Mr. Bernard Gloster:

Yes. We cannot accept that we will have the same situation in ten years' time. We are already seeing progress, so it is not fair to say that. I am not going to get into criticising the IHCA, however. This year, we plan to see improvements and we are ambitious for subsequent years, based on the commitment of resources we have from the Government. This is a very significant investment and it is our job now to deliver on that.

The most significant, unforgivable inequality is the fact that even in a public system people who have insurance status can access care ahead of people who are not insured. That is unacceptable and the Government agrees. This inequality has existed for a long time. Now, with the new consultant contract, we have made it very clear to new consultants who are appointed, and that includes new consultants in the system and anyone who wants to move over to the contract, that they will no longer be in a position to treat private patients in public hospitals. They will have to deliver their public hours and they can treat private patients outside those. It is not that we have any ideological objection to private medicine or private insurance but when it comes to the public system we believe everybody should be treated the same. That is the largest inequality and, over time, we hope to address it so that everybody is treated on the same basis.