HC Deb 29 January 2004 vol 417 cc386-7
16. Mrs. Ann Cryer (Keighley) (Lab)

If he will make a statement on funding the NHS through general taxation. [151557]

The Chief Secretary to the Treasury (Mr. Paul Boateng)

This Government are firmly of the view that the most efficient and equitable way of funding the NHS is through general taxation—an NHS that is free at the point of use.

Mrs. Cryer

I thank my right hon. Friend for that very pleasing reply. Is he aware that Airedale general hospital is not only an excellent facility but is the biggest employer in my constituency? The vast majority of those employees are doctors, nurses and those giving essential support such as cleaners, maintenance workers and medical secretaries, without whom the medical care so much appreciated by my constituents could not be given.

Mr. Boateng

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for the care and attention that she pays to health care services in her constituency, whether that means a magnetic resonance scanner or mental health services. The whole NHS team, including the ancillary and support workers whom she mentioned, have enabled us to deliver 450,000 more operations a year than took place in 1997, 15,000 of which were heart operations and 90,000 of which were cataract operations, as well as 8,000 more hip replacements and 12,000 more knee replacements. Each of those numbers is higher than in 1997. That is good news, and it is achieved only by the sort of team working of which my hon. Friend is so supportive in her constituency.

Miss Anne McIntosh (Vale of York) (Con)

I should perhaps declare an interest in that my brother is a GP in north Yorkshire. Will the right hon. Gentleman tell the House what the additional cost to the taxpayer will be of the out-of-hours service for GPs in north Yorkshire from 1 April, and of the additional costs under the working time directive of training and recruiting more doctors, particularly in the mental health sector of the NHS?

Mr. Boateng

Certainly, I will write to the hon. Lady on the specific costs in relation to north Yorkshire. I am sure that she will fairly appreciate and give credence to the fact that none of those improvements could be achieved were we to adopt the spending policies advocated by Conservative Members.

Mr. Stephen McCabe (Birmingham, Hall Green) (Lab)

Does my right hon. Friend agree that any attempt to suck general taxation funds out of the NHS and use them to subsidise the private health sector would be disastrous for the NHS? Is that not a classic example of a cynical ploy that would attack the health of the nation and mean that the many would end up funding the privileges of the few?

Mr. Boateng:

My hon. Friend makes a fair point. That is precisely the policy that Conservative Members seem to be suggesting. It would involve a dead-weight cost of some £1 billion, which could be met only by cutting back on the gains that we have made for the NHS since 1997. That would be an absolute disaster, and would add still further to the inequalities in health that we inherited from the stewardship of the Conservative party.