PM pledges health and social care ‘at least at the present level’

By The Press Association25th March 2015News EnglandNews England, Older People, Social Care

Health and social care will remain “at least at the present level”, David Cameron assured pensioners as he suffered a bumpy ride from an audience of older voters.

Asked if he could give “a cast-iron guarantee … that the health and social care for the elderly like us are saved at least at the present level if your party wins, without any ifs and buts?”, the Prime Minister told them: “Yes.”

It came as the Tory leader was given a hard time by a good number of OAPs attending a summit in London over his answers on the health service, his rejection of calls for a cabinet minister for older people and other topics.

Mr Cameron, who was at pains to remind the audience that he was the only major party leader attending the Age UK- organised event, might have expected a warmer reception after renewing promises to protect pensioner benefits from cuts.

Political opponents have accused the Tories of prioritising older voters, who wield a hefty influence at the ballot box, at the expense of young people and workers – but that was not sufficient to quell dissent over key issues.

There were shouts of “rubbish”, “that’s not true” and “you cut social care” as he insisted his administration had kept a promise to increase NHS funding – and would do so again if re-elected.

Conservatives have promised to ensure NHS spending is protected in real terms and have announced an extra £2 billion in 2015/16 as a “down payment” on health chiefs’ demands for an extra £8 billion by 2020 to keep it running.

But critics say the NHS is in crisis because massive cuts to local authority funding have seen social care budgets plummet, forcing an increasing number of patients – notably the frail and elderly – to be treated in hospital and not at home.

Labour claims that the scale of proposed public spending cuts after the election, including to social care, will mean the health service cannot escape the knife and will be “cut to the bone”.

To further murmurs of discontent, Mr Cameron insisted: “You can’t argue with some of the facts: there are 7,500 more nurses, 9,000 more doctors, we are treating thousands more people for cancer.

“There is still a lot to do in our health service, but we promised not to cut it, we have expanded it and, if elected, I will do the same again and put more money into the NHS. That is a promise. I kept it last time, I will keep it this time.”

He was also heckled over his insistence that better hospital management was the secret to cutting the number of nurses and doctors switching to agency employment – saying you “can’t blame” an individual for seeking a better deal.

“If you get the level of hospital management up to the level of the best, you will have fewer agency nurses, more permanently-employed staff and a better NHS,” he said.

His dismissal of one nonagenarian’s appeal for a dedicated cabinet minister for issues affecting older people did not go down well either.

“I worry about that for this reason: I want every single one of my ministers to care about how we treat elderly people,” he told the audience.

After the session, the PM thanked the audience for their “lively interactions” as he again faced complaints – this time for allowing questions to be put by the media.

“I think you are an incredibly important audience with very very important issues to raise that politicians should listen to.

“If you are not satisfied with how elderly people are being looked after and valued in this Government, don’t blame other ministers; blame me,” he added – before noting that as there was a general election imminent, some just might.