Former Tory peer Lord Ashcroft calls for a Royal Commission to reform the NHS

Former Tory peer Lord Ashcroft has called for a Royal Commission to examine how to reform the NHS, which, he says, is now in ‘critical condition’ and cannot be saved with extra cash alone.

He makes the proposal in Life Support, a new book about the health service, which is being serialised in The Mail on Sunday and the Daily Mail from today.

His call comes amid growing concern that a £36 billion boost for health and social care over the next three years – subsidised by a 1.25 per cent increase to National Insurance contributions – risks being squandered, without patients seeing noticeable improvements.

In the book, Lord Ashcroft and co-author Isabel Oakeshott argue that politicians of all stripes lack the courage to make decisions about the future of the health service, for fear of being punished at the ballot box. As a result, they say, a Royal Commission is required. 

Life Support also calls for:

• Hospital bosses to be paid more – but only if they significantly improve care and cut costs;
• Patients to be fined if they fail to show up for appointments under a new ‘zero tolerance approach’;
• GPs to be compelled to provide face-to-face appointments.

In the book, Lord Ashcroft and co-author Isabel Oakeshott argue that politicians of all stripes lack the courage to make decisions about the future of the health service

Lord Ashcroft and Ms Oakeshott warn: ‘In the end, no amount of money will end claims that the NHS is underfunded… The question is whether the NHS is sufficiently well-resourced, structured and managed to provide the standard of care patients deserve.

‘Regrettably, despite the efforts of the workforce, the answer at present is no.

‘Rescuing the NHS from the critical condition it now finds itself in will require political bravery, imagination and a fresh take on vested interests. It will also require genuine cross-party co-operation. Since it is too much to hope for politicians to set aside their traditional differences, there may be a case for establishing a Royal Commission to explore the most fruitful ideas.

‘An inquiry of this kind may be the only way to reach real public consensus about changes.’

It is more than 45 years since the last Royal Commission on the health service was set up, by Harold Wilson’s Labour government.