Health Secretary Sajid Javid has compared the NHS to defunct video rental firm Blockbuster and said it must be more like Netflix.
Mr Javid told this morning's Cabinet meeting that the health service needed to catch up with modern technology as it battles the Covid treatment backlog.
He likened the 74-year-old NHS to the rental company which at the height of its popularity had more than 500 UK stores.
But the one-time high street stalwart shut its remaining UK stores in 2013 as viewers switched to online streaming services.
In a readout of the meeting, No10 said: "The Health and Social Care Secretary updated Cabinet on the scale of the challenge post pandemic – saying we had a Blockbuster healthcare system in the age of Netflix.
"He said it was no longer simply an option to stick with the status quo. He said large-scale changes were needed in areas such as the use of technology and data to help frontline workers deliver the high-quality service the public expects. "
The Prime Minister's official spokesman said Mr Javid was trying to make the point that some healthcare systems were "designed for a different age" and the NHS could not "stick with the status quo" after the pandemic.
Pressed on why he was comparing the NHS to a bust video firm, he said: "I think he was saying that it needs further changes in order to make it sustainable for the long term."
Asked who was to blame for the situation given the Tories have been in power for 12 years, he replied: “I think this is an issue that has been across successive governments.
“The pandemic has created a step change in the scale of the problem we’ve seen facing the NHS.”
But the spokesman admitted there were no new funds to cover the cost beyond the cash for the NHS announced by the Chancellor.
Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting said it was "lovely that he's discovered there's some technology out there".
Asked about Mr Javid’s comments, he told the Institute for Government thinktank: “Yeah, but so what? … I think it’s slightly absurd that 12 years into a government we have government ministers who talk in the biggest generalities without plans to really deliver anything.”
He added: “It’s lovely that Sajid Javid has discovered that the NHS isn’t as good as it should be and it’s lovely that he’s discovered that there’s some technology out there, that maybe we should be doing something about data.”
