THE NHS has been in the news recently due to the combined effect of high A & E pressures and the decision taken by the Labour leadership to ‘weaponise’ the NHS (Ed Milliband’s words) in the run up to to election.

I would offer two facts.

Since 2010 NHS spend with external partners has increased from about five per cent of total spend, under the last Government, to six per cent now.

That is not ‘wholesale privatisation’ – that is a rounding error.

Secondly, the number of doctors, nurses and midwives has increased substantially.

In the case of doctors, the increase is about 7,000.

But here is the inconvenient truth.

We still have fewer clinical staff per capita than any other major healthcare system in Europe or North America.

In the end, that statistic will impact the quality of service and the way we all interact with the service.

Of course it is true that more emphasis must be made on links with social care, of course it is true that over time more can be done by GPs and less in hospitals, of course it is true that prevention is better than cure.

But none of that impacts the inconvenient truth at the heart of the service.

We have fewer clinical staff per head than other countries and we need to fix that.

We need to fix it by training more (it is neither sustainable nor ethical to continue to import doctors and nurses from other countries – some of which need them more) and by retaining our existing staff.

The solution is about terms and conditions and status within the service.

It is not about expecting the staff we currently have to work harder and harder in an attempt to meet ever-rising demand.

That is one of the reasons that I, for one, would not criticise the last Labour Government for giving GPs a better contract.

They were right to do what they did.

But the current opposition is wrong to ‘weaponise’ the NHS purely for election purposes.

The issues which face the service are far too important for that.

DAVID MOWAT MP