Frank says:

As Secretary of State for Health, I made a special effort to ensure that London got a fare deal from the Government on health. I knew how to get the best deal for London from the Prime Minister and the Chancellor.

Since I became Health Secretary in May 1997, I have got an extra £730 million for the NHS in London. And the 2 biggest increases in the country have gone to two of the most deprived areas of Britain - the East End and Lambeth, Southwark and Lewisham.

I started the biggest hospital building programme in the history of the NHS.

For London this means new hospitals already being built in Greenwich and Bromley and major improvements at Guys and St. Thomas', Barnet, Central Middlesex, the Homerton and Hammersmith and Queen Charlottes.

The go-ahead has also been given for more hospital building at Oldchurch, West Middlesex, University College Hospital and the Royal London in Whitechapel.

Major improvements are also in hand at Barts, Kings and St Georges' Tooting.

Extra investment is also going into the Medical Schools at Barts , the Royal London, Guys, Kings and St. Thomas'.

The number of GP surgeries meeting modern standards in London has gone up from a half to two-thirds. This year, over 50 GP and primary care premises are being modernised, to benefit another 100,000 patients.

Health Action Zones have been set up covering some of the most deprived areas of London. An extra £140 million has been committed for primary care, mental health and community services over the almost five year lifetime of this Parliament.

Another £300 million is being invested nationally in renovating buildings and new equipment over the next three years. London is getting its fair share. All of the capital's remaining 32 Accident and Emergency departments are being upgraded.

As a result of decisions I have taken, London's cancer services are getting a major upgrade with lottery funds providing 10 new and replacement linear accelerators, 4 new MRI scanners and improvements to breast cancer screening equipment at 10 hospitals.

NHS Direct is a brilliant new success story for the NHS in London. The new, 24-hour nurse-led helpline is being piloted in South and West London - providing a new gateway to health services for Londoners, giving prompt and comprehensive access to health information and advice.

One 83-year old London woman, helped in the middle of the evening by NHS Direct, called it her "lifeline". That's what happens when you put skilled care at the other end of a telephone line.

I've made a start in promoting equality on NHS Trust and Health Authority Boards. Of all of the appointments to NHS Boards in London that I made as Secretary of State for Health, over half (52 %) are women and over 1 in 5 (22%) are from ethnic minority backgrounds. That's the sort of results I can deliver for London.