Tory shadow health secretary launches Norwich election campaign

Kim BriscoeThe Conservative election campaign for the two Norwich parliamentary seats was launched yesterday amid promises to slash bureaucracy and the target culture in the NHS and provide care for the elderly.Kim Briscoe

The Conservative election campaign for the two Norwich parliamentary seats was launched yesterday amid promises to slash bureaucracy and the target culture in the NHS and provide care for the elderly.

Shadow secretary of health Andrew Lansley visited The Forum, in Norwich, to kick-start the campaigns of Norwich South candidate Antony Little and Norwich North candidate Chloe Smith.

Mr Lansley told a group of pensioners and representatives of community organisations that he wanted to cut the number of administrators and managers to put resources back into frontline services.

The MP for South Cambridgeshire also spoke about the Tories' scheme to protect people from having to sell their homes to pay for long-term residential care, plans for better support to ensure people can stay independent at home for as long as they can, and making assessments of care needs consistent across the country.

Mr Lansley said Labour's tax on jobs would cost the NHS as an employer more than �200m a year, money which the Conservatives would plough instead into ensuring that the cancer drugs that patients need are available.

More on the start of the run-up to the election and Mr Lansley's visit will be in Wednesday's paper.