Even The Independent now recognises that the NHS needs "wholesale restructuring and the development of new ways to fund the Health Service". The Party has taken the strategic decision to stay behind the curve on this. But there's a limit to how long we can claim that the NHS is our number one priority, whilst ducking the immense challenges to its long-term future.
One good step would be to appoint Professor Karol Sikora (who has massive clinical experience and has thought long and hard about these issues) as a Shadow Health Minister in the Lords or, if that's just much too likely to scare the horses, at least checking discreetly to make sure he is available for the front bench after the election.
