Our GP co-lead has renewed DAUK’s calls for health to be taken out of party politics.
The Doctors Association UK (DAUK) has repeatedly advocated for the formation of a cross-party group to make longer term decisions for our health service and stabilise the NHS.
Dr Steve Taylor said taking health out of politics would allow for long-term planning rather than policies shaped by short electoral cycles.
He pointed to Germany as a model that the UK and the NHS can learn from.
10-year plan
Dr Taylor said: “In Germany, they’ve basically taken health out of politics. They have a 10-year plan, which is organised by a group of specialists from all different parties.
“They agree what the plan for Germany is for health, and then it’s up to the government to provide the funding for it.”
Dr Taylor was speaking on the Let’s Talk Health podcast with host Leyla Hannbeck, CEO of the Independent Pharmacies Association, and Dr Eddie Crouch, chair of the British Dental Association.
The episode is titled Primary Care Together. It explores the shared struggles, solutions, and how empowering the three professions could transform care for everyone.
Health policy
Dr Taylor contrasted Germany’s model with the UK, where health policy is ‘batted backwards and forwards’ between parties, often driven by short-term cost savings.
A politics-free health plan in the UK could involve professionals from general practice, pharmacy, dentistry, and social care working alongside national policy advisers to agree a long-term vision, Dr Taylor said.
Central to that vision, he said, must be prevention and delivering more care in the community. But he added that failing to plan for the future risked creating deeper problems for the NHS.
“Prevention is better than cure,” Dr Taylor said. “And it’s cheaper too.”
Listen to the Let’s Talk Health podcast.
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