Now the fun and games begin. The predictions of a hung Parliament with the Conservatives holding the most seats proved to be correct and over the next few days the political horse-trading will take place in Whitehall before the puff of white smoke emerges.

A Conservative/ Lib Dem pact (I think they would be loathe to call it the Con-Dem alliance) is not out of the question, nor is a minority Cameron government propped up with support from various shades of Northern Ireland Unionist. Labour will try to woo Nick Clegg, along with the nationalists from Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland (together with the first Green MP, Caroline Lucas).

What this means for the NHS is anyone’s guess. We know that frontline services would be protected and funding should at least be at the level of inflation, whether Labour or Conservatives are the major players in the new government. And the focus on efficiency and quality will sharpen.

However, some questions spring to mind. Would a minority Tory party be able to push through their planned early public sector savings (remember, they pledged to make savings in the current financial year) in a summer Budget? Would the Lib Dems demand the scalp of strategic health authorities as part of a wider programme of ‘cuts in bureaucracy’, if it enters a formal coalition with Labour or the Conservatives? Is the planned rise in national insurance dead in the water, even if a Labour MP has the keys of Number 10? Would the support of Unionist and nationalist MPs in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales have to be bought with better financial deals for those devolved administrations?

What is clear is that it was a bad night for Labour’s health team. Mike O’Brien, Gillian Merron, Phil Hope and Ann Keen all lost their seat to the resurgent Tories, meaning health secretary Andy Burnham is the only member of the team that will return to the Commons. All the shadow health ministers and Liberal Democrat health spokesman Norman Lamb retained their seats.

In Wyre Forest, Independent MP Richard Taylor, the consultant rheumatologist who swept into the Commons in 2001 on the back of a campaign to stop the downgrading of Kidderminster Hospital, lost his seat to the Conservatives.

The dust is settling. Over to you Mr Cameron, Mr Brown and Mr Clegg.