Visiting times - the election rules on hopital use
The Conservatives have contacted me to stress that David Cameron's visit to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital was a mere visit - not a camapign meeting on the lines of Labour's manifesto launch on Monday.
They point me to .
The important passage seems to be the final line of the second paragraph: "it is advised that Election meetings should not be permitted on NHS premises".
Cabinet Office General Election Guidance 2010 rules out holding Election meetings on NHS premises - on page 38 it reads:
"1. Neither Ministers, nor any other Parliamentary candidates, should involve Government establishments or offices (such as Jobcentres) in the General Election campaign by visiting them for electioneering purposes.
"2. In the case of NHS property, decisions are for the relevant NHS Trust but should visits be permitted to, for example, hospitals, the Department of Health and the Scottish Executive advise that there should be no disruption to services and the same facilities should be available to other candidates. In any case, it is advised that Election meetings should not be permitted on NHS premises."
I'm Michael Crick, and I'm Newsnight's political editor. My guiding rule is that in any story there's usually something the politicians would prefer the world not to know. My job is to find that out. Follow me on
Comment number 1.
At 13th Apr 2010, barriesingleton wrote:CUTTING HOSPITAL WASTE
In the past year I was spectator to my brother's misery, in NHS care, on his way to merciful death.
The ad hoc neglect, that is standard care, is only known to those who sit and watch. To see the presence of a politician VACUUMING-UP staff, needed elsewhere by bewildered patients, WONDERING WHEN SOMEONE WILL COME, make me furious. What manner of mentality WILLINGLY causes such waste of staff-time? The answer - as always - A PARTY POLITICIAN garnering image.
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