Tony Cunningham
Main Page: Tony Cunningham (Labour - Workington)Department Debates - View all Tony Cunningham's debates with the Scotland Office
(12 years, 11 months ago)
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Tony Cunningham (Workington) (Lab)
Q13. The Cumbrian health economy is in crisis—real crisis. How does the Prime Minister propose to deal with it?
The Prime Minister
The first and most important thing is that we are committed to year on year increases in NHS spending. I am afraid that that position is not backed by the hon. Gentleman’s party. Alongside the extra money, we also need to make sure that there is reform so that we give clinicians a leading role in the health service. We also have to do more on the public health and health promotion agenda, because that is the best way to reduce demands on our NHS. There is also one extra thing that we need to try to achieve: looking at the links between alcohol and crime, and alcohol and hospital admissions, which put massive pressure on our NHS. That is an issue that I want this Government to deal with.