Voters believe boosted NHS still in crisis

THE PUBLIC believes the National Health Service is still "in crisis" despite the injection of pounds 21bn in extra government funding, according to the Labour Party's private polling.

The findings are a setback to the Government, which has repeatedly trumpeted its pounds 40bn cash boost for health and education over the next three years. The research is expected to lead to a rethink of Labour plans to convince voters it is keeping the promises it made at the 1997 general election.

Health ministers are expected to highlight tangible achievements, such as the number of nurses recruited, and stop parroting the amount of new money. "We have got to show people that things are actually happening," said a Department of Health source.

Some ministers believe the Government has been a victim of its own rhetoric, since the "new money", announced by the Chancellor, Gordon Brown, last July did not come on stream until the new financial year, which started this week. Recent "focus group" discussions, which have been reported to Tony Blair, show that memories of Labour's five key election pledges are now vague. But people expect the Government to focus on health and education and will believe it has kept its promises only when these services improve.

The research found that voters feel "rather overwhelmed" by the statement that pounds 40bn is being pumped into the NHS and education. The figure was seen as "too big to imagine" because people have seen little evidence of it. "The popular perception is still that the NHS is in crisis," says a summary of Labour's recent polling.

Despite fears about the NHS,there is, the party's research suggests, a strong belief that the Government is working to improve hospitals. Voters agreed that Labour was "on the right track to improve Britain". In contrast people continued to regard the Tories as uncaring.