Care in a passionate political landscape

So the UK seems to be in the grip of election fever, to an extent never seen before in recent memory at least. The depths of political apathy reached this time last year, during the MPs’ expenses scandal, swept away by a public that for once feels directly involved in the political landscape thanks to the peculiar set of coincidences that led to neither of the Conservative or Labour leaders feeling they could back out of a TV debate on this occasion – much to the ironic delight of the resulting ‘Cleggomania’.

A turbulent political climate may have proven more enticing to the populace than ever before, but if politics is about to change for good, as many are predicting, then those anxious to have their concerns remain a central Government issue over the course of the next Parliament may be understandably anxious that the battleground they have fought for does not get swept away by the storm.

Our care sector is of course one such issue, having scaled, through the hard work of many health and demographics experts, charities, care providers and lobbyists – to name but a few – the heights of Westminster policy to be acknowledged as among the most important issues our nation faces over the coming years; probably only overlooked by Afghanistan and, arguably, climate change.

Despite some criticisms that the election has become more a battle of personalities than of policies and manifestos, the care sector and the NHS in particular have been prominent parts of all three campaigns. This week saw Gordon Brown and Nick Clegg visit Bournemouth and address the Royal College of Nursing, and both seemed to receive a rapturous welcome and support – though in this case there was no resulting poll to find out who had won. David Cameron too visited Bournemouth though, whereas NHS-related headlines for his two opponents were easy to find; the Tory leader seemed only keen to discuss the dangers of a hung Parliament. Although few might doubt Cameron’s affection for the NHS, with services he has praised often in the past for the care and attention his late son received, those eager to hear the Conservative party’s views on the future of healthcare might look upon this as a missed opportunity, especially as the sector’s traditional support has always favoured Labour.

It has of course been a regular complaint that Governments don’t see through the promises they’ve offered the electorate in the run up to election day, and it would be nice to dismiss any derision of care-related promises as belonging to the kind of political apathy that the general public might now justifiably take exception to. Unfortunately though it is too early yet to dismiss this as paranoia. The UK’s changing demographic may be resulting in an ageing society; it has also resulted in political strategists being very aware of the importance in securing the ‘grey vote’.

No doubt the care industry and health professionals will be keeping their fingers crossed, but for what exactly? For now the jury seems to be out on which party will champion healthcare most effectively as a Government – or even a minority one – while political commentators and the media remain unable to speculate with any convincing certainty as to what the result will be. Perhaps we can only keep our fingers crossed that the voting public, if it continues to assert its influence over any tabloid attempts to steer the electorate back onto common ground, away from unpredictable Twitter campaigns and TV debates, will be shown by history as reaching a decision that leads to positive results.

For now though, as we hold our breath, the hours are quickly counting down to the final leaders’ debate. Much of the media has repositioned itself on one of the few remaining fields of cynicism on which it feels comfortable to present itself, ridiculing all three parties for standing behind the real truth of public cuts. Will matters return to business as usual, or has a major source of political influence been usurped?