Wes Streeting said, “The NHS is letting people down,” in a speech this week at the Labour conference on the future of the country’s healthcare system.
Taking to the stage in Liverpool on Wednesday, the Secretary for Health and Social Care promised to continue working on NHS reforms while speaking of the countless people reliant on our crucial healthcare network.
During the speech, Mr Streeting unveiled some harrowing details about current NHS failures, including record-high deaths from cancer, long waiting lists, and low satisfaction rates.
Criticising the Conservative handling of the NHS, Mr Streeting maintained: “I won’t back down. The NHS is broken but not beaten and, together, we will turn it around.”
So, what were the key takeaways from his speech? Let’s take a look.
1. The NHS will always be a free public service
Wes Streeting said it was always the plan of the Tories to gut the NHS and privatise it, to which he said: “Over my dead body”.
In his speech, he maintained that the goal was to improve services while making sure it’s a free and fair health system for all.
He added: “We will always defend our NHS as a public service, free at the point of use so, whenever you fall ill, you never have to worry about the bill.”
2. A lot of reforms ahead
The Health Secretary also maintained there was a lot of work ahead, acknowledging there are a lot of planned reforms.
Mr Streeting said Lord Darzi’s damning independent investigation into the NHS would likely frame proposed reforms.
“Reform or die,” Streeting said. “We choose reform.”
3. Increased GP availability
Mr Streeting pointed out that a lot of patients were struggling to get appointments while GPs were struggling to get jobs.
So, he has made it his goal to remove red tape and get more doctors into work, unlocking more appointments as a result.
“We cut red tape, found the funding, and we’ll have 1,000 more GPs treating patients,” he said.
4. Banning junk food ads
Another goal is to help keep kids healthy, and one way they’re approaching this is to ban junk food ads targeted at children.
He said it is “the first step towards making our country’s children the healthiest generation that has ever lived”.
5. Deliver 40,000 more appointments a week
Mr Streeting also pointed out his successes in hiring more GPs, talking with junior doctors, and negotiating a pay deal.
He claims this forms part of his plans to create more than 40,000 more appointments across UK healthcare facilities.
6. Fair pay for social care workers
The Health Secretary also pointed out the importance of social care and its connection to the UK’s healthcare system.
As a result, he’s creating a new deal that improves pay and working conditions for social care workers.
“Angela and I will deliver a New Deal for Care Professionals: a Fair Pay Agreement, to improve pay and conditions and give staff the status and respect they deserve – our first step towards building a National Care Service,” he said.
7. Focus on preventative care
The Health Secretary also said he wanted to focus on preventative care, which is only possible through advanced data sharing and universal access to the necessary tools.
His hope is that this could help with “detecting from birth a child’s risk of disease so we can act to keep them well; spotting cancer earlier, saving countless lives; treating patients with targeted medicines”.
8. Going digital
Mr Streeting also took aim at existing NHS technology, and suggested a massive need for digital reform across systems.
“An NHS running on fax machines can’t seize these opportunities. But a reformed NHS can,” he said.
He also touched on how tools such as AI could help enhance healthcare services.
