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Cameron sets out 'payment by results' NHS vision
The Conservatives have outlined how they plan 'to replace Labour as the Party of the NHS'.
In a speech yesterday, Tory leader David Cameron said that he wanted to see his fellow Conservatives commit to a public health service that is based on equality.
'A system which strives for equal access to healthcare is not a dream of socialism,' he said. 'It is not a hideous Marxist intrusion into the pure beauty of the free market. It is an institution I acknowledge and respect as a Conservative - and for that matter, an institution I am really proud to use as a father.'
Mr Cameron went on to say that Labour had 'badly mismanaged' the NHS. He said that a Conservative government would move away from central targets towards a 'payment by results' approach in order to improve performance.
Among the ideas is a proposal to withhold payment for treatments where the patient develops a hospital-acquired infection, such as MRSA.
However, the British Medical Association (BMA) has criticised the idea. 'How are you going to manage people on chemotherapy, who often get infections during the course of their treatment?' the BMA's Dr Laurence Buckman told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. 'Are you just not going to have them in the hospital?'
Category: Healthcare
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