Tories 'to scrap NHS targets'

Labour's internal NHS targets will be scrapped under radical plans proposed by the Conservatives.

Tory leader David Cameron is to promise patients information on performance and power over their own care in a bid to save 100,000 lives a year.

He will also set out a series of goals so voters could hold a Conservative Government to account over its handling of the health service.

The foray on to a decisive political battleground comes on the 60th anniversary of the creation of the NHS.

Mr Cameron has been eager to stress his commitment to the service, and neutralise Labour claims that a Tory Government would downgrade it.

However, ministers are certain to say the proposals risk undermining the progress they have made in cutting waiting times.

Speaking to an audience at the Royal College of Surgeons in London later, Mr Cameron will unveil a "Green Paper" on his party's health policy.

He will argue that Labour has "tested to destruction the idea that the NHS can be improved by more bureaucracy, more central control and more initiatives from the Department of Health".

According to the Tories, raising NHS standards to the European average would save around 38,000 lives every year.

But their aim is to lift performance to match the best systems in the world, which would save at least 100,000.

© Independent Television News Limited 2008. All rights reserved.

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