Wales-England border an NHS line of life and death, says Cameron

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/apr/11/wales-england-border-nhs-line-death-cameron

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The state of hospital treatment in Wales is a national scandal that has created a dividing "line of life and death" on the border with England, David Cameron has said.

Despite accusations from Labour that the Tories are waging war on Wales, the prime minister made a fresh attack on the country's NHS, which is devolved to the administration of first minister Carwyn Jones.

The Conservatives point to statistics showing the Labour-run NHS in Wales has longer waiting times than in England.

But a study from the Nuffield Trust and Health Foundation suggests the health services in Wales and Scotland are only marginally under-performing England and are actually improving at a faster rate than in England. It found there is no evidence that Wales is "lagging behind" any other part of the UK, other than a significant deterioration in waiting times.

In a speech at the Welsh Conservatives' conference in Llangollen, Cameron criticised the Welsh government for allowing one in seven people to be on an NHS waiting list.

"When Offa's Dyke becomes the line between life and death, we are witnessing a national scandal," he said. "After this utter shambles Labour should never dare call themselves the party of the NHS again."

Jeremy Hunt, the health secretary, argued the country was "sleepwalking into a Welsh Mid Staffs tragedy".

He told the conference: "Unless we shout loud enough – alongside brave campaigners like Ann Clwyd, Gareth Williams and others who tragically lost loved ones in Welsh hospitals – these appalling lapses in care will repeat themselves time after time."

He also claimed the Nuffield Trust study "covers a period where we saw terrible failures in the English NHS", adding: "We acted while Labour deny there could be such issues in Wales." The claims are an escalation of the bitter dispute over health services between Westminster and Cardiff that has been raging for several weeks.

Jones claimed recently that Conservatives were "attacking Wales" with their comments about the country's NHS. Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, the first minister accused Cameron of not caring "two hoots about the NHS in Wales" and using it to make political points.

Wayne David, MP for Caerphilly and parliamentary private secretary to Ed Miliband, called the "despicable" Cameron and Hunt attacks "inaccurate, untrue, deceitful misrepresentation".

Tory chairman Grant Shapps will on Saturday hit back again, saying the problems with the Welsh NHS are "are not random [or] an accident" but the fault of Jones's government.

"It has been a Labour government in Wales – a Labour government run by Carwyn Jones – that is slashing the budgets of Welsh NHS services," he will say.

At prime minister's questions on Wednesday Cameron also went on the attack over the issue, suggesting the Conservatives are attempting to paint Labour as a party willing to cut the NHS. It is a move likely to infuriate Labour, which has always painted the Tories as the party that cannot be trusted with the health service.

"We have seen an 8% cut to the budget in Wales for the NHS," Cameron claimed in the House of Commons. "The last time A&E targets were met was 2009, the last time cancer treatment targets were met was 2008 … there is a truly dreadful record when it comes to Labour's NHS in Wales and you see a huge contrast now with the NHS in England – properly funded, well run, meeting the key targets – and the shambles there is in Wales."