives would save £1.5 billion over four years by cutting back NHS bureaucracy, Andrew Lansley claimed today.
The saving — one third of the health service’s administration budget — would be achieved by scrapping targets and making GPs more responsible for their budgets.
Both reforms would improve patient care as well as save money, the Shadow Health Secretary said in his speech to the Conservative Party conference in
David Cameron’s decision to ring-fence the NHS budget is one of his most controversial policies among Tory grassroots, who question a decision that implies deeper cuts to areas such as defence.
Mr Lansley tried to reassure the party’s activists that a protected budget under an incoming Conservative administration did not mean that unnecessary managers would keep their jobs.
“Labour have made expensive commitments on the NHS with no price tag. In contrast, we are determined to identify how we will save money before we spend it,” he said. “To make the NHS successful, we must devolve decision-making closer to patients. In doing so, we’ll save substantial sums of money.”
Spiralling running costs of primary care trusts, the £1.94 billion-a-year price tag for health-related quangos and the bills for
At least £850 million would be saved by taking primary care trust and quango budgets back to the level of six years ago — at which point Labour already thought that there were potential savings of £750 million.
The Tories, meeting in