New Health Secretary Wes Streeting has said the National Health Service (NHS) is “broken” and said, “patients are being failed on a daily basis.”
Mr. Streeting, who took over as health and social care secretary on Friday after serving in the same portfolio in the shadow cabinet, said the NHS was “going through the biggest crisis in its history,” and it could not be fixed overnight.
One of the first jobs he faces is tackling a dispute with junior doctors, who are on strike.
Referring to his treatment for kidney cancer in 2021, Mr. Streeting said: “When I was diagnosed with kidney cancer, the NHS saved my life. Today, I can begin to repay that debt, by saving our NHS.”
The NHS was created in the 1940s by a Labour government under Clement Attlee and has become a political football over the years with high levels of investment but growing concerns about patient care.
In a statement on Friday, Mr. Streeting said: “When we said during the election campaign, that the NHS was going through the biggest crisis in its history, we meant it.”
Streeting Says He Must ‘Diagnose’ NHS’s Problems
Mr. Streeting, who was narrowly re-elected as MP for Ilford North in east London after facing a strong challenge from a pro-Palestinian independent, said: “Previous governments have not been willing to admit these simple facts. But in order to cure an illness, you must first diagnose it.”“This government will be honest about the challenges facing our country, and serious about tackling them,” he added.
He said, “From today, the policy of this department is that the NHS is broken.”
“That is the experience of patients who are not receiving the care they deserve, and of the staff working in the NHS who can see that, despite giving their best, this is not good enough,” he added.
Talks to end the strike by junior doctors in the NHS will resume next week.
Medics in training across the NHS went on strike for five days from June 27.
NHS England said 61,989 appointments, procedures, and operations were postponed as a result of the industrial action.
It was the 11th strike by junior doctors in 20 months.
Mr. Streeting said, “I have just spoken over the phone with the BMA [British Medical Association] junior doctors committee [JDC], and I can announce that talks to end their industrial action will begin next week.”
BMA Calls for ‘Credible Offer’ to Junior Doctors
BMA junior doctors committee co-chairs Dr. Robert Laurenson and Dr. Vivek Trivedi said in a statement: “We were pleased to speak to the new Health Secretary Wes Streeting today, as he made good on his commitment made during the election campaign for JDC to be his first call and get the ball rolling on negotiating a solution to the junior doctors’ dispute.”“As we have always been clear, only a credible offer, acceptable to our members, will end this dispute and we hope this will be made by the new government as soon as possible,” they added.
A Royal College of Nursing spokesperson said, “A fair pay settlement for all is the first step into rescuing health and care services, along with proper investment to boost recruitment and retention.”
