WHAT is certain after the next election is that the policy that drives health care in this country - and in Wyre Forest - will be decided either by a Conservative Government or by a Labour Government.

Conservative policy, as you would expect, has to cover all aspects of health care but the core belief is that doctors and nurses know better how to deliver health care than Whitehall bureaucrats.

Conservatives will offer choice to patients. Patients can discuss with their GPs the best way of treating their condition and then select the best centre for treatment available, based on outcomes, cleanliness and location. Funding will follow the patient and not be pre-allocated by the Government.

Conservatives will deal with the appalling levels of hospital-borne infections that kill more than 5,000 people every year. Wards ordered to be closed for cleaning by the infection teams have been kept open to meet targets set by the Government. This is nonsense. Conservatives will restore matron, who will be responsible and have the ultimate say on her ward.

Conservatives will invest an extra £34 billion into the National Health Service over and above the spending level inherited from Labour. But, crucially, this money will not be directed at managers and target setters. It will go to the frontline for more doctors and nurses and equipment.

With extra funds available, the problem of waiting lists will be tackled but, to end waiting lists as we know them, we need to do more. Health provision should not be a state monopoly. Private healthcare providers will be allowed to treat NHS patients, paid for by the NHS, as long as they meet NHS prices and standards of excellence. If someone wants to go private, then the NHS will meet half the NHS cost of the procedure.

Conservatives believe that doctors and nurses know how best to deliver healthcare and will scrap many pointless targets, untying the hands of our frontline professionals to do the job they trained for.

So what does all this mean for Wyre Forest?

More money will be available for Worcestershire Acute Hospitals Trust and Wyre Forest Primary Care Trust. Patients, working with their local GPs, will be able to choose where they can be treated and this will mean that local demand will bring about more services returning to Kidderminster Hospital.

My job as MP will be to make this work for Wyre Forest. Irrespective of who forms the next Government of this country, I am absolutely committed to working to return more services to Kidderminster Hospital.

First and foremost, I am committed to getting the Minor Injuries Unit upgraded to an Urgent Care Plus unit. This will have a full-time casualty doctor in place so that more casualties can be treated locally and residents can feel secure that they will receive emergency care locally.

Finally, I am committed to the restoration of the birthing centre at Kidderminster Hospital, together with all post and pre-natal facilities.