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It was time, the morning broke and there was a sense of hope in the air across North West England as BasedChurchill inaugurated his general election campaign. With this, he decided to first speak about something close to his heart - organising a visit to Manchester’s largest NHS hospital. After shadowing staff around and meeting dozens of patients, BC kicked off what would be the first keynote speech of his campaign journey.

Good afternoon, Manchester. How fantastic it is to be here today speaking to you all now and those that I’ve already had valuable discussions with. As I do the rounds one thing is notably clear, and that is this nation’s love for our National Health System. Indeed it is probably our greatest public institution, and sometimes we forget to realise this. In poor or good health, whether more wealthy or not, it never fails to protect us and the staff do an incredible job at ensuring this. We really are so fortunate to have the NHS and I cannot imagine a Britain without it. 

That being said, I understand your concerns. There are no doubt serious challenges that threaten the livelihood of our well-being and care, each that must be addressed with a matter of urgency. The Conservative Party vows to do exactly this, and if you elect me as your MP I will hold the national party to account with regards to both their healthcare related and wider promises. After all, in the North West you have only two choices, and I’m here to ensure you make the right one. 

The only alternative is Labour who, ironically, are running on a manifesto claiming that only they can be trusted with our NHS - but this could not be further from the truth. When you look behind all the unachievable promises, what you see is a receipt worth over £4 billion to the taxpayer in wasted money throwing alone and, whilst the NHS does need a steady increase in resources, repeating spending commitment after spending commitment won’t achieve anything of worth. It would be easy if we could just inflate the budget and see improvements in patient care, but our healthcare system doesn’t work this way - something that has been proven time and time again.

What the NHS so desperately needs is proper economic management, not the exploitation of the public. The Conservatives have identified over £500 million in wasted spending for specialised treatment alone that could be better spent elsewhere by simply contracting to private providers - something that would remain free for all patients at the point of use, and contribute towards a reduced tax burden. If we follow Labour’s plan, nothing will truthfully change except for an expansion in such waste. Through this and the cutting of further unnecessary bureaucracy, the Conservatives will direct significant amounts of funding towards areas of our NHS that instead does need the additional funding - allowing us to improve mental health, care, and primary health services nationally at no extra cost to the British public. 

Of course, the remaining points from Labour are all vague or promise more unfunded commitments. Indeed, they themselves will concede to all demands and pay public sector workers whatever they want and, whilst we believe healthcare workers should be paid modestly for the fantastic work they do, this is simply unsustainable. The only way to fund their healthcare policy is to, ironically, raise taxes for every tax-paying citizen - which would see your financial burden increase in an already spiralling cost-of-living crisis. This is something that directly contradicts our values, and under a Conservative government your tax bill will see sweeping cuts wherever it is sensible to do so.

So what else will we do for our NHS and the well-being of everyone across the North West? Aside from the most pragmatic and sensible healthcare policies, the Conservatives have a comprehensive long-term plan to rebuild our health service and restore trust back into the system. After all, the current model needs urgent reform to reinstate what was world-leading in high-quality services and productive efficiency. That’s why we promise to advance decentralisation, meaning that local health authorities and trusts will have greater powers over the local provision of healthcare. For too long, holistic and personalised support has taken a back seat over a one size fits all approach by Westminster. Each region of the UK has unique healthcare challenges we must overcome and, this way, we can improve efficiency and cut costs through streamlined resourcing and fundamentally improve performance for local needs. 

We will also establish a more dynamic health system through reform to the modum operandi surrounding equipment procurement. The NHS needs new and modern procurement practices and expert sourcing, saving significant amounts of money and leveraging the NHS’ purchasing power. With our plans for decentralisation, we will ensure that trusts and local health authorities work collaboratively to deliver far greater value for money. Under Labour, we will see trusts pay disproportionately for common consumables and goods, with some trusts paying nearly triple that of others - contributing to a significant proportion of your healthcare spending via taxes. 

As for collaboration, we will also further the integration between primary and secondary care to improve patient flow and outcomes, and especially ensure a smooth continuation of high-quality, personalised service. By creating legally-binding coordinated care agreements between trusts and ICSs like some of our counterparts, the Conservatives will finally define the responsibilities of both primary and secondary care providers for patient transitions in black and white, extending continuity of care. Integration has always been a cornerstone of NHS policy, but it is the Conservative Party that will boldly deliver a plan to do this once and for all.

Missed appointments are also a huge stain on our NHS, with each one costing £30 and totalling up to around £200 million a year. This money could be better spent elsewhere. We will end this endemic by charging those who fail to attend without a valid reason or suitable notice. Non-attendance charges have proven to be a highly successful measure among our European counterparts, and form part of our long-term plan to free up appointments and cut down waiting lists. Whilst saving money, it also will bring in funds that can be directly invested back into NHS services and a budget that would otherwise be drained.

Another way we will cut waste is to crack down on health tourism. Labour, of course, have no plans - but it is the Conservative Party that will end the deliberate exploitation of our free healthcare by foreign citizens, and put ours first. Health tourism costs our health system around £300 million a year, which is a significant amount of money in the context of the NHS budget and what is spends on specific services. If you elect a Conservative government, we will begin immediately to establish measures that combat this, including the requirement for proof of ID for elective services for anyone over 18 - saving over 0.3% of healthcare spending. 

The final stage of our long-term plan is to shift the focus of our NHS onto both preventative issues and measures. A pro-active approach where preventment is prioritised over treatment is something mirrored among some of the greatest healthcare systems in the world, and is necessary if we wish to rival our European counterparts. It will also save the NHS a substantial amount of money, by treating people before an illness reaches costlier stages down the line. This will, of course, be a multi-faceted approach so that treatment can in good time take the back seat and ensure a smooth transition - but one way in which we will do this is the introduction of tax credits to incentivise prevention and cut down on huge burdens on both the NHS and taxpayer in the long-run. 

The Conservative Party will, therefore, build a sustainable NHS whilst reducing the costs for hard-working families across the North West and nation, whilst Labour proposes tax-hike-funded spending commitment after spending commitment to what will be no avail. So this election when you are at the ballot box, consider the choices - a funded, research-driven manifesto that presents sensible and pragmatic health policy by the Conservatives, or one which just suggests blindly throwing more and more money at it by Labour. Thank you.

BasedChurchill finished his speech to resounding applause by NHS staff and visitors alike, before leaving centre stage and taking questions from those in the hospital - reassuring them that the Conservatives are on the side of an efficient and sustainable NHS.