Cameron in NHS cash vow for deprived areas

Amid fevered political activity at the beginning of what could be a five-month election campaign, Mr Cameron will attempt to counter the Tories’ image as the party of the rich.

He will also unveil plans to give mothers “real choice” over the kind of childbirth and other services they want.

The policy details are to be revealed as Mr Cameron and shadow health secretary Andrew Lansley publish a chapter of the Conservatives’ draft manifesto at an event in London.

The party leader has gone to great lengths to stress his personal commitment to the NHS, promising that health budgets will not be subject to the same cuts as other departments.

But Labour has insisted that only it can be trusted to protect the healthcare system, claiming that the Tories would make fundamental changes that would hit the poor.

Yesterday Gordon Brown renewed his attack on Mr Cameron’s spending plans, accusing him of proposing an age of “austerity” rather than “aspiration”. However, the Prime Minister denied that he was trying to portray Mr Cameron as an elitist “toff”. He told the BBC his Commons barb that Tory policy had been dreamed up “on the playing fields of Eton” was “a joke”.

Conservative sources have indicated that today’s announcements on the NHS are designed as a direct rebuttal of Labour’s “class war” tactics.

Mr Cameron will say that his administration would divert a higher share of NHS resources to boost health in run down areas. The move is in sharp contrast to the Tories’ manifesto at the 2005 General Election, when the party was offering to subsidise those who chose to have their treatment in private hospitals.

There will also be a commitment to introduce “maternity networks”, which would link community-based maternity units with more specialist hospital care.

Mr Lansley said: “Labour promised mothers-to-be a real choice of maternity services by the end of this year. But choice is not always available and there is a huge variation in standard and quality of care.

“Maternity services have been at the sharp end of Labour’s cuts, with good maternity units closed just for being too small. The number of health visitors – which provide such important support to young families – has also been cut.

“There is poor co-ordination between local maternity services, too many mothers are denied a real choice about where to give birth, and there is a lack of good ante and post-natal care. We can’t go on like this.

“A Conservative government will reform maternity services so that mothers and mother-to-be are put right at the heart of the service. We will stop Labour’s forced closure of maternity units, increase the number of health visitors and – by making money follow the patient – give every mother the choice and support they need.”