The Prime Minister will use today’s Queen’s Speech to set out an
ambitious package of measures to boost the NHS and push on with an
agenda focused on education, infrastructure and tackling crime.
At the heart of the Speech is the first ever commitment to
enshrine in law a multi-year NHS funding settlement, with an
extra £33.9 billion per year by 2023/24 – the largest cash
injection in the history of the NHS.
The NHS Funding Bill will be the first piece of domestic
legislation the new Government seeks to put onto the statute book
following the passing of the Withdrawal Agreement Bill,
underlining the Prime Minister’s commitment to deliver further
investment into the health service.
New legislation will mean qualified doctors, nurses and health
professionals with a job offer from the NHS will be offered
fast-track visas and support to come to the UK as part of a
fairer, points-based immigration system to boost the NHS
workforce.
The Government will also pledge to make it easier for hospitals
to manufacture and trial innovative medicines, while a new
independent body will improve patient safety by investigating
concerns and incidents raised by patients and families.
Hospital car parking charges will also be abolished for those in
greatest need – likely to include disabled people, parents of
sick children staying overnight, and staff working night shifts.
Speaking to NHS nurses at a Downing Street reception, many of
whom will be working over Christmas, Prime Minister said:
“The NHS is the single greatest institution in this country and
it’s absolutely vital that we as political leaders, all kinds and
all levels, understand what is going on in the NHS. You are doing
an incredible job.
“But the pressures and demands are enormous and we have to help
you cope with that.
“We have to invest and as you may have heard in the last few
weeks, we are. We are upgrading hospitals, and building new
hospitals.
“We are going to have 50,000 more nurses. We retain 19,000 who
would otherwise vanish, and recruit another 31,000. We have 6,000
more GPs and 50 million more GP appointments over the next five
years.
“We are now putting the biggest investment in the NHS in living
memory. We have to keep that investment going. We have to keep
supporting you.
“I would like to thank you for everything you do.
“We now have got Christmas, and you, the NHS, are going to have
to keep working over what will be one of the busiest and most
taxing times of the year for the NHS. This is an opportunity for
us in Government to welcome you to No 10 and to wish you a Happy
Christmas.”
Measures in the Queen’s Speech follow pledges to introduce
maintenance grants of at least £5,000 per year for new and
continuing degree-level nursing, midwifery and many allied health
students, to support the delivery of 50,000 more nurses.
This is on top of wider pledges for 40 new hospitals over the
next ten years, alongside 20 hospital upgrades.
The Queen’s Speech will also confirm the additional £1 billion
for social care every year of the new Parliament, and a
commitment to work urgently to seek cross-party consensus for
long-term reform so nobody has to sell their home to pay for
care.
It will also reinforce plans to modernise and reform the Mental
Health Act to give people greater influence on the type of care
they receive.
The ambitious legislative programme put forward will enable the
Government to unite and level up the country with wide-ranging
domestic reform.
Pushing forward plans to level up education, the Speech will
commit to increasing levels of funding per pupil in every school,
to ensure every child receives the best possible education –
wherever they grow up.
As part of measures to tackle violent crime and make our streets
safer, new legislation will ensure terrorists spend longer behind
bars and make it easier for the police to stop and search known
knife carriers.
Demonstrating the Government’s commitment to getting Brexit done,
the Queen’s Speech will include legislation to implement the
future relationship we will agree with the EU by the end of
December 2020.
The Speech will also outline commitments to strengthening the
Union, planned investment in transformational infrastructure, and
proposals to stop vexatious claims against Armed Forces members.
