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| David Cameron renews NHS funding pledges | David Cameron renews NHS funding pledges |
| (about 4 hours later) | |
| Prime Minister David Cameron is to renew his vow to boost NHS funding and create a "seven-day" health service in his first major post-election speech. | Prime Minister David Cameron is to renew his vow to boost NHS funding and create a "seven-day" health service in his first major post-election speech. |
| He will commit to a pre-election pledge to increase budgets by at least £8bn a year by 2020, during his speech at a GP surgery in the West Midlands. | He will commit to a pre-election pledge to increase budgets by at least £8bn a year by 2020, during his speech at a GP surgery in the West Midlands. |
| Outlining the government plans, he will say the NHS is "safe in our hands". | Outlining the government plans, he will say the NHS is "safe in our hands". |
| But doctors' representatives said without detail the announcement was "empty headline-grabbing". | |
| The British Medical Association said the government was yet to explain how it would deliver additional care at a time of "chronic" doctor shortages. | |
| Before the election, the Conservatives gave their backing to a plan by NHS England chief executive Simon Stevens to fill a funding gap estimated at £30bn a year by 2020. | |
| This aims to make £22bn in efficiency savings, with the rest coming from taxpayers. | This aims to make £22bn in efficiency savings, with the rest coming from taxpayers. |
| Labour said before the poll that Tory plans for "extreme" spending cuts threatened the NHS. | |
| Death rates | Death rates |
| Mr Cameron is expected to describe the health service as the embodiment of "one nation" politics. | |
| He will say the proposals will transform services across the country, with more GPs, faster access to new drugs and treatments. | |
| They will also bring a greater focus on mental health and healthy living, he will say. | They will also bring a greater focus on mental health and healthy living, he will say. |
| The PM is expected to say it is "shocking" how death rates for patients admitted to hospital on a Sunday are up to 16% higher than those admitted on a Wednesday and that a seven-day service would help save lives | The PM is expected to say it is "shocking" how death rates for patients admitted to hospital on a Sunday are up to 16% higher than those admitted on a Wednesday and that a seven-day service would help save lives |
| "There is nothing that embodies the spirit of one nation coming together - nothing that working people depend on more - than the NHS," he will say. | "There is nothing that embodies the spirit of one nation coming together - nothing that working people depend on more - than the NHS," he will say. |
| "Our commitment to free healthcare for everyone - wherever you are and whenever you need it. | "Our commitment to free healthcare for everyone - wherever you are and whenever you need it. |
| "So I believe that together - by sticking to the plan - we can become the first country in the world to deliver a truly seven-day NHS." | "So I believe that together - by sticking to the plan - we can become the first country in the world to deliver a truly seven-day NHS." |
| This must be done to preserve the values of the NHS that are "so central to our national identity", Mr Cameron will add. | This must be done to preserve the values of the NHS that are "so central to our national identity", Mr Cameron will add. |
| "To keep our people healthy, to look after them when they fall ill, to care for the elderly with dignity and to ensure that free healthcare is always there whenever people need it most." | "To keep our people healthy, to look after them when they fall ill, to care for the elderly with dignity and to ensure that free healthcare is always there whenever people need it most." |
| Mr Cameron is expected to deny that staff will have to work longer hours. | Mr Cameron is expected to deny that staff will have to work longer hours. |
| He will argue instead that work patterns must be more flexible, to ensure doctors and nurses are available at the right times. | He will argue instead that work patterns must be more flexible, to ensure doctors and nurses are available at the right times. |
| BBC health editor Hugh Pym said Mr Cameron had chosen the issue for his first major speech since the election to show "there is a real commitment to deliver" a seven-day NHS. | |
| Difficult questions | Difficult questions |
| But the Royal College of Nursing warned any cuts in pay associated with delivering a "seven-day" health service could lead to industrial action. | |
| Its general secretary Peter Carter told the Independent there was a "very modest higher level of remuneration" for working unsocial hours, including over weekends and holiday periods. | |
| Any changes to that would be "strongly resisted", he said, adding: "Any attack on that and I do fear it would result in industrial action." | |
| Dr Mark Porter, British Medical Association council chairman, said the government needed to clarify how it intended to "translate this announcement into reality". | |
| "The real question for the government is how they plan to deliver additional care when the NHS is facing a funding gap of £30bn and there is a chronic shortage of GPs and hospital doctors, especially in acute and emergency medicine, where access to 24-hour care is vital," he said. | |
| "Without the answer to these questions this announcement is empty headline-grabbing and shows that even after polling day, politicians are still avoiding the difficult questions and continuing to play games with the NHS." | "Without the answer to these questions this announcement is empty headline-grabbing and shows that even after polling day, politicians are still avoiding the difficult questions and continuing to play games with the NHS." |
| 'Financial distress' | |
| Downing Street said the GP Access Fund, set up under the previous Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government, was already extending opening hours. | Downing Street said the GP Access Fund, set up under the previous Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government, was already extending opening hours. |
| Consumer group Which? called for the government to make reforming the complaints system an integral part of its plans. | Consumer group Which? called for the government to make reforming the complaints system an integral part of its plans. |
| Its executive director Richard Lloyd said: "Last year we found that four in 10 people who had a problem with the NHS didn't complain, with one in seven saying they were put off from doing so because they feared getting worse care or treatment as a result." | Its executive director Richard Lloyd said: "Last year we found that four in 10 people who had a problem with the NHS didn't complain, with one in seven saying they were put off from doing so because they feared getting worse care or treatment as a result." |
| Andy Burnham, Labour's shadow health secretary, said pre-election that Tory plans were not credible without investment in extra NHS staff. | |
| "With the NHS in increasing financial distress, David Cameron must set out clearly how it will be paid for," he said. |