We are proud of the NHS

By David Cameron
Conservatives
The Blue Blog
August 13, 2009

People still care about the issues they care about, and thanks to the internet they can voice their concerns whenever they want. Just look at all the support which the NHS (National Health Service) has received on Twitter over the last couple of days. It is a reminder – if one were needed – of how proud we in Britain are of the NHS.

Millions of people are grateful for the care they have received from the NHS – including my own family. One of the wonderful things about living in this country is that the moment you’re injured or fall ill – no matter who you are, where you are from, or how much money you’ve got – you know that the NHS will look after you.

That’s why we as a Party are so committed not just to the principles behind the NHS, but to doing all we can to improve the way it works in practice. So yes, we will spend more on the NHS, but we will also improve it so that it is more efficient and responsive to patients. People working on the frontline will actually be able get on with the job they signed up for, without getting tied up in a web of targets. And we will put more power in the hands of patients by giving them better information about the care they can expect to receive.

Underlying these reforms, and our whole approach to the NHS, will be one big ambition – that future generations will be even prouder of the NHS than we are today.

http://www.conservatives.com/News/Blogs/We_are_proud_of_the_NHS.aspx

The Right Honourable David Cameron MP is the leader of the Conservative Party in the United Kingdom. Many believe that he will replace Gordon Brown as Prime Minister.

For those of us in the United States who want to know more about the horrors of their government-run, socialist system of health care, Conservative David Cameron would be the first to expose how government ownership and management are a threat to the health of the people. But that is not his message.

As he says, “One of the wonderful things about living in this country is that the moment you’re injured or fall ill – no matter who you are, where you are from, or how much money you’ve got – you know that the NHS will look after you.” He has joined the people of his nation in supporting the NHS, in reaction to the outrageous distortions and lies being propagated in the United States.

Karen Ignagni, President and CEO of America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) recently stated, “As the American people have learned the facts, support for a government-run plan has plummeted.”(AHIP release, Aug 4)

What facts? Lies about the United Kingdom’s NHS? Lies about Canada’s medicare? Or lies about the consequences of providing all of us the benefits of our Medicare program which is working so well for our senior citizens and individuals with long-term disabilities?

The British and Canadians have identified the lies and are waging a campaign to set the record straight. We need to greatly intensify our efforts to do the same here.