The Prime Minister insists the NHS is ‘safe in his hands’, but Mr Cameron will have to prove he can walk the talk at the next general election.
He may earn less than many NHS executives, but is in a position to make the NHS a key political battleground as he faces the nation in the polls in May 2015.
Having intervened personally during the political firestorm that accompanied former health secretary Andrew Lansley’s NHS reforms two years ago, David Cameron continues to keep his hand in with the NHS, championing the Friends and Family test and fronting the announcement about extra funding for A&E in August as well as the £50 million challenge fund for GP practices to pilot extended hours at evenings and weekends.
Following a succession of high-profile scandals in the health service and with opinion polls suggesting the public (and GPs) don’t trust his government with the NHS, expect the Prime Minister to take an even more active interest in the health service - and in GPs - as the year progresses.
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