News from the New Party

Dying out of turn

Speaking at an event at a London hotel, he said: "Healthcare right now in America - and I think it has been true of your experience of socialised medicine in England - is not only very expensive, it's increasingly less effective.

"I had prostate cancer seven years . My chance of survival in the US is 82%; my chance of survival if I was here in England is below 50%. Breast cancer is very similar.

"I think there's something to the idea that there are many more private options driving the system that create altogether better results."

When questioned on Sunday AM yesterday on the subject of the report by Sir Derek Wanless , released last week by the King’s Fund, on how effectively the NHS had spent its money the Health Secretary, Alan Johnson, referred to a recent study by the Commonwealth Fund:

"There was a recent study by the Commonwealth Fund which is the independent organisation in America that compared six health services in the developed world - Canada, Australia, US, Germany and New Zealand and ourselves. We came out top. We came out top on efficiency. We came out top on quality. We came out top on fairness, on equity."

This is true. But the study is of highly questionable merit.

For one, what Mr Johnson didn’t mention is that Britain comes fourth on health outcomes and fourth on access (largely because waiting times are still much longer than all the other countries; 41% reported waiting 4 months or longer for elective operations in Britain in the last year, compared with just 6% in Germany).