THE shadow health secretary has been slated after he promised Labour will go “further” than Tony Blair in making use of the private sector in a bid to ease NHS pressures.
Writing in The Telegraph, Wes Streeting said he wants to clear the waiting list backlog within five years.
The senior Labour figure and leader Keir Starmer (below) will appear on the election campaign trail together on Wednesday as the party puts its focus on the NHS.
Streeting has often talked about leaning on the private healthcare to help the NHS and was previously accused of a “betrayal” when he said he would force it to use services from the sector.
During Blair’s premiership, which ran from 1997 to 2007, the private sector played an increased role in the NHS.
Streeting says he wants to go further than this, writing: “I first called for the NHS to use spare capacity in the private sector to bring down waiting lists two and a half years ago.
“Or to put it another way, five health secretaries ago. Had the Conservatives listened, an extra 270,000 people would have been treated and off waiting lists today.
“The last Labour government did this and delivered the shortest waits in history.”
Streeting further pledged to “go further than New Labour ever did” and added that he wants the “NHS to form partnerships with the private sector that goes beyond hospitals”.
Citing an example, he said he wanted to use high-street opticians to treat people waiting for NHS eye treatment.
“This is how we will beat the Tory backlog – a national mission that pulls together all parts of the country to deliver it,” Streeting said.
“That’s the change the NHS needs. I’m appealing to Telegraph readers to give Labour a mandate to reform the NHS.”
Responding to the plans, Health Secretary Victoria Atkins said: “This is more ‘copy and paste’ politics from Labour, who have no plan.
“By contrast we published our long-term workforce plan for the NHS a year ago.”
Commenting on Streeting’s piece, the SNP’s health spokesperson Amy Callaghan said: "With the Labour Party copying the Tories' austerity cuts, Brexit and creeping NHS privatisation, it's clear only a vote for the SNP can protect the NHS and put Scotland's interests first.
"By opening the NHS up to private sector interests and imposing Tory spending cuts, which could slash as much as £30billion from public services, the Labour Party is threatening Scotland's NHS.
"As Wes Streeting admits - Westminster policies are actively damaging Scotland's NHS.
"In stark contrast, the SNP will always prioritise the NHS and defend its founding values. NHS funding has more than doubled under the SNP government and NHS staffing is at a record high – with far more doctors and nurses per head in Scotland than in England."
