This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/uk_politics/7200708.stm

The article has changed 7 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 1 Version 2
Clegg to outline vision for NHS Clegg sets out elderly care plan
(about 1 hour later)
Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg is due to outline his ideas for the NHS, which are expected to focus on a "care guarantee" for the elderly. Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg is to outline a £2bn "care guarantee" plan for the elderly, as part of his proposals to reform the NHS.
On a visit to an Age Concern centre in Kingston-upon-Thames, Mr Clegg will unveil proposals that will be put to the Lib Dems' spring conference. He will say the extra cash should fund a minimum level of care for all who need it, rather than being based on their ability to pay.
Mr Clegg has called the NHS one of the world's "most unequal health services". Mr Clegg will also call for central NHS targets to be scrapped, saying the current system "not good enough".
He would scrap central tragets; allow fund-raising via a local income tax; and introduce local health boards. Labour and the Tories have both recently announced NHS reform plans.
Mr Clegg, who became Lib Dem leader in December, has said NHS patients should have a guarantee of treatment within a specified time - and if that is not met, they should have private treatment, paid for by the NHS. 'New direction'
And he said the NHS was currently failing the people "who need it most" - as illustrated by varying life expectancies in neighbouring areas. Lib Dem aides said changes to services for the elderly - to be put to the party's spring conference in March - would reduce the need for people to sell their homes to pay for care.
He has also said people need to be able to take more control of the management of the NHS and their own care - including their own health budgets to spend on treatment for long-term and chronic conditions, particularly mental health problems. On a visit to Kingston-upon-Thames later, Mr Clegg is expected to say: "I am calling for a people's health service which puts individuals in the driving seat of their own healthcare.
Two weeks ago Conservative leader David Cameron said he wanted his party to replace Labour as "the party of the NHS" - the Tories have pledged to put the NHS at the top of their agenda, in the health service's 60th anniversary year. "Sixty years after it was founded, the NHS is in desperate need of a new direction.
He axed his party's previous proposals to subside patients to go private and said he would set up an NHS constitution. "The battle for extra investment has largely been won, but the service we're getting is simply not good enough."
Prime Minister Gordon Brown has said he wants a more "personalised" NHS with a bigger focus on prevention - in a speech earlier this month, he said he wanted patients to see "the doctor you want at the time you want and the hospital you want". Mr Clegg also wants to introduce directly elected local health boards, aimed at making NHS bosses more accountable.
He has also signalled that he will press ahead with an NHS Constitution. He is to propose giving patients more control over their own care, with the extension of direct payments and individual budgets to help people with chronic, long-term conditions, mental health problems and learning disabilities.
'Need it most'
Mr Clegg, who became Lib Dem leader in December, has said NHS patients should have a guarantee of treatment within a specified time.
If that is not met, they should have private treatment, paid for by the NHS, he argues.
Two weeks ago Conservative leader David Cameron said he wanted his party to replace Labour as "the party of the NHS".
He has overturned his party's previous proposals to subside patients to go private and said he would set up an NHS constitution.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown has said he wants a more "personalised" NHS with a bigger focus on prevention.
In a speech earlier this month, he said he wanted patients to see "the doctor you want at the time you want and the hospital you want".
He has also signalled that he will also press ahead with an NHS Constitution.