Howard: Hospitals failing in ‘basic duty’
Conservative leader Michael Howard continued to fire the opening the shots in the election campaign by saying hospitals were failing in their “basic duty” to protect the sick from harm.
Speaking in Birmingham as part of a tour that will also take him to the North West, Mr Howard detailed pledges to ensure cleaner hospitals, plans to scrap targets, and provide greater freedom for healthcare professionals.
Referring to the death of his mother after she contracted an infection while in hospital, Mr Howard said: “For me cleaning up our hospitals isn’t politics. It’s personal.”
He added: “Florence Nightingale once said that ‘the very first requirement in hospital is that it should do the sick no harm.
“After eight years of Mr Blair our hospitals are failing in that most basic duty.”
“MRSA is avoidable”, he continued, arguing that “Mr Blair’s obsession with targets has created a culture in which the super bug thrives”.
By contrast, a Conservative government would scrap Whitehall targets for hospitals, he said.
“We won’t allow target obsessed bureaucrats to get in their way. And when it comes to cleaning up our hospitals, we’ll put matron back where she belongs – in charge.”
Earlier, Mr Howard launched the Conservatives’ election campaign ahead of Mr Blair’s official announcement of the date of the general election.
He told a press conference in London that voters would be faced with a “very clear” choice on polling day.
“They can either reward Mr Blair for eight years of broken promises and vote for another five years of talk. Or they can vote Conservative, to support a party that’s taken a stand and is committed to action,” he said.
