Conservative Manifesto sees mixed response from health groups

The Conservative Party’s manifesto has seen a mixed response from industry associations in the UK.

Pledges to increase public research spending to cement the UK’s position as a leading global hub for life sciences were welcomed by the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI).

If granted a majority in the next election, the Conservative Party states it will ensure public research spending meets a target of 2.4% GDP being spent on R&D and will also set up an Innovative Medicines Fund to grant patients quicker access to advanced therapies.

The ‘Innovative Medicines Fund’ will include £500 million which will be ring-fenced within the medicines budget to help the NHS gain access to the most cutting-edge medicines.

The Conservative Party also announced it will double existing funding levels for Dementia research. The funding will go towards increasing the number clinical research academics and researchers using new techniques such as advanced therapeutics and neuro-technologies.

Both pledges were welcomed by the ABPI, with chief executive Mike Thompson saying: “The UK is a world-leader in R&D for new medicines and vaccines. This manifesto puts forward an ambitious agenda to strengthen our position and make sure NHS patients can get breakthrough medicines faster.

“Developing new treatments relies on having the right skills and the right experts. The pledges made on education, skills and migration will be critical for securing the talent we need for the future of life sciences.

“We look forward to working with any new Government to achieve our goal of making the UK the best place in the world to research, develop and use new medicines.”

However, the British Medical Association (BMA) called the party’s manifesto ‘incredibly disappointing’ and criticised the government for its focus on Brexit which the BMA believes poses a threat to the NHS.

BMA council chair Dr Chaand Nagpaul said: “Without vastly increased investment in, and support for, the health service and staff, future years will see the situation deteriorate further. The next government has an opportunity to change this and put right the damage done by more than a decade’s underinvestment, and put the NHS back on sustainable long-term footing. Therefore, it’s incredibly disappointing to see in this manifesto the commitment to increase health spending does not meet the level needed to ensure services are fit for the future.”

The BMA went on to state that plans to recruit an additional 50,000 nurses and 5,000 GPs is ambitious.

“Without details it’s difficult to see how any government will achieve this – especially given the clear failure against the current target to recruit 5,000 more GPs by 2020. Instead, we’ve lost almost 1,000 GPs since 2015,” Nagpaul said.