The Liberal Democrat's election manifesto has pledged to put senior frontline staff, such as those in nurse manager jobs, in charge of wards and unit budgets.

Although all three of the major political parties have covered some aspects of the UK healthcare sector in their manifestos, particularly concerning the provision and funding of a system of universal social care, jobs in the NHS have generally taken a backseat to budgetary concerns.

In the Liberal Democrat's manifesto, the party pledges to change how nurse managers direct their staff and are monitored by "sharply reducing centralised targets and bureaucracy" and replacing them with entitlements. It has pledged to protect services such as cancer treatment, mental healthcare, maternity services, dementia care and preventative medicine by making savings in centralised management budgets.

One particular way the Lib Dem's say they will make savings is by scrapping strategic health authorities, the regional organisations that oversee local NHS trusts and promote national policies. It would also halve the size of the Department of Health in total, by removing or cutting the budgets of what it calls "unnecessary quangos".

Other policies included in the manifesto include a greater integration of staff in health and social care jobs, possibly creating more demand for domiciliary care jobs by allowing people to stay in their homes rather than in hospitals. Nurses who work in GP offices, rather than hospital trusts, could benefit from a revised payment and regulation scheme where extra incentives would be offered to take on high-risk patients.