Howard says pensioner’s NHS trouble not a one-off
The Health Secretary will today visit the hospital where pensioner Margaret Dixon has had her operation cancelled seven times.
John Reid’s visit to Warrington General Hospital in Cheshire comes after the 69-year-old’s plight was highlighted by the Conservatives as an example of how the NHS was failing thousands of families under Labour.
He intends to question doctors to ensure that Conservative leader Michael Howard has presented the case accurately. He is also expected to meet with Mrs Dixon and her family.
Mr Howard raised the issue during Prime Minister’s Question Time yesterday, and has today insisted that her experience was being repeated across the country.
“Last year 67,000 operations were cancelled – that’s an increase of 10,000 on 1999,” he said.
“Cancelled operations cause trauma not just to the patients – but to their families, as well as to the doctors and nurses involved.
“The problem we face is that so much of the money Mr Blair has spent on the NHS has been wasted on bureaucracy. That’s why families like the Dixons are not getting value for money.”
Mr Howard added that he had lost count of the times doctors and nurses had told him that money was not getting through to the frontline, and vowed to put staff back in control of the health service.
The issue was the subject of an angry exchange at yesterday’s PMQs with Tony Blair insisting that the NHS was improving and the majority of people experienced excellent care. Mr Blair said that if true the case would be “totally unacceptable” and said he would look into it.
