The health service continues to be the main battleground for the parties as the election campaign moves into its second week.Lib Dem leader Charles Kennedy has attacked "hidden" waiting lists caused by delays in patients receiving diagnostic tests.
Labour are concentrating on policies to improve child health and Tony Blair has renewed his attack on the Conservative plan to give patients half the cost of an NHS operation if they chose private treatment.
Michael Howard has demanded that Labour withdraw its "lie" that the plan amounts to introducing charges to the NHS.
Which of the parties has the best policy for healthcare? Will it affect your vote?
This debate is now closed. Thank you for your comments.
Independent health care charity the Picker Institute has published a report on experiences of NHS care involving nearly a million patients. The institute's chief executive, Professor Angela Coulter, answered your questions.
The following comments reflect the balance of opinion we have received so far:
People are complaining that the Conservatives will divert funds from the NHS to the private sector. Wake up - it's already happening. My partner is a radiologist in an NHS trust; they have to contract out a percentage of work to the private sector even if there is spare NHS capacity in the trust - it's a joke!
Simon Wills, London
 |  The Tories will make hospital care better value for us all |
The Tories will make hospital care better value for us all. They will subsidise people who shorten waiting lists. If they are rich they will be giving these tax payers back some of their money and if they are poor the Tories will be illustrating social justice. As more people in the middle will be choosing to go private as they can now afford it, waiting times will reduce and the government will have extra money left over to spend on more doctors and nurses in the NHS. There will be more money to spend as there is very little difference in cost between an NHS operation and a private operation.
Gus Eldridge, Norwich I'm afraid Clare is wrong about personal national insurance. After the upper earnings limit of �32,760 per annum is still payable at a rate of 1% on income above this level.
Simon Wills, London
As I work in the NHS I see that none of them have the first idea of what is happening in the Health Service. When are they going to ask those at the grass roots what is needed? Maybe then we can start to move forward?
Trevor Horrcoks, Grindleford
My son is on invalidity allowance and yet he has to pay privately for both dental and opticians treatments as NHS is not available. If this Labour government is so adamant that health treatment is free why is this so? It does appear that nobody seems to want to address this issue.
John McCall, Derby
Someone earlier stated that the rich (whoever they may be) pay more national insurance than the rest of us. Actually they don't, there is an upper threshold for personal NI so it's the middle earners who pay out most of their income. Also, the majority of us get our salaries/wages PAYE and won't have accountants to limit our liabilities. Having said that, I would still rather pay my tax and national insurance for the NHS than go down the private healthcare route.
Clare, Scotland
Policy differences are negligible. But for Labour health will always be a bigger priority than for the Tories. The Lib Dems are irrelevant as they can't win.
Ed, Brighton
I have worked in the NHS, and my wife and many friends are still there trying to provide a public service. Over recent years there has been increasing despair at the inefficiencies and chaos created by government decisions and targets. If this was Rover it would have folded many years ago. The NHS is too huge an organisation to solve via government policy. Local medic-led solutions are needed to restore our health service.
Tim Nelson, Reigate, Surrey The Tories cannot be trusted with the NHS. Michael Howard wants it both ways when it comes to waiting lists and MRSA. His government introduced targets (which had little effect) and now he criticises Labour for pressing for targets to be achieved. He also wants wards hit by MRSA to be closed, a move that inevitably impacts on waiting lists. Tory policies are like dinosaurs: they should be extinct and buried.
John Carter, Salisbury, England
Nobody should be subsidised to queue jump or forced into having to do so. If surgeons couldn't do private operations with a waiting list longer than a month the queues would soon disappear.
Andrew Green, Lincoln, UK
| I would think very carefully about having a private health care system |
I'm an expat in USA and I see the health care here compared to UK. Let me tell you, I would take the UK way any day. In the USA, if you can't pay you don't see a doctor. There is no preventive care at all. I hear all the time here that the NHS is no good and there are long waiting times. But there are long waiting times here too. How about two months for a mammogram! How about the prospect of losing your home because you had a heart attack, and cannot pay the bill? I would think very carefully about having a private health care system. When it is for profit the only ones that suffer are the patients. The doctors all become millionaires.
Anita, USA The NHS will never improve no matter how much money you throw at it. When will people realise that only competition makes people improve. Give me back my tax money that gets spent on the NHS and I'll spend it myself on private healthcare - if I don't like the service I get, I'll take my money elsewhere. People in the private sector live in the real world are forced to change their working practices all the time to meet the needs of the increasingly demanding customer - the NHS and its doctors should be no different.
A R, Edinburgh
Of course the Conservative plan is sensible. How would the education budget be able to provide places if all those in private education had to be absorbed into state schools?
David M, Macclesfield, Ches
| The best value for money in the NHS lies in long-term, preventive health measures |
The best value for money in the NHS lies in long-term, preventive health measures. This hardly features on any campaign agenda because the benefits are not as tangible as quick-fix, vote-winning solutions. The country still seems to judge standards of health by the number of hospital beds, increases in NHS spending, development of new drugs etc. Surely the true measure of health is in the number of people NOT requiring these NHS resources?
S Smith, Buckingham, UK Can anyone explain the difference between the Conservatives' policy of subsidising treatment in the private health service with the cost price of providing the same treatment in the NHS, with Labour's policy of using excess capacity in the private health service (of which they are unlikely to be paying cost price), apart from the fact that the former is being up front and constructive and the latter is using the back door...as we have come to expect.
DL, London
How is the NHS classed as free? Nearly 50% of the extortionate amount deducted from my pay packet every week goes in funding it and if I use the dentist or am prescribed medicine I am faced with a charge!
Martin, UK
The Tory proposals to divert money to the private sector are ludicrous. The doctors and nurses in the private sector will come from the NHS, thus adding to the staff shortages and waiting lists that already exists because of past underinvestment.
Margaret Ann Sinclair, St Neots, UK We should remember why the NHS was introduced in the first place. We had private health care before and people died of the most innocuous diseases and through lack of care because they could not afford decent private healthcare. A centralised, government funded healthcare system has given the UK not only better life expectancy but also created hundreds of professional jobs and therefore taxpayers.
Margaret Ann Sinclair, St Neots, UK
It makes no sense for some people to have private health care and some people to use the NHS, when we would all choose private health care if we could.
Louise, Leeds
I will vote Green because they have the most realistic policies, not just on the NHS but also other issues such as the environment and are anti-war. The Green party is quite capable of running the country in a sustainable way if enough people take them seriously. They have already done quite well in some local government.
Mike Bilton,
Don't get me started about how Labour have handled the NHS. It is a disgrace how they keep blaming previous Tory governments, they have had eight years of majority to sort it out. This country deserves better.
James Grigson, Stamford
| The only party with a workable health policy is the Liberal Democrats |
The only party with a workable health policy is the Liberal Democrats. Tories attempts to destroy it and Labour's attempts to throw money at it have not helped. Unless the NHS goes back to being run by people who know what they're doing it will disappear forever. A vote for anyone other than the Liberal Democrats is a vote for NHS extinction.
Andrew, Halesowen I think Labour have the best health policies and I hope they will very much keep their promise to keep the NHS free. I have seen evidence that Labour has achieved a lot running the NHS in the last 8 years.
Jean-Paul Irtelli, Brighton, UK
Under the Tory plans, once 10 operations are part-paid for privately there will be 5 NHS patients whose operations will have to be cancelled through lack of funds, because they will already have been spent. No Thanks.
George, Chessington
I don't know how people cannot understand the Conservative health care policy. Giving money to people to take private healthcare does not make them jump the queue; it takes them out of it altogether. It is helping people who would not necessarily be able to afford the full price of private care, shortening the waiting list for people who cannot to pay any money at all towards their healthcare.
Karen, Guildford
I can't see the queue jumping argument that some use against the Tories. The point seems to be that it's not the same queue. If I'm 50th on the waiting list, and ten of the people above me go private, I'm now 40th, and will be treated quicker. Labour seems to want everyone to be treated equally slowly - under the Tories, it seems everyone will be treated more quickly.
James Rigby, Wickford, Essex
Private healthcare a luxury? Not in places like Germany. Everyone has it and everyone seems be able to afford it. The more private healthcare we get, the more competition there will be to provide lower health insurance costs in the long run.
Edward, Dorset
The NHS has a lot of problems - the main one being politicians. It should not be used as a political smokescreen to hide government inadequacy. It's also abused by some people - not attending appointments or expecting professional treatment for the most minor ailments without first considering self treatment. The private health service cherry picks the lucrative work, leaving the NHS to deal with difficult and expensive cases which the taxpayer would still have to fund. And whilst the government is busy telling everyone about how many extra million it's pumping into the service to employ more doctors and nurses it omits to inform the public that the NHS is staffed by a whole army of necessary health care professionals who are not getting the extra resources, but whose work is of equal importance (physios, radiographers, biomedical scientists etc.)
Jane T, Worcester, UK
With the possibility of a Canadian General Election in the very near future, the governing Liberals give every indication that they will campaign on the healthcare issue, as they see this as the opposition's weakest link. Healthcare per se in Britain and Canada is not the parties real concern; getting re-elected is.
Allan, British Columbia, Canada
| Whatever the parties say, the NHS has infinitely improved since the Tories were in charge |
Whatever the parties say, the NHS has infinitely improved since the Tories were in charge. At least there's money going back in as opposed to privatisation by the back door, people up here cannot forget the Thatcher years and the damage that caused. It took a long time to mend that amount of damage, Michael Howard will be forever tainted by association.
Charlie Tocher, Wigan I don't think any party gets the point - my husband was in hospital last week with a heart problem. Today he got his follow-up appointment for August. We need to do away with league tables in hospitals, and get back to real nursing and doctoring - cleaners should clean, nurses should nurse, and Doctors should be able to treat patients as human beings not like animals on a conveyor belt.
Luch, Southend-on-Sea
Why are there so many adverts telling us that salt is bad for us? We have survived tens of thousands of years eating pretty much what we damn well please. I enjoy what I eat and have no health problems because I don't let it worry me. Everyone should get on with their lives and try to focus on some real issues like the starving in Zimbabwe and the continuing conflict in the Congo. Against these catastrophes our intake of salt is not worth a damn.
David Heaphy, Cork, Ireland
| The Conservative idea is good and people should not be blind to this |
Of course the Conservative idea is good and people should not be blind to this. Helping and encouraging people to go private if they can afford it reduces waiting times meaning those who can not afford it will be seen quicker. It will not impact tax as I believe what costs being offered will be limited.
Paul, Edinburgh The Tory plan to contribute 50% of NHS funds is not likely to benefit the rich. They are likely to have private health cover already. It would mean that the less well off people in pain could pay half as much money as they would have to now, to be seen quickly. Most people would be able to get together �1,000 or �2,000, by being more careful with their cash. I am constantly amazed how much money most people seem to have to spend on cigarettes, alcohol, holidays abroad and the latest clothes yet would not even consider paying extra money towards something like healthcare. And yes, I already pay my fair share in taxes and I don't begrudge paying into the NHS as long as the money is spent where it most needed.
Shane, Welwyn Garden City
People forget that the rich whom they insult, annually pay more national insurance than the rest of us and actually make less use of it because they can afford the better care provided by private clinics. They are giving without receiving. Paying part of the costs of private operations would reduce the waiting lists of the less well off and therefore benefit all of us without being detrimental to the NHS as a whole. Its time for the ignorance and scaremongering to stop.
Mark Wollacott, Osaka, Japan
It has to be Labour again this election; Michael Howard has no accountable policies. When questioned about how he will implement anything he gives none committal answers. How can this man possibly be elected as the next prime minister? He is giving empty promises with all his proposals - this includes the NHS which is only just being sorted out from the last Tory reign. I had been an undecided voter until Monday night when I saw Michael Howard on TV and decided there and then he is a desperate man using any possible lies to gain more votes.
Mike Jackson, Manchester
I have an ongoing painful knee injury. I have been waiting 4 weeks since seeing a GP, now I have to wait 17 weeks for an out-patients appointment. NHS reforms aren't working.
G, Nottingham
The NHS is far too big to deliver what the public expect of it. If anybody really thinks that a publicly funded health service can deliver what we need they're being totally unrealistic. It's possible to have a core run by the NHS, but best to move as much of the rest into separate specialist organisations. Why do many older people choose to spend their hard earned savings on paying for health? To get the treatment they want when they want.
Clive, Woking
The basic thing we all need is a clean hospital to be treated in. That's where the idea of bringing back matron is appealing. Also, paying for half an NHS operation is also a positive policy. It will reduce waiting lists and the burden on the NHS, who will pay for half the operation. Therefore I believe the Conservatives have the best health policy.
Alan McNab, Airdrie, Scotland
| The NHS is much better off in Labour's hands |
The NHS is much better off in Labour's hands. The Tories want to get rid of it, because they didn't think of it first, and because they are a money oriented party of the upper class. If it is privatised, only people who can afford it would be treated.
Dennis, Watford Labour - for its fairness and realism.
Joe Jennings, Rotherham
I think those who like the Tory idea are missing the point. I will not pay tax for rich people to jump to the front of the line: it's unfair and unjust. Let's be honest, the only people that will be able to afford it could afford the full cost of private care anyway. It's just giving the rich a tax cut.
James, Cambridge
What is so wrong with bringing private business into healthcare? The current system is not working so let's look at new ways to shake things up. I personally think that offering people half of the NHS cost for treatment is a good thing. I prefer to have the choice of what to do. People need to choose between lies, damn lies and statistics from Labour or options from the Tories. I know where my vote goes. Good bye Mr Blair.
Dave, Sawbridgeworth, Herts
Please stop using the health service as a political football, let the people who know get on with it.
J A Guy, Sheffield
None of the parties have a clue about the NHS. They are all going to throw more money at it, hoping that some of it might actually be used for patient care. It won't until the administration is stripped to the bone and doctors and nurses are all taught about hygiene.
John Heavens, UK
Privatise the NHS, because we all know how well that worked with the Post Office, BT, The Car Industry, British Steel, Directory Enquiries, the Water Board, British gas etc� Every time we let "the market" take over a service it goes downhill. I wish the Tories and Tory supporters on this board would realise that.
RS, Glasgow, UK
It's time that everyone admitted that the NHS was fundamentally flawed. We should have a system like Germany where everyone pays for health insurance as a percentage of their earnings. There are no waiting lists, and speedy care. The people who work in the NHS are not bad - the system is itself rubbish.
Tom Cane, Birmingham
The Tories plan to take tax payers money from the NHS to subsidise private health. This will mean you and I and all taxpayers will have less NHS care, less doctors, less nurses and a longer wait to subsidise private profit making out of peoples suffering.
Robin King, UK
What people are discussing in this forum is not healthcare, but sick care. Whatever happened to prevention being better than cure? More money and emphasis on compulsory physical education (not games) in school, school dinners a la Jamie Oliver and, heavy financial penalties for the manufacturers of junk food and internal combustion engines. Wake up!
Harry Webb, Broadstairs UK Under Michael Howard's proposals, will "matron" have the authority to cancel a privatised cleaning contract and employ NHS cleaners instead?
Archie, Aberdeen UK
I fully agree with the Tory proposal that people will have the option to pay for half the treatment themselves privately and the NHS fund the remainder. The people that can afford it will pay, and those that can't will have a reduced waiting list and have their treatment fully paid for them on the NHS. Everyone's a winner!
Steve, Cambridge UK
I have a friend that despite working since she was 15 and paying taxes all her life she has been out of work since November last year due to waiting for an operation on her knee which has affected her entire life. So much for getting rid of the waiting lists! Why should we pay into the NHS via tax when we don't get anything in return? Then on top of tax we're still expected to pay for the care we receive when those who are just plain lazy to go to work get it without any trouble or cost!
Clare B, Darlington
Why should people pay twice for something? We all pay tax and national insurance into the NHS, so if you go private you see no gain for the money. The Tory idea at least addresses this imbalance to a degree. Maybe if there were less managers in the NHS and more carers 'at the point of delivery' the NHS would go from being a good service now to an excellent one in the future.
Tim Woodman, Bath, UK
The parties should be tackling the dreadful NHS dentist situation. Dentists should have to work in the NHS (as doctors have to work in hospitals before becoming GPs). Maybe every dentist should be made to do a percentage of NHS work. I don't know, I wish that the situation could be given some more thought by the parties.
Matt Tapping, Bangor
Well, let's see. NHS dentists and free visits to the optician for everybody, or a two tier health service where the rich can jump the queue. I know which I'd choose, what about you?
Phil C, Notts
| The NHS should be run independently of government |
The NHS should be run independently of government. Give the health professionals the power to run it, not the politicians.
Ian, Maidenhead Improved cleanliness would help prevent the spread of MRSA, but reintroducing matrons is not the way to do it. That displays a lack of understanding about the role of nurses in modern hospitals. No longer are they simply there to make beds, change bedpans or clean up - they take highly active roles in the treatment of patients. Better cleaning staff who have been trained in hospital standards are all that is necessary, along with antimicrobial soap at the foot of every bed so that doctors, nurses and visitors clean their hands every time they approach a patient.
Claire, Oxford, UK
What short memories we have, eh? Less than a decade ago the NHS was in terminal decline. We had all but given up on the patient. At least the arguments now are how best to run it, now how to bury it. The Tories plan is to try and run it down again so badly that it forces us all to go private.
Matt, London
After our experience with privatisation, I'm horrified that the health service is the next public service to go private. Rail privatisation didn't work, water privatisation didn't work, Labour "academy" school privatisation didn't work, Labour PPP tube privatisation didn't work. I've yet to see a party ask NHS staff what they think needs changing.
Jeffrey Lake, London, UK
Having lived in Scotland for a time, I can say the NHS is far preferable to the US health care system, which, as posters have noted, caters to the wealthy and is completely subject to the prescription drug companies. That said, Labour have stalled more progress by increasing bureaucracy and I believe the Lib Dems have the right vision to make improvements. Certainly, the Tories are as useless on this issue as on everything else.
Henrietta Jiminez, CaliforniaUnder Tony Blair's government, I waited 10 weeks for the removal of a large breast tumour! Also, there is no current policy which makes it mandatory for a hospital to INFORM a patient that they will no longer be given a mammogram on the remaining healthy breast, if they have secondary cancer. Is this not negligent?
Fiona McMillan, Bourne, Lincs
Labour has no real care for the NHS or education. It's merely a statistical ploy that grabs the most votes, along with targeting young parents by splashing money on children. Personally I'm sick of hearing about the NHS. There are equally important issues that are constantly swept under the carpet, much like the dirt on some of the wards.
Mark Q, Hastings
I am delighted that the Tories will give the cleaning off the wards back to the matrons. They have shown that they're the only party to show any kind of common sense on the NHS. For this reason alone they can count on my vote on 5 May.
Mark Dorey, Haverhill Suffolk
The NHS is worse now than when I first worked in it 30 years ago. Despite what politicians of all hues have and do say, the only thing that matters is cost. Quality of patient care, not quantity, is never considered. There are no boxes to tick for how long you have to wait for the nurse to bring you a bedpan.
Clare Roche, Wadhurst, England My wife has had a lumpectomy and then a mastectomy with re-construction on her breasts after her first diagnosis of Breast Cancer in 2000. Whilst I am of course in favour of better and quicker treatment, I am appalled at the Labour Party's attempts to make political capital and spin around supposed improvements to that treatment, especially with my own MP being involved.
Ian Partridge, Welwyn Garden City, UK
The Conservatives plan to bring extra and new money to the NHS. This seems a good idea as the people concerned have already paid in full to the NHS via taxation. I have never subscribed to the idea that if you can't help everyone you should not help anyone. Michael, Stamford.
Michael Ward, Stamford, England
When my uncle Denis was a child in the 1930s (and granddad was out of work) he needed a life saving operation - they didn't let him die but the bills arrived as soon as granddad was back in a job. That's what doctoring was about before the NHS - pay when you can afford it and if you can't you still have to pay when your wages start.
Robert, Birmingham
I'm amazed by the opinions here that health care should be reprivatised. The NHS might be 57 years old, but we still have people too poor to afford medical treatment at cost price. If these people's illnesses aren't something worth spending public money on, what is?
Peter Barber, Glasgow, Scotland It is a sad state of affairs that a mainstream party feels that giving people the option to use the private sector is the best way to relieve the pressure on the NHS. The Tories are at least being honest in the sense that they are favouring the well off by giving them the opportunity to opt out of tax payers' money to go private. The Labour Party is clearly the only party to whom the NHS means as much as it does to the likes of us "normal" people who cannot afford the luxury of private health insurance.
Joel Greig, Hastings
Those who wish to go private are paying twice; they've paid their taxes and NI, that's their prerogative. As for the NHS being free, 30% of my wages go on tax and NI, the only ones that get it for free are the "sick, lame and lazy".
Ray, Bath
All the parties seem to be very similar, but I don't like the idea of paying for the wealthy to jump the queue and I do think that, though there have been too many targets, in any organisation you need to have something to aim for, to achieve ends. Labour have made things better, but there is still a long way to go.
Tristan Osborne, Durham
| Bring dental health back in to the NHS, take out cosmetic surgery |
Labour's policy on dental treatment will encourage dentists to pull 'em all out, rather than treat with modern techniques. Bring dental health back in to the NHS, take out cosmetic surgery.
Toby Cave, London Labour are the party of NHS bureaucracy. With their targets and initiatives, Labour have made the NHS a pen pusher's paradise. The NHS will not improve until we reverse the situation where we have more managers than beds. I support Tory policies because they have pledged to do just that.
Jack Stone, Southend on Sea.
Health and education should not be the political playthings of bickering politicians. Both need continuity and time for plans to work. Do governments ever consult doctors and nurses? Theirs would be the best policies surely.
Kathy Pearson, Plymtree, Devon
Not one party has mentioned NHS dentists. There is no shortage of dentists, as Tony Blair would have us believe. They have now turned to private dental care because the NHS payment was so derisory.
Val, Cornwall
Labour undoubtedly has the best policies on the health service - and I speak as a regular user of the NHS. Here in Stoke we have seen the construction of one new health centre, and the start of work on two more. Our hospital is to be completely rebuilt, and has become a stand-alone teaching hospital. Out of the first graduates, over 75% have signed on to work in the North Staffs area - a clear sign that Labour's policies are beginning to have a tangible impact.
Tim Mullen, Stoke-on-Trent Labour and Blair are again promising everything in sight, if these ideas are so good why were they not carried out earlier? I believe the Conservatives have clearly shown a sensible solution but it still needs more work. The Lib Dems have given their usual claptrap knowing that they will not be elected.
Glenn Wilkinson, Andover, Hampshire
The UK's survival rate for breast cancer is one of the worst in Europe. Whilst it's an excellent idea to ensure that patients with suspected breast cancer see a specialist within two weeks, unless that's followed with immediate treatment for those diagnosed with the disease, some patients may get worse and reduce their chances of a full recovery. Long waiting lists in the UK for surgery and radiotherapy are unacceptable.
Georgia, London
You never hear about a dirty private hospital and they seem to be superbug free too. So to offer someone the chance to go private has to be a good thing.
James Murphy, Dorset
| Politicians interfere too much...leave the medical experts to run the service |
The problem with the NHS is that politicians interfere too much. Why don't we leave the medical experts to run the service, and begin to realise that it is no good promising the Earth if we don't make the resources available.
David Anfield, Worcester Beware of healthcare privatisation. Here in the USA, medical bills are the number one cause of personal bankruptcy.
Jordan, New York, NY
The Lib Dems are way ahead because they are focusing on diagnostics first, such as free eye and dental checks, to detect illness before expensive treatment is needed. This will cost more in the short term but once its benefits work through it will save considerable amounts of money.
Tony Fisher, York
My daughter was urgently referred to her local hospital two weeks ago because she had a lump in one breast and swelling in the other. The hospital said they could give her an appointment in three months. Panic stricken, I paid �500 for her to go to a private hospital where they saw her the same week. The NHS may be safe with Labour but the patients are certainly not.
Les Burdett, Trowbridge, Wilts
Restoring free dental and eye checks is essential as a starting point. That would mean fewer people actually needing drastic treatment as problems would be spotted much earlier. Only the Lib Dems offer this as far as I can see.
Martin Hunt, Colchester, Essex I don't understand all this thing about choice. I don't want a choice of what hospital to go to: X hospital or Y hospital. I want to go to my local hospital. Who wants to go to a hospital 20 miles away? Perhaps I'm missing something here...
Steve Smith, Guildford
None, since it only appeals to at most 50% of the population. The health promises are biased towards the females to attract the votes. The male gets forgotten.
Bill, UK
With regards to the Conservative health proposals, what good is using NHS money to fund half the cost of private operations if you can't afford to pay the other half? What I want to know is what happens to those who can't pay? Are they to be resigned to an ever increasing waiting list while those people who can pay are sent to the front of the queue? Doesn't sound fair to me.
Charlotte, Eastbourne
If the NHS is so good, how come other countries are not implementing something similar? It was established in 1948 to meet the requirements of the time. Today's requirements are different in so many ways. I would like to see regional health chiefs elected. In this way they would be sure implement local health policy requirements.
Richard Roberts, Potters Bar The party that started the NHS is the only party to be trusted with it's continuation as we know it. The Tories would institute a two tier system weighted in favour of the wealthy, whilst it will be a long, long time before the Lib Dems might be in a position to influence policy. Despite the negative comments of the Tories in their election propaganda, my personal experience of the NHS in the past six months can only be described as 'SUPERB!'
John Evans, Plymouth England
I object to taxpayers money being used to subsidise any part of a private operation. This is effectively a queue jumper's charter. Anyone wishing to go private should expect to fund the whole cost, either themselves, or through any insurance scheme they may belong to. The alternative is for them to use the NHS the same as the rest of us who cannot afford to pay privately, one way or another.
Dave, England
| Having the option to pay towards my treatment if I have to wait less is a good thing |
Having the option to pay towards my treatment if I have to wait less is a good thing. If I'd had the option, I'd have had my operation before now, instead of waiting two years. Let's face it though, none of the parties are going to make good on their false promises until something drastic happens, it's all just lip service as usual.
Matt, Staffs None of the parties have adequately set out a policy to deal with the serious issues surrounding nursing training, recruitment and retention. As a student nurse it concerns me that a significant number of my cohort have left their training because of a wide variety of problems. These problems need to be recorded and addressed so we can develop ways of tackling them. The parties need to remember that nurses make up the largest single block of votes in the country and it's not a good idea to alienate us, if they are trying to win an election.
Claire Alexander, Dundee, Scotland
I have had severe facial reconstruction after cancer recently. The treatment was world class. Real progress is being made and there was fantastic coordination of care and treatment.
Steve Sanderson, Liverpool
I fully believe in UKIP's policy of stopping the mountains of paperwork that has to be done by our doctors and nurses and allow them to get on with their job. How can we expect these poor people to be able to fill in loads of forms as well as provide a top class medical service?
Callum, Lincolnshire
| Why do people think targets are bad things? |
Why do people think targets are bad things? Poorly set targets can be a hindrance, but all effective organisations need targets or they will never know how well they are doing. I can only presume that the Tories know that their cuts would worsen services and so want to abolish targets to prevent anyone measuring the decline.
Terry, Brighton Surely the point is not who claims to have the best policies for the NHS but who will implement them whilst they are in power. I'm afraid it seems to have come down to not who I agree with but who I disbelieve least!
Ellie, Edinburgh
As a regular user of the NHS I believe it to be much better under Labour. I now have a much shorter waiting time for appointments, and when I arrive at the hospital I have a much shorter wait before seeing the consultant. Get rid of too many managers and administrators and who will do their work? Doctors and nurses, diverting their time from patient care.
David, London
So Anthony Jones thinks the NHS is undermanaged & thus presumably understaffed as well. Perhaps he can explain why the NHS is already the third largest employer in the world? Why is it that Germany, with a much larger population, can have a smaller number of people employed in healthcare and yet deliver a better service? Because they organise better, spending money on doctors, nurses and equipment, instead of bureaucrats and ancillaries.
John Galpin, Berks
| Many people will never have the money available to seek private healthcare |
The Tories keep pushing the issue of freedom of choice. However, having the freedom to choose and the funds to execute that choice are two completely different things. Many people will never have the money available to seek private healthcare and so, in reality, will not have any choice whatsoever. Instead they will still have to seek treatment on the NHS which, under the Tory policy, will have to manage on reduced funds.
Stephen, Nottingham Whichever party offers to bring all dental care back into the NHS system.
Tim, Hastings, UK
Tony Blair talks of cutting lists for operations and admissions. He should realise that some people are paying privately for scans and consultations as they are in pain or very worried about their illness and the effect on their lives. Mr Blair should focus on all waiting times not just emphasise one area such as breast cancer, important though that is to sufferers. Anxiety adds to the stress of any illness. Paying privately was not a luxury for my son who needed an urgent MRI scan, it became vital as his condition was deteriorating. No politicians or manifesto can ever truly help in individual cases and there are thousands of cases in this country needing such scans.
Kathy Johnson,
The Conservative policy to introduce a system where people who can afford to pay extra will be able to get quicker treatment is unfair and will undermine the NHS. People who can't afford to pay extra but who may have greater need will suffer. The Labour party policy to increase funding up to European levels, and to reduce waiting lists is much fairer. The problems in the NHS are not easy to fix. Many people in this country take the NHS for granted, I have travelled outside of Europe, in Asia, where health provision is the preserve of the wealthy. To have universal healthcare free at the point of use is a precious thing.
Peter Donnelly, Colchester
No party is offering much of a solution, and none are addressing the real problem. We have a culture where we expect both top notch public services and low tax. If people want free, good quality healthcare they need to be prepared to pay the tax and stop electing parties on the basis of who will make them pay the least.
Jonathan Shields, Brentwood, Essex
The NHS under Labour has failed because it has become just that, an extension of politics. Doctors should be given more autonomy and fewer targets as they are more qualified to decide the prioritisation of patient care than those in Westminster. The foundation hospitals idea is fatally flawed - instead of having a two tier public healthcare system, why not ensure that all hospitals are equally excellent?
Chris Roust, Birmingham, UK
| I think there should be more done against so-called health tourists |
The Labour Party has done well to put right the Tory wrongs. However I think there should be more done against so-called health tourists, and people turning up at casualty with minor complaints, and free prescription drugs claimed here but then sent to relatives abroad.
Helen, Bradford, EnglandIf the public stopped wasting the resources of the NHS and thought twice about whether they can self-diagnose and treat minor ailments, then there would be less of a drain on the system. How much is wasted through patients not turning up for appointments and not giving notice that they can't attend? How many people waste medication, time or facilities? If these few issues were addressed, we'd find that more money can be directed to improving the service and research. I think that some of the public should pull themselves together and start having a social conscience. This would help any party achieve their greater aims.
Caroline, Maidenhead, UK
The Conservative policy appears to be a paradox. It aims to employ more nurses. But we have a shortage of trained nurses in the UK. The Conservatives also plan on limiting immigration, so I'd like to know where these extra nurses will come from?
Paul, Leeds
The reason the NHS stagnates is because the parties are only content with faffing around at the edges. In my opinion, privatised health care is the only sensible option for the future. The Conservatives, while not declaring total privatisation, are at least taking a step towards that with their policies and general ideology.
Samuel Keates, Thurrock, Essex
Surely one thing we've learnt from the last eight years is that centrally imposed targets are not the way forward. Last week Labour said it was targeting school gate mums and today it announces targets for breast cancer - yet more pre-election spin. Scrap the targets and give control back to the doctors. I'll vote Conservative as the best way to get rid of this unhealthy target setting - look what it's done to MRSA and Accident and Emergency services.
John Taylor, Huddersfield, W Yorkshire
The whole "choice" debate is a complete red herring. What people really want is for every hospital, particularly their local one, to be a good hospital. The only party that agrees with that philosophy is the Lib Dems. The Tories' internal market ruined the NHS. Labour's targets have improved it, but only in a selection of areas. We need a whole-system approach.
NHS worker, Hampshire, UK My grandfather was recently found to have a growth on his spinal column that prevented him using his legs. In the last week he has been treated at Lincoln and Nottingham hospitals, had a room to himself and has been provided with constant care and attention - all on the NHS as well and not private. No complaints from me or my family about the health service. The NHS is a marvel which the Tories have been desperate to wreck for years. Vote Labour.
Neil, Southend, UK
The NHS is inefficient and poorly run and needs more local control, no government targets and more basic services such as clean wards, less mixed wards and more beds. Sadly bureaucracy, political correctness and other such daft legislation which this government seems to embrace will not help the NHS. It will take a brave party to really do what is needed.
Michael, Beaconsfield, UK
Neither party has tackled the NHS properly. They are all too aware that many votes hang on this. So they have just deployed quick fixes to pass the problem onto the next government. The truth is that the NHS cannot continue to be managed and funded in the way it is, as no organisation can be run on a 50 year old model in this day and age. Labour have thrown money at the NHS and forestalled the inevitable root and branch reform that is necessary. Correspondingly we have seen a small decrease in the waiting lists but all analysts know that this cannot last. The crunch will come in 2007 when the current extra funds run out.
Ian (ex NHS nurse), Sheffield, UK
| Let's look at some preventative measures |
What about health education? Surely this is the key to a happier healthier nation. Let's look at some preventative measures and make ambassadors of people like Jamie Oliver and Paula Radcliffe.
Lisa, Surrey As usual, the predictable and ignorant blather about too many bureaucrats and managers from people who know nothing about how the NHS works. Evidently some people think that handing the managerial functions of the health service over to front-line staff would somehow improve things. It wouldn't. It would simply mean that they had a lot less time to spend on patient care. In fact, if anything, the NHS is undermanaged!
Anthony Jones (NHS 'bureaucrat'), Leeds, UK
The overwhelming majority of people who receive NHS treatment at either primary care or acute care levels are usually happy and impressed. Numerous health care professionals have assured me that the investment is paying off and capacity increasing and improving. But remember the NHS is a massive organisation, it will never be perfect or without problems, this is the real world.
Nick Elliott, Derby
It's easy for any political party to increase the capacity and efficiency of the NHS - simply stop the pandemic of fraud, waste and abuse! My wife is a doctor and she and almost all of her colleagues report massive abuses of NHS resources. This includes the 30% or so percent of missed appointments, 30% or more in parts of London of illegal immigrants claiming NHS treatment and the wide scale abuse of ambulance and 999 call outs.
Mark, Hampshire
I like the system here in Japan. National health pays 70%, the patient pays 30%, up to a ceiling beyond which the patient pays nothing. Patients go directly to specialists, no need to go via GPs. Patients are smart enough to decide for themselves whether a specialist is necessary.
Damien, Japan, ex UK
While it is true that the Conservatives didn't do enough during their last government, Labour has had 8 years and has failed dismally. They have employed too many people at managerial level and introduced targets that often mean the harder to treat (and often more needy) cases are ignored so that enough people are treated on time. This is nothing short of a disgrace.
J. Boyle, London, UK
The reason the NHS stagnates is because the parties are only content with faffing around at the edges. In my opinion, privatised health care is the only sensible option for the future. The Conservatives, while not declaring total privatisation, are at least taking a step towards that with their policies and general ideology.
Samuel Keates, Thurrock, Essex
| We need action, not promises |
I do wonder which party has some answers for the crisis with the shortage of NHS dentists here in North Wales and other areas well documented in the press. We need action, not promises. The proposed new contract is just adding to uncertainty amongst dentists and they are moving to the private sector.
Paul Leach, Conwy Conservatives have the real health policy. Everyone else's will cost us fortune and will not work.
Joe, UK
Health is about so much more than the provision of care for the sick. If we wish our population to be healthier than they are now, we have to address the issues which make them unhealthy. The links between poverty and ill health have long been clearly demonstrated and Labour's success with their radical policies to reduce poverty for children has probably done more to enhance the health of the next generation than any further reorganisation of the NHS can ever hope to offer.
Sue Smith, Redhill, UK
All these extra unnecessary layers of administrators and bean counters. How does this save lives and cure the sick? These expensive bureaucrats should be removed as well as the politicians who appointed them. Of course it won't happen. Much easier to axe agency nurses and other essential contract workers...I was one once.
William, Suffolk
While the progress made by Labour may not be staggering, I think they have made some good progress in improving the NHS, based on what influence they have. I feel that further improvements could be made if there was some shift within the management of the NHS, so that maybe consultants and more experienced doctor were the first people patients saw, so that diagnosis would be quicker and more accurate for mild cases, thus freeing up staff to work on more serious cases.
Peter Taylor, Reading, Berkshire It will make little difference. Whatever the headlines, the NHS is an overwhelmingly successful organisation. Sadly it is always the failings that make the headlines.
Fergal, Brighton
A totally free, efficient NHS service is unachievable - a bit like searching for the Holy Grail. To achieve that, the funding requirement would be astronomic as would taxation levels. No other modern European country or the USA has a totally free health service. As soon as we can accept this we will not be able to move on and provide better care. I believe Holland has a system that is part private part state funded that works very well. The party that stops trying to buy votes and starts meeting the needs of the sick will get my vote. At the moment the party that comes closest is the Conservatives.
C. Preece, Tamworth, UK
Having worked for the NHS under both the Tories and Labour, I think things are going much better under Labour. The Tories poster asking "How difficult can it be to keep a hospital clean?" should be answered with "Who privatised hospital cleaning services?"
R J Tysoe, London, UK
Any party which will advocate lowering the age for women to go for mammograms will get my vote. My mother had breast cancer at the age of forty one. It was a total fluke that it was discovered due to the way the tumour was growing. By the time she'd have felt a 'lump' it would have been too late to save her. I am nearly thirty-nine and recently had to sign on to a new doctor. When I had my medical I explained my mother's medical history and voiced my concern that I was now approaching a similar age and would I be eligible for more detailed check-ups. I was simply told to 'keep checking for any abnormalities and to contact the doctor if I felt anything untoward.' Hardly confidence inspiring is it?
Anon, Staffs, UK
| Why can't they start talking about the big picture of the NHS rather than picking at the surface? |
Are there any policies? Everyone is creating headline grabbing stories, which make no difference to the real world. Why can't they start talking about the big picture of the NHS rather than picking at the surface? So far all the parties have turned me off voting, as they are all as bad as each other.... less bitching and more substance please.
Andy, Southampton, UK Touch wood I am fit and do not need to go to a hospital. If I did I would be scared stiff!! They are dirty, badly managed and top heavy with managers. I will vote for any party that promises to clean them up, scrap top heavy management and employ more nurses and doctors in their place.
Norman Brown, Northampton, UK
Any party that accepts the reality that having free NHS care across the board is not viable in the long run, and some form of charging will have to take place if the standard of NHS services is going to be maintained or improved. A small charge (say 5 or 10 pounds) for a GP appointment, with exemptions for those in lower income groups, is the way forward (i.e. not the US system). Other EU countries have similar systems to this.
Nathan James, Liverpool
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