Tory leader tells party to uncover a new NHS row

Iain Duncan Smith, the Tory leader, has ordered colleagues to find more "Rose Addis-style" controversies to get across his party's new policies on health, crime and education to the public.

Mrs Addis, 94, hit the headlines in January when she was allegedly forced to wait three days in a casualty ward in a London hospital because there was no free bed. Her daughter, who was a constituent of Mr Duncan Smith, claimed her hands and clothes were "caked in blood" after she cut her head at home and was not washed by staff at Whittington Hospital.

Mr Duncan Smith turned the case into a cause célèbre, raising it at Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons as an example of how Labour was failing to improve the NHS. Amid continuing poor opinion poll ratings and frustration that his party's message is not getting through to the voters, the Tory leader has now determined to seek out a similar controversy.

Mr Duncan Smith declared yesterday he would still be in his post by the end of next year and had no intention of resigning, despite criticism of his performance. He underlined his commitment to delivering tax cuts. The idea of resurrecting the Rose Addis row was seized on by Labour last night as "cynical manipulation" of individual cases for political ends. The British Medical Association called on all parties earlier this year to resist using patients as propaganda.

Mr Duncan Smith has told colleagues that the controversy offered a valuable means for the Opposition to exploit the Government's failings and show the public its own alternatives. "We need another Rose Addis-style row," he said.

The Addis case put Mr Duncan Smith on the map for the first time as far as many voters were concerned and some Tories believe it was his finest hour at Prime Minister's Questions. But he admitted that the potential of the case was lost because his party at that stage had not developed its own health policies. After the publication of a raft of policies at this year's party conference, it was in a better position to capitalise on a similar case, he said.

Conservative Central Office officials concede the party's new policies, such as its pledge to offer state aid to those forced to go private for operations, are largely invisible to the public.

Tory strategists have backed Mr Duncan Smith, claiming that the party scored "palpable hits" with the Addis case because it highlighted the Government's failure to deliver on its promises despite investments of cash. But ministers are likely to see such an approach as a mark of desperation by the Opposition.

A Mori poll for the Financial Times yesterday reported Conservative support running at 29 per cent, with the Liberal Democrats attracting 23 per cent and Labour 43 per cent.

A Labour spokesman said last night: "This is part of the Tory strategy of undermining the NHS to claim it doesn't work and should be replaced by privatisation."

Yesterday, Mr Duncan Smith said he believed Labour had been damaged by both the "Cheriegate" affair and the admission by the Chancellor, Gordon Brown, that his economic forecasts needed to be revised.

Mr Duncan Smith was asked on BBC Radio 4's Today programme if he had thought about quitting as party leader. He laughed and replied: "No, I am sustained by the fact that every single Opposition leader that has gone on to win elections has had to deal with periods like this."

Asked if he would be leader in a year, he replied: "I absolutely will be and my intention is to take this party forward to take on the Government, which I believe is wasting people's money on public services that are not being delivered in any improved quality."