Sir Ed Davey will call for a new legal right for cancer patients to start treatment within two months of an urgent referral, using a keynote speech to underline the Liberal Democrats’ health pledges.
The Lib Dem leader has pledged £4 billion in order to deliver the plan over five years as he closes what could be the party’s last annual conference before a general election expected next year.
The Conservative Government already has a target for cancer patients to start treatment within 62 days of an urgent referral, but not all do.
Some 62.6% who had their first treatment in July after an urgent referral had waited under two months, up from 59.2% in June, according to latest health service performance data.
The Lib Dems want the pledge to be enshrined in law, which they say would make ministers more accountable for failures to meet the target.
It is understood this would involve patients reporting complaints to the health ombudsman, starting a process which could ultimately end with the Government facing legal action under the plan.
NHS Confederation welcomed the commitment but cast doubt on how it would guarantee patients are seen within two months.
“It’s not clear how the proposed legislation… would be implemented, particularly in a context with over 100,000 vacancies in the NHS,” director of policy Dr Layla McCay said.
The party has not yet fully costed its health policy, which is the centrepiece of a pre-manifesto aimed at wooing traditionally Tory voters in places like southern England.
It has promised to do so nearer the next election.
We will hold the Government to account for every target it misses and every patient it fails. We will never stop fighting for better care for you and your loved ones
In a party conference speech aimed at firing up delegates for a long campaign, Sir Ed will say he had branded successive Tory governments “clowns” who have “crash our economy” and “plunge our NHS into crisis” before adding: “I’m sorry. I used the wrong C-word.”
“Far too many people are still waiting, far too long for a diagnosis or to start treatment after being diagnosed,” he will say.
“And I’m afraid to say, they’ve been let down and forgotten by this Conservative Government.”
The leader will draw on his experience of losing two parents to cancer as a child as he underlines the importance of a robust NHS.
“I fervently hope we can build a consensus across politics to make cancer a top priority in the next parliament. But as leader of our party, I can at least promise you this: for Liberal Democrat MPs, it will be a top priority,” he will say.
“And that’s why today I am announcing our new and ambitious plan to end unacceptable cancer delays and boost survival rates.
“We will hold the Government to account for every target it misses and every patient it fails. We will never stop fighting for better care for you and your loved ones.”
The Lib Dem election strategy will be to target Tory heartlands where, buoyed by a series of by-election and local election successes, the party hopes to make significant gains.
Liberal Democrats WIN Somerton and Frome.
— Liberal Democrats (@LibDems) July 21, 2023
Congratulations @SarahDykeLD!
Somerset has spoken for the country: The public are sick of this Conservative Government taking people for granted. pic.twitter.com/uSO8UL8ckP
Its focus is on local health services and the environment, which the party believes are crucial to win over voters in so-called “blue wall” seats, but questions persist over the Lib Dem stance on national issues like Brexit.
An ultimate goal to return to membership status within the bloc is currently official policy, but the leader has appeared reluctant to speak publicly about this and says it is currently off the table.
Sir Ed will insist the party has set itself apart from the Tories and Labour with its ambitions for Europe, telling members: “Only we have set out a plan to tear down those trade barriers, fix our broken relationship with Europe and get a better deal for Britain.
“A better economy. A better future. With Europe.”
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has also said he wants a “better deal” for Britain following Brexit and would seek closer co-operation with Brussels on standards ease trade.
Elsewhere, the leadership suffered a blow on Sunday as they were defied by the majority of their membership with a vote to retain national housing targets as policy.
Plans to abandon a pledge to build 380,000 new homes a year in England were scuppered following a rowdy debate by rebel activists after the Young Liberals put forward an amendment to keep the 2019 commitment.
Sir Ed’s keynote speech will be his first to party conference since becoming leader in 2020 and he will seek to use it as a rallying cry before an election which some in the party believe could come in the first half of next year.
