THERE'S no doubt that the future of Britain's National Health Service and its funding will form a major feature of the coming General Election battle, with both the major parties claiming that they will take proper care of this "patient".

It's equally evident that the NHS is in desperate need of a further cash transfusion, with crisis warnings being sounded at both local and national levels. Last month's appeal from casualty chiefs at the new Royal Bolton Hospital for an urgent financial injection from Wigan and Bolton Health Authority, has been echoed nationally by the National Association of Health Authorities and Trusts. They say that some 36 Trust hospitals are in debt to the tune of £34m - despite now being run "on a business basis".

Today's news that Health Secretary Stephen Dorrell looks like getting around half of the £1 billion extra funding he was asking for from the Treasury is a welcome tonic for the NHS. If voters have to choose between either a penny off basic rate income tax, or being assured of life-saving NHS services, in any General Election sweeteners, their ballot box choice should be clear. The nation's health must come first and foremost, because everything else hinges on it.

Transport, education, industry, agriculture and defence, for example, can only function properly with an adequate back-up of health services.

By boosting NHS funding, the Tories are hoping to set the pace in this sector.

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