Blair defends his record on NHS

Tony Blair has defended his record on the NHS, and said it was in much better shape than when he came to office.

In an interview with the BBC Today programme, Mr Blair said waiting lists - which he called the biggest problem facing the NHS in 1997 - had come down.

He defended big pay rises for GPs, and said he was pleased NHS staff were now earning more.

Mr Blair also dismissed criticism his government had thrown money at the NHS without putting reform in place first.

I think it's great that we are paying our health workers more Tony Blair

He said reform and extra cash for the NHS had gone hand in hand.

Mr Blair said huge strides had been made in reducing waiting lists, and improving cardiac and cancer services.

"I remember several months into office getting letters from people whose husbands or fathers had died waiting for treatment for heart disease.

"I'm not saying there aren't still bad cases, but by and large that does not happen anymore.

"When I came into office the question was: 'Does the NHS have a future?'. The question today is: 'How can we improve it?'"

On pay, Mr Blair dismissed criticism that GP pay had soared at the same time as their out-of-hours commitments had been reduced.

Earlier this week, one of the GPs who negotiated the pay deal for family doctors admitted the British Medical Association was stunned at the generous terms of the deal they were offered by government.

Doctors' pay

Mr Blair denied that GPs were doing less, and said they were now offering a much better quality of service for patients.

He said: "I think it's great that we are paying our health workers more."

Mr Blair also refused to accept figures from the National Office for Statistics which suggested productivity in the NHS had declined.

He said the statistics were flawed, because they took no account of patient outcomes. Once that was thrown into the mix, NHS productivity had actually improved.

But shadow health secretary Andrew Lansley said the government had wasted money in the health service and alienated health professionals.

"The things like government top down target have distorted clinical priorities, wasting money and means that the professionals in the NHS are not able... to take decisions."

He said a Tory government would put GPs in charge of local budgets so that decisions were being made on clinical need and he also added the party would move towards focussing on outcome based targets, such as disease survival rates.

And Professor Alan Maynard, a health economics expert at York University, added the pay rises GPs have received - since the 2004 contract came in, earnings have pushed through the £100,000 barrier - have contributed to NHS deficits.

"These pay increases, together with workforce management which has led to unaffordable employment increases, are creating deficits and undermining patient care and the financial performance of the NHS."