
"This is our common purpose, the progressive mission of our time and our Party." Gordon Brown
The NHS must be there for you when you need it, so:
• In 2008 the time you have to wait before getting a hospital appointment will be the shortest since the NHS was established.
• By 2009 the majority of GP surgeries will be open for at least one evening or weekend session every week.
• By 2010 we will have opened 150 GP-led health centres from 8 until 8, 7 days a week in the heart of our towns and cities for bookable and walk-in appointments.
The public must be able to trust the NHS to keep them safe, so:
• In 2008 every hospital will be deep cleaned, with 3,000 more matrons to enforce cleanliness, and we will achieve our long-term goal of halving the number of cases of MRSA from 2004 levels.
• By March 2009 every non-emergency patient admitted will be screened for MRSA and by March 2011 we will screen all emergency admissions for MRSA as well.
• By 2011 there will be at least a 30 per cent reduction on the number of C. Difficile cases from current levels.
And so the NHS becomes as good at preventing illness as it is at curing it, helping us all stay healthy:
• By 2009 every 13-year old girl will be given the opportunity to be vaccinated against cervical cancer.
• By the end of 2010 we will have extended the ages at which adults are screened so that an extra 450,000 women are screened for breast cancer, and an extra 300,000 patients are screened for bowel cancer.