Nick at the opening of the Molineux Street health centre in Byker

Labour’s plans for a new National Care Service are a good start towards putting right a long-standing injustice. It’s not right that some older people should have to sell their homes to pay for care as they grow older.

The new plans are based on the same principles as the NHS. It will be a simple, fair and affordable care system – and one that is available to everyone. The first step is the Government’s Personal Care at Home Bill which goes through the Commons in the New Year. The Bill guarantees free personal care for the 280,000 people with the highest needs, including those with serious dementia or Parkinson’s disease, and will also help around 130,000 people who need home care for the first time to retain their independence.

The decade just past saw real improvements for young and old alike. Initiatives such as Pension Credit, Income Support and the Winter Fuel Payment mean that there are nearly a million fewer pensioners living in poverty than at the end of the 1990s. At the other end of the spectrum, our schools have benefited from increases in funding that have brought more teachers and better facilities. The results are clear – in East Newcastle there are 78% more young people going on to further education than a decade ago.

2009 was a difficult year. The worldwide economic problems affected us all. In December the unemployment claimant count fell for the first time in two years, so there are signs that the Government’s approach to the crisis is working. The right thing to do is to continue to invest in jobs and public services, and to make sure everybody receives the support they need. That is the Labour Government’s commitment for 2010.

Nick said: “If you need an organ transplant, there is no better place to live than Tyneside. I am really proud of the work done at the Freeman Hospital. The new facility is going to be world class and will underpin Newcastle’s standing in the medical world.”

Earlier this year, the Department of Health released figures that showed the shortest waiting list times in NHS History. The Health Service has benefited enormously over 12 years of Labour Government from record investment, which has improved patient care, cut waiting times and increased staff numbers. 

And the North East Strategic Health Authority continues to be the best in the country. In the Healthcare Commission’s yearly health check ratings, 21 out of 23 NHS organisations in the North East were rated either ‘good’ or ‘excellent’ for quality, receiving the UK’s very highest score at 91%.

Nick Brown said “East Newcastle has benefited from an NHS that has been reinvigorated in recent years; long waiting lists are a thing of the past, patient satisfaction is up and a whole range of new facilities such as the Freeman Hospital’s new transplant unit ensure that patients can feel confident in, and proud of their local Health Service”.

Nick also welcomed the Department of Health’s announcement that hospital car parking charges will be phased out over the next three years. The move will make it easier for family members to visit their relatives when they need them most.

In part this is down to specialized action that has been taken recently in relation to specific health problems. In January the Department of Health moved to abolish NHS prescription charges for cancer patients. And as the average age of the UK population continues to rise, the new National Dementia Strategy will put £150 million into increasing awareness of the condition and establishing a network of specialist services across the country.

But the real key to improving people’s experience of the NHS has been in improving their access to services. The past decade has seen funding for the NHS treble to almost £100bn, and has brought great increases in staff numbers. In part the aim of this increased investment was cutting down waiting times, which in 1997 were commonly over 18 months. The strategy has worked. The target of getting everyone treated within 18 weeks was achieved in each of the final four months of last year.

The Government is also working to reduce health inequality by giving people better access to their GP surgeries. The move last year to encourage all surgeries to open some evenings and weekends was controversial to start with, but it has proved popular with patients. By the end of last year three in four of Newcastle’s GP surgeries had improved opening hours for their patients.

The NHS is the envy of the world, but we can never stop working to make it better still. By continuing to invest in healthcare, and by continuing to shape services to the needs of patients, we can make sure that more and more people are happy with the treatment they’re getting.

This week’s celebrations are being marked by politicians of all sides. It’s a far cry from the original parliamentary debates in 1948, when the Conservatives fought tooth and nail against the creation of the NHS.

As recently as their 2005 manifesto, the Conservatives proposed channelling tax payer’s money into paying for people to use private health care. The stream of public money away from the NHS would have come to about £3bn a year. They offered “healthcare that today only money can buy”. But the whole point of the NHS, which they still don’t grasp, is that in the UK top quality healthcare should be available to everyone, no matter what their financial status.

As the Regional Minister, I took part last February in the launch of the region’s first Healthcare Strategy. The publication last week of the regional health profile figures for the year showed improvements in life expectancy for the North East, and a fall in early deaths caused by smoking and cancer. Public health, and encouraging people to live healthier lifestyles, are important challenges for the well-being of our region.

I believe it is important for general practitioners, healthcare professionals, and local communities to work together on these important public health issues, and more generally on the provision of primary health care. The best way we can celebrate 60 years of the National Health Service is to treasure it, not lose sight of the founding principles, to invest in it, and to give it the care that we expect it to give us.

The strategy’s vision is for our region to have the best and fairest health and well-being, and to be recognised for its outstanding quality of life. It aims to make people living here the healthiest in the country within a generation. This is a great vision for the future. But we’ve got a lot of work to do to make it come true.

There is a very strong argument that says public health is an issue of specific and urgent priority for the North East of England. And I think the key to getting people eating better, to encouraging them to drink a bit less, is to explain to them why they should be aiming for a healthier lifestyle.

Why is it that right across the developed world public smoking bans have not met with disobedience and a widespread ignoring of the law? Why are there not endless disputes with bar-staff telling people to put their cigarettes out and people saying no?

The answer is not about the new law, or about the Government telling people what to do. The real reason is that the medical profession, and those who argue that cigarette smoking is self harming, have had their argument accepted by almost everyone.

Even those who smoke say that they know its hurting them, know they shouldn’t really do it, and that they want to give up. People know now that the real benefit isn’t keeping onside of the law, or saving a bit more money each week – it’s in their own improved health and life-expectancy, and the joy of their families I seeing it so.

If we’re going to improve all areas of our region’s well-being then we need to be clear what exactly it is we are saying, and to keep explaining why. If we are to bring about lasting change to people’s health then the issues that were talked about at that conference last week need to be being talked about, and thought about, by everyone. And then I really do believe that we can start looking forward to the day when we can boast of the North East as the healthiest region in the country.

Like most Labour Party members, I believe that the National Health service should be paid for through taxation and free at the point of need. Changing times have created different and new challenges for the National Health Service but this underlying principle is still sound.

During its time in office the Labour Government has trebled expenditure on the NHS. The new questions are about priorities, about the effective use of public money, about management structures, and about the application of advancements in medical science within the National Health Service.

There are real questions about how priorities should be set and decisions made in a service that is publicly funded and offers universal provision. On the 18^th September I was able to attend a unique event in Newcastle organised by the National Health Service and aiming to explore the answers to some of these difficult issues. Newcastle was linked to other regional centres in the United Kingdom by video linkup, members of the public mixed with health care professionals to see presentations and to respond to key questions affecting the running of the modern National Health Service.

The Prime Minster and the Health Minister Lord Darzi, himself a top surgeon, addressed the meeting by video link from Birmingham. The whole event was well organised, well structured and well thought through. Amongst the issues discussed were ward cleanliness, GP out of hour services, Dental services, and the geographical location of specialist hospital services. It was a thoughtful attempt at getting real public engagement in some of the difficult issues facing our modern National Health Service. What became very clear was how much the National Health Service is still valued and admired fifty years after its creation.