The coalition today couldn’t confirm or deny that it was going to keep or scrap the two-week cancer guarantee.
Some quick observations:
- It was David Cameron who used cancer statistics comparing Britain to Bulgaria for political gain as part of the general election campaign
- It was the Tories who complained vigorously about leaflets Labour apparently sent to people with cancer during the same campaign. The leaflets suggested the Tories would scrap a Labour guarantee on how quickly patients could see a cancer specialist. Which, erm, turns out to be true.
- I believe (link to follow) that the coalition government said today decisions about targets will be taken by the relevant NHS body. Whether this fits in with the idea of a post-bureaucratic age, I’m not sure, but it sure sounds a bit like Andrew Lansley before saying that neither government nor [the NHS] should be dictate the decisions made. That sounds like politicians not being willing to bear responsibility for their actions.
- Via David Cameron, Simon Burns and then the PM’s spokesperson, the coalition today first put its left leg in on cancer targets, then put it out, then in-out, in-out. They’ve done this before – look at how the hokey cokeyed on the tax breaks for married people
arbitrary constant 