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Dr. Reid: The OECD, like the hon. Gentleman, has ignored the new walk-in centres, the new treatment
centres, the 6.3 million people dealt with by NHS Direct, and the 400,000 operations. All those are increases in productivity that are ignored by the Opposition, who consider one element only of NHS operations: the full-time equivalent episodes carried out by consultants in hospitals.Let me give an example. Of the 30 to 40 per cent. increase in investment over the past few years, a substantial amount goes in new drugs—statins. Over six years, they have contributed towards the biggest decrease in deaths from heart-related diseases in any country in the world—23.4 per cent. Statins, which account for about 10 per cent. of that decrease, have therefore led to a huge fall in mortality from circulatory diseases. The Opposition regard that as a fall in productivity; it is a fall in productivity because the people thus saved do not end up in hospital. It is a perverse definition of productivity that has been manufactured by the Conservatives purely to run down the NHS, which is their aim.
Let me deal with some of the increases in quality and access that are also ignored by the Opposition. Nineteen out of 20 people can now see a GP within 48 hours. It was scandalously difficult to see a GP when we inherited the national health service from the Conservatives. Nine out of 10 people can now be seen, diagnosed and treated in accident and emergency departments within four hours—a world-class standard. None of those increases in quality and ease of access has been taken into account by the Opposition. They do not want to concede to the NHS any improvement, because they want to privatise health care in this country.
Linda Gilroy (Plymouth, Sutton) (Lab/Co-op): May I invite my right hon. Friend to visit Plymouth, where he will see our new cardiac unit, which is now treating 1,850 people a year, compared with some 700 people in 1997? Given that heart disease has not increased by that amount in our area since that time, what does he suppose happened to the patients who were unable to get such treatment before we had the welcome investment that is pouring into the south-west?
Dr. Reid: What my hon. Friend says is absolutely true. I will be delighted to come to Plymouth if I can arrange a visit, but I am afraid that I have so many openings of so many establishments throughout the country that it may be some time before I can do so. Some 23 NHS-run and two independent sector treatment centres have now opened; between them, they will treat an additional 50,000 patients this year. There are also 42 NHS walk-in centres; 140 million more items were prescribed last year than six years ago; and there has been a 29 per cent. increase in drugs, which is bringing benefits. All those things are ignored, of course, by the Opposition, but they are bringing substantial improvements in people's lives. Indeed, they save lives.
I have recently given two figures. There have been sustained reductions in death rates from cancer, and a 10 per cent. fall in the rate of premature deaths—that is, among under-75s—from cancer since the 1995 to 97 figures were issued. Furthermore, death rates from heart-related disease among under-75s fell by more than 23,000 in the five years up to 2000 to 2002. That is a substantial saving of lives in this country as a result of the work of the national health service and the investment put into it.
None of those things makes me complacent for one moment and nor do they satisfy Labour Members. We will not rest until we have restored our national health service to where it belongs: at the top of the excellence league as well as the fairness league. There is a long way to go in investment, reform, effort, leadership and endeavour. There is also a long way to go in recognising that another core value of the national health service must be better promoted. Nye Bevan's vision was not simply that the people of this country should have equity of access to medical care free at the point of delivery, although it was that. It was also that people should have access to the best medical care.
That is why we have already started to match our investments with reforms, bringing new ideas and a better range of services to the British public, including new services such as the easily available walk-in centres that I mentioned and the fast-track treatment centres, many of which are inside the national health service. On some occasions, the independent sector treatment service is used and items are purchased in bulk at a reasonable price and delivered free at the point of need to everyone in this country. As to telephone advice, 6.3 million callers spoke to NHS Direct last year.
All this requires the national health service continually to refresh itself by introducing the latest and best innovations, based on the latest and best available research evidence. That is why we established the National Institute for Clinical Excellence to provide patients, health professionals and the public with the authoritative guidance that they need on current best practice and health technologies and clinical management of specific conditions. That is another advance that is recognised as among the best in the world—indeed, it is the best—and it is establishing clinical excellence throughout the national health service.
Rev. Martin Smyth (Belfast, South) (UUP): I welcome the improvements and changes that are taking place in the health service, particularly in dealing with those with hearing problems and in using the independent and private sector. Is the Secretary of State aware, however, that there is some concern about whether, after new hearing aids are provided and adapted, people go back to that sector or to the national health service? Is he prepared to deal with that situation, bearing in mind the fact that people get used to those who provide the service and want the follow-up to be convenient?
Dr. Reid: I thank the hon. Gentleman for his comments. By arranging a plurality of provision, we are giving a better degree of service and a choice. That is being introduced steadily. It is not the illusion of theoretical choice for everyone that is being offered by the Opposition, which depends on how much money one has in one's pocket.
The increased capacity that we are introducing will genuinely extend choice for patients in the NHS. As the hon. Gentleman says, some of that choice is provided by the independent sector, and I assure him that as the years go on we do not intend to limit and narrow the choice available to patients; rather, we intend to
preserve that choice and, as far we can, extend information, power and choice for patients.
Mr. Burns: Does the Secretary of State remember his letter to the Health Committee on 5 February this year in which he stated that last year the national health service spent £100 million in the private sector, but that if the work had been done in the NHS it would have cost £70 million, which is a difference of £30 million? That means that the health service spent 43 per cent. more on private care in the private sector for NHS patients. Is the Secretary of State concerned, and what will he do to narrow the gap?
Dr. Reid: The hon. Gentleman is right in every particular. Because we bought operations from the private sector at spot prices, we paid extra premiums of 50 per cent., 60 per cent. and above. He is right to point out that that disturbed me, which is precisely why we no longer do it. Now, we buy in bulk the vast majority of operations that we purchase from the private sector. For example, the most recent purchase that I concluded was for 40,000 cataract operations at the quality and price that we wanted, which was, as it happens, 10 per cent. below the tariff for the national health service. That purchase bought us another 40,000 cataract operations delivered free at the point of need, which dramatically reduced waiting times in several parts of the country for old people waiting for free cataract operations.
Mr. Burns: The Secretary of State says that he thought that those premiums were wrong and that he has taken action. Does that mean that he is criticising the former Secretary of State for Health, the right hon. Member for Darlington (Mr. Milburn), who negotiated the deal?
Dr. Reid: Not at all. As it happens, the negotiations for the cataract operations that I mentioned began under my predecessor, my right hon. Friend the Member for Darlington (Mr. Milburn). I thank him, and commend him on his foresight in heading in that direction.
Our ambition for the national health service demands even greater foresight. All knowledge-based elements of the national health service need a constant supply of evidence from new research, especially in fast-moving fields such as medicine. We have always recognised that, and we began to deal with the most pressing needs in 2000, which is why we have invested in cancer research in particular.
We set up the National Cancer Research Institute, which is a partnership of the 19 largest funders of cancer research in the United Kingdom, including Government, the voluntary sector, industry and patients' representatives, and the national cancer research networks followed on from that. I have no hesitation in saying that the national cancer research networks have been a huge success with both patients and practitioners of medicine in this country.
Mr. Keith Bradley (Manchester, Withington) (Lab): My right hon. Friend is absolutely right that the cancer research network has been a huge success, and Christie
hospital in my constituency is at the forefront of that progress. The Wolfson molecular imaging centre is a world-class clinical research centre located at Christie hospital, and it currently receives a small amount of money from central Government. In the light of the Chancellor's announcement of a significant increase in the science research budget, will my right hon. Friend re-examine the funding of the molecular imaging centre at Christie hospital to see whether more central Government money can be allocated to it?
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