“I am Labour and NHS to the core and as long as I’m doing this job I will defend it with everything I’ve got,” shadow health secretary Andy Burnham promised UNISON health delegates when he spoke to the union’s health conference in Brighton this afternoon.
More than that, he told them: “If I am health secretary after the next election I WILL repeal the government’s health act and I will restore the N in the NHS.”
But the first responsibility, he said, is to limit damage and fight the advance of Cameron’s health free market.
“Our job is to keep the NHS coalition together and build it into a formidable defence force for the NHS on the ground.”
This included pay and Agenda for Change, he said, adding in response to a question from Linda Hobson of the Northern region: “Agenda for Change is the glue of our NHS.”
Turning to government plans for regional pay, he noted that: “It can be harder working in the NHS in deprived areas, yet Cameron wants to pay them less while taxing their pasties.
“Regional pay is all about creating conditions for private companies and Cameron’s freemarket in health.”
Calling Mr Cameron a “conman” on the NHS, the shadow health secretary added: “For his duplicity on the NHS alone, this man does not deserve a second term as prime minister.”
But Labour needs an alternative vision, he said, and that would be integrated health and social care, particularly at the end-of-life.
Stating that market-based health systems are more expensive, Mr Burnham said: “The NHS is not a problem in an ageing society: it is the answer.”