Congress 2008 highlights - Thursday
Shadow health secretary pledges working together
In his address to Congress on Thursday, Conservative spokesperson for health Andrew Lansley pledged to work with the RCN on 'professionally led, evidence-based' health care development. Infection control, workforce planning and modernising nursing careers were three topics he singled out for collaborative working.
Mr Lansley was critical of the way the Government handled the Pay Review Body's recommendations on nurses' pay last year. "I hope you will never again have a government that arbitrarily overrides the Pay Review Body," he said.
He also criticised the way changes such as Agenda for Change had been implemented - too quickly and inconsistently - and also 'endless organisational upheaval'. 'We said this two years ago - now the Government agrees,' he said, in reference to Secretary of State Alan Johnson's speech the day before.
The shadow health secretary stressed the importance of valuing health care staff. The NHS could not stand still, he asserted, but changes needed to be bottom-up and evidence-led. He would like to see enhancement of public health infrastructure and delivery, and re-empowerment of professional staff.
Following his speech, Mr Lansley took questions from the Congress floor. Contrary to press reports, he said the Conservatives were not planning on dismantling NHS Direct, but rather integrating it with other services locally such as the emergency services.
And in answer to Derek Blackshaw's question (which change to the NHS the last Conservative government made did he most regret?), he admitted that freezing NHS funding in 1993-5 had been a mistake for which his party paid in the 1997 General Election.