Will the Tory MP who wants to charge patients to use the NHS debate me?

Earlier this week, Channel 4’s “Dispatches” asked if we are addicted to our doctors. It highlighted the increasing pressure the NHS is under and some of the costs associated with those pressures.

My opponent in Bristol North West – Tory MP Charlotte Leslie – said that, in respect of A&E and GP surgery appointments that are deemed unnecessary, that “…we do need a charge I think to just enable people to think a little bit about what their use of the NHS costs…”.

The context that Ms Leslie gave for suggesting a new system of charging patients in the NHS was – in her words – an “epidemic of misuse”. In an accompanying article in the Guardian she claimed that the pressures being faced by the NHS are largely the fault of patients – especially the “20 year old in her pyjamas” – and that the British people just aren’t as good as they used to be at looking after themselves.

The fundamental issue here is the fact that Ms Leslie wants to introduce double charging in the NHS – demanding that patients have cash in their pockets at the time they need to see their doctors or nurses.

She doesn’t seem to recognise that we already pay for the NHS by paying our taxes. She also clearly doesn’t understand the idea of collectivism. And most concerning is the blaze approach to suggesting new systems of cash payments or penalties of NHS patients. What happens if you can’t afford a £10 GP appointment fine? Will you get removed from the GP list? What happens if you go to A&E with your one-year-old baby because of a rash that turns out to be something other than mumps? Do you get fined then? If so, what if you don’t have enough money to pay it?

Ms Leslie is one of those Tory MPs that consistently talks down the NHS. She blames the NHS and patients for its challenges yet never seems to remember the fact that she voted to support David Cameron’s top-down reorganisation of the health service that caused many of these problems in the first place.

Does she mention the multi-billion pound cost of a reorganisation her party said they wouldn’t do as being an issue? No.

Does she mention the fact that she voted through reforms to give GPs huge amounts of new administrative responsibilities with commissioning whilst reducing overall funding to GP surgeries as being an issue? No.

Does she mention that A&E pressures might be due to the fact that concerned patients can’t see their GP in time or because there are staffing issues in some A&E departments? No.

What about her vote to support the fragmentation of the health service by outsourcing to private companies, or the fact that she voted to keep the Government risk assessment on the impact of private companies making a profit from patients secret from the public? No, of course not.

Anything about the thousands of nurses that have lost their jobs or the fact that GP surgeries such as St Martin’s in Bristol are closing down because there aren’t enough GPs? Not a thing.

I’m not denying that the NHS needs to reform – we must always look to improve the NHS and spend taxpayer’s money efficiently so that it provides the best service to patients. We have increasing demand, an aging population and ever-expensive technologies. But let me tell you the real story of the NHS today. In June of this year, a US study put our NHS at the top of a global league table of health care systems. And guess what? This top quality service comes in at the lowest cost in the study with the UK spending £2,008 per head compared to £5,107 in the US (which was ranked the worst in the study).

We must never allow Tory politicians to talk down the NHS in a bid to fatten up the public mood for privatisation on false pretences. We must always work in partnership with those who know best – doctors, nurses and support staff – to praise their public service and to invest in and protect a health service that is the envy of the World. And as a Labour Party we will always champion its founding principles and deliver an NHS that is based on collaboration over competition, based on clinical need and not an ability to pay.

Ms Leslie has asked for a public debate. As the founder of the NHS Nye Bevan said – “the NHS will last as long as there are folk left with the faith to fight for it”. I take up that challenge and invite Ms Leslie to get in touch to set a date so we can publicly debate the future of the NHS.

Darren Jones is Labour’s prospective parliamentary candidate for Bristol North West