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Department of Health

I cannot give way, as there is very little time. I can now say to a person who needs a new hip, ““You will have that new hip within six months.”” It used to be one, two or three years. People were forced into the private sector. They did not want to go to the private sector, but they had no choice because little else was available unless they had private health insurance. That has been a fantastic achievement. The new GP contract, which has had its first full year in operation, has transformed the management of chronic diseases in this country. It has transformed care for diabetes, heart disease, strokes and transient ischaemic episodes, and soon, in the next round of GP contract changes in April, chronic kidney disease. That is transforming patients’ lives. It does not necessarily appear in the statistics or on the front page of the Daily Mail, but it is transforming people’s lives in a way that was never possible before. We talk of massive, catastrophic overspends. If the figures are correct and we turn out to have spent about 0.8 per cent. too much on the NHS, we should put that into context. It means that the average person on an average wage has ended the year with a deficit of £200. I do not believe that the average person on an average wage would feel that it was a catastrophe, a meltdown or a disaster to end the financial year with a loan of £200. It is the equivalent of my telling someone, ““Go out and buy yourself something for £10”” and their coming back and saying ““It cost me £10.08””. That is hardly a catastrophe, a meltdown or a disaster. The Government have invested record amounts and are achieving record results as a consequence. I can now say to a patient in my consulting room, ““I think that you should see a consultant.”” We can decide together which hospital would serve the patient best and I can book the appointment on my computer while the patient is still sitting in my consulting room. I can say, ““There is your appointment to see a named consultant in a hospital of your choice on that particular day.”” The hon. Member for South Cambridgeshire (Mr. Lansley) laughs, but I wonder whether that was possible under the last Government.