The NHS faces bankruptcy unless it is reformed, will warn today.
The Shadow Health Secretary will argue that fundamental reform of
the health service is needed if it is to survive another 75
years. He will say that reform will play a bigger part than
investment in rebuilding the NHS. Labour plans for reform will
secure the future and sustainability of the NHS, providing better
service for patients and better value for taxpayers.
The IFS estimates that half of all public sector workers are set
to be employed by the NHS by 2036. The proportion of total
departmental spending going on health is 42% this year and is
forecast to rise.
Shadow Health Secretary, will say:
“Be in no doubt about the scale of the challenge. In the
longer term, the challenge of rising chronic disease, combined
with our ageing society, threatens to bankrupt the
NHS.
“Pouring ever-increasing amounts of money into a system that
isn’t working is wasteful in every sense.
“A waste of money we don’t have. A waste of time that is
running out. A waste of potential, because the NHS has so much
going for it.”
Pledging that Labour’s reform agenda will provide a better
service for patients while securing better value for taxpayers’
money, Streeting will promise to “turn the NHS on
its head”:
“When I look at leading health systems across the world, the
fundamental problem with the NHS becomes obvious: we have an NHS
that gets to people too late.
“Labour’s reform agenda will turn the NHS on its head. From a
service focused on hospitals to one providing more care in the
community, analogue to digital, sickness to
prevention.
“A neighbourhood health service as much as a National Health
Service, pioneering cutting edge treatment and technology,
preventing ill-health, not just treating it. Better for patients,
less expensive for taxpayers.
“Achieving our mission will take time, investment, and
reform. Reform is even more important than investment.”
He will also set out Labour’s plans to tackle the immediate
waiting lists crisis facing the NHS. Today, 7.7 million patients
are waiting for treatment, 390,000 of whom have been waiting for
more than a year. 1.6 million patients are waiting for tests and
scans, with the 6 week waiting times target not hit since 2017.
Labour has pledged to:
- Provide 2 million more operations, scans, and appointments a
year on evenings and weekends, with £1.1 billion paid to staff in
overtime
- Double the number of NHS scanners, buying AI-scanners which
work 35% faster, to diagnose patients earlier
- Deliver 700,000 urgent dentistry appointments, recruit more
dentist to areas most in need, introduce supervised toothbrushing
for 3-5 year-olds, and reform of the NHS dental contract.
The plans will cost £1.6 billion in total and be paid for by
abolishing the non-dom tax status, which allows people living and
working in Britain to pay their taxes overseas.
On Labour’s plan to cut waiting lists, Streeting will
say:
“A Labour government will take immediate action to cut waiting
lists.
“We’ll provide an extra £1.1bn to help the NHS beat the backlog,
with extra clinics at evenings and weekends – providing two
million more appointments each year.
“Faster treatment for patients. Extra pay for staff. The first
step to cut waiting lists and beat the Tory backlog.
“Paid for by abolishing the non-dom tax status, because patients
need treatment more than the wealthiest need a tax break.”
Ends
Notes
- The IFS estimates that half of all public sector workers are
set to be employed by the NHS by 2036.
https://ifs.org.uk/publications/implications-nhs-workforce-plan
- The proportion of total departmental spending going on health
is 42% this year and is forecast to rise.
https://obr.uk/forecasts-in-depth/brief-guides-and-explainers/public-finances/
