National Health Service

Baroness Cumberlege Excerpts

Thursday 8th January 2015 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Cumberlege (Con)]

My Lords, my interests are in the House of Lords register but I should declare that I am executive director of Cumberlege Connections and of Cumberlege Eden & Partners.

I, too, congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Turnberg, on initiating this debate. He is a truly remarkable man and is probably one of the most qualified and experienced of your Lordships when it comes to analysing the health service, as was evidenced today in his remarkable speech. I did not agree with it all, but it was remarkable. If one looks further, it is really interesting and fascinating to read his book, Forks in the Road. Does not that title really sum up the views of the nation? The NHS is hugely valued. We are at one in wanting to ensure its future. We are journeying on the same road, but there are many choices to be made on the way.

The ethic is inalienable. Whether we are rich, poor, young, old, black or white, we want a service that is largely funded by the taxpayer. I say largely because successive Governments, including the Labour Party when it was in government, have largely eroded the ethic by stealth—introducing prescription charges and other charges. The general public do not want to produce a credit card for services rendered but they are ambivalent as to who provides the service. If the service is compassionate, kind, professional, efficient and provides value for money, albeit that it is provided independently, the public are largely satisfied.

I endorse the views of my noble friend Lord Horam. Worldwide the NHS is recognised as a winner. We have been ranked as the top health system in the world by the Commonwealth Fund. We also know that when it comes to asking the British what makes them proud to be British, the NHS is top of the list, before the Armed Forces and even the Royal Family. We also know that there is always room for improvement. Lest we get complacent, we only have to think of North Staffordshire, Winterbourne View and so on.

The noble Lord rightly highlighted the challenges that we face and they are beyond dispute, but we should not ignore the progress that we have made. At a time of austerity, we have increased the NHS budget by £12.7 billion. “Not enough”, is the cry but it will never be enough. In the past five years, the number of clinical staff has increased by 12,500, and 850,000 more operations are being delivered each year compared with 2010. The number of patients looked after in mixed-sex wards is down by 98%, which is a subject I know is very close to the heart of the noble Baroness, Lady Jay, from when she was in opposition and when she was in government. Listening to her speech today, I was deeply worried when she quoted the shadow Health Minister as saying that he did not understand how the current system works. I respectfully suggest that he looks at pages 88 and 89 of the book by the noble Lord, Lord Turnberg, which clearly sets that out in a diagram.

Looking at the next five years, as has been said, NHS England’s priority is to engineer a radical upgrade in prevention and public health. It goes on to say that the NHS will,

“back hard-hitting national action on obesity, smoking, alcohol and other … health risks”,

which I welcome. I share the view of my noble friend Lady Barker that we should stay with the health and well-being boards, and not be tempted for another reorganisation.

In Britain, we attempt to run a fair society, a society which protects citizens from abuse by those unwilling to respect others. We have cracked down on drunken or reckless drivers and on faulty cars. People who abuse our roads are prosecuted and our roads are safer for it. The problems of the NHS are in some measure due to people abusing the system. Resources are spent on dealing with drunks, time-wasters and drug misusers, leaving the system in danger of being overwhelmed so that those in real need are deprived of life-saving treatment. The NHS constitution is very strong on rules for staff but is ineffective and weak when dealing with users. The contrast with drivers who have to learn and adhere to the law is very stark.

Looking to the future, we have to introduce rules to protect and enhance the treatment of people who are ill. Without known rules, any organisation, including this House, can descend into chaos. With a strong economy, we can afford to pay for its use but we should not fund its abuse. Does my noble friend agree?