Tuesday 6 April: 
And they’re off. The worst kept secret in politics is out and the general election is officially set for 6 May. From now until the election, each week Healthcare Finance aims to bring you the major talking points on the NHS in a weekly blog. With health one of the top issues concerning voters, efficiency, quality and finance are set to be major battlegrounds as the politicians pitch for your vote.

Wednesday 7 April:
For now at least, swine flu appears to have gone the way of its avian namesake and the millennium bug, but it still managed to become an election issue for the day. It was revealed that the NHS has a stockpile of more than 34 million vaccines (worth between £100m and £150m, according to some estimates), even though the government had renegotiated its deal with pharma firms Baxter and GlaxoSmithKline (which was originally for 120 million doses). The UK will now pay for 44 million – it has used 6 million and 3.8 million will be handed to the World Health Organisation to battle the virus in Africa.Health secretary Andy Burnham hails the deal as ‘good value for the taxpayer’, enabling the NHS to retain a strategic stockpile of the vaccine without incurring a cancellation fee.However, opposition parties are scathing. Shadow health secretary Andrew Lansley says it is ‘a careless waste of precious NHS money’ and Labour has failed to ensure there were proper break clauses. Lib Dem health spokesman Norman Lamb calls for a ‘thorough independent examination of how the NHS responded to the swine flu pandemic’.

Thursday 8 April:
Health is yet to step fully into the election spotlight, but today it edges a little more out of the darkness as the Commons health committee calls for greater vetting of European Economic Area GPs providing out-of-hours care (read more) and a debate on BBC’s Newsnight programme with the main parties’ health spokesmen.Efficiency is the main focus of the Newsnight debate. All three politicians back the need to make efficiency savings, though the issue of whether this means redundancies is largely fudged. Andrew Lansley says the Conservative would look to make savings this financial year, highlighting a need to cut back on bureaucracy and move away from top-down decision-making to a service that focuses on local outcomes. Lib Dem Norman Lamb says Labour has created a ‘bureaucratic monster’ and insists payment by results must be reformed so it optimises patient care rather than encourage more activity.Earlier, the Tories and Labour clash over the former’s plan to scrap the forthcoming increase in National Insurance contributions. The Conservatives believe they can bridge the gap with £6bn in efficiency savings in this financial year, but this was derided by Gordon Brown as a ‘back of the envelope set of calculations’. Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg said tax would rise if either of his main opponents wins the election.In Westminster, MPs head back to their constituencies as Parliament is prorogued ahead of the election.

Friday 9 April:
It looks like a quieter day on the NHS, though the row over the Conservative’s £12bn public sector efficiency plans rumbles on. Sir Peter Gershon, who previously advised the Treasury on cross-government efficiency savings, is now advising the Conservatives. He says £9.5bn could be saved by cutting IT costs, renegotiating contracts and curbing the use of consultants. Between £1bn and £2bn could be saved on recruitment – prompting commentators to estimate the public sector could lose between 20,000 and 40,000 jobs. David Cameron says the job losses would be made through not filling vacant posts. The Tories are also said to be planning to curb public sector senior managers’ pay. The limit would be 20 times the salary of the lowest-paid person in their organisation.The prime minister says the efficiency plans are built on a ‘myth’, while his chancellor adds some of the savings were already being made.With all three main parties admitting there will be public sector job cuts, it is left to Nick Clegg to return to the theme of the NHS. He says strategic health authorities were ‘pen pushers’ and should be abolished to free money to protect A&E, maternity and GP services.