will today (Saturday 15
January) set out his “contract for better health” to provide
people with the “security, prosperity and respect they deserve”
in a speech at the Fabian Society annual conference.
Setting out his plan to reform and renew the NHS, the Labour
leader is expected to say that only Labour can make the changes
necessary to ensure the health service thrives. Those changes
include ensuring “a health system that is a bit less about the
system and a lot more about the patient”, as well as improving
resilience.
As part of Labour’s plans to move towards prevention, Starmer
will make important commitments on mental health. He will promise
that the next Labour government will treat mental health as
seriously as physical health and guarantee mental health support
in less than a month.
And he will dismiss the Tories’ attempts to wash their hands of
their record, saying they should take responsibility for the
condition of the health service entering the pandemic, and for
the way repeated scandals have distracted them from doing the job
in hand. He will say that no longer has the authority
to meet the challenges the NHS faces, contrasting that with
Labour’s past record and future plans.
On his ‘personal crusade’ for the NHS, is expected to
say:
“The NHS cannot look after us if we do not look after it. This is
a political crusade for us….but this is also a personal crusade
for me……I spent a lot of time as a child visiting my mum in
hospital. I have never forgotten the care my mum received… the
respect with which she was treated. I want that level of care for
everyone. We all need the security of knowing that the NHS is
there for us when we need it. That is what my contract will
offer.”
On the Conservatives’ record, he will say:
“Rather than concentrating on getting through the pandemic and
bringing down waiting lists, this self-indulgent Tory party is
instead having a fight about a leader who they should have known
from the start is not fit for office.
“We are witnessing the broken spectacle of a Prime Minister mired
in deceit and deception, unable to lead.
“When we left office 12 years ago, the Conservatives inherited a
strong NHS. Waiting times were the shortest on record… Today, NHS
waiting lists are the highest since records began.
……And it is not good enough to blame all this on Covid. This
mess has been much longer in the making. And this government has
to bear the responsibility… Why have we got to this point, where
the NHS itself is in a critical condition?”
On his NHS reform agenda, he is expected to
say:
“An older society needs a different health system. One that is as
much about prevention as it is about cure. That is a bit less
about the community hospital and a bit more about the community.
A health system that is a bit less about the system and a lot
more about the patient…..
“……It is obvious that the NHS needs more money. But that is not
all it needs……when we were in government, we started to reform
the NHS, so that it was pointed more towards the patient. So that
it answered the needs of the time. That reform process has
stalled because this government doesn’t care if the NHS
falls behind.
“Boris Johnson is too preoccupied defending his rule breaking.
And, as day follows night, when it comes to the National Health
Service, you can never trust the Tories.
On mental health, he is expected to say:
“A Labour government would treat mental health as seriously as
physical health.
“We would guarantee mental health support in less than a month.
We’ll recruit more than 8,500 mental health professionals to
support a million more people every year. Every school will have
specialist support. Every community will have an open access
mental health hub for young people.
“Under Labour, spending on mental health will never be allowed to
fall.”
ENDS
Notes to editors:
1. will address the Fabian
Society conference at approximately 10am on Saturday
15 January.
