Secretary of State for Health and Social Care delivers a statement setting out his mission for
saving the NHS
When we said during the election campaign, that the NHS was going
through the biggest crisis in its history, we meant it.
When we said that patients are being failed on a daily basis, it
wasn't political rhetoric, but the daily reality faced by
millions.
Previous governments have not been willing to admit these simple
facts. But in order to cure an illness, you must first diagnose
it.
This government will be honest about the challenges facing our
country, and serious about tackling them.
From today, the policy of this department is that the NHS is
broken.
That is the experience of patients who are not receiving the care
they deserve, and of the staff working in the NHS who can see
that – despite giving their best – this is not good enough.
When I was diagnosed with kidney cancer, the NHS saved my life.
Today, I can begin to repay that debt, by saving our NHS.
I have just spoken over the phone with the BMA junior doctors
committee, and I can announce that talks to end their industrial
action will begin next week.
We promised during the campaign that we would begin negotiations
as a matter of urgency, and that is what we are doing.
This government has received a mandate from millions of voters
for change and reform of the NHS, so it can be there for us when
we need it once again.
It will take time - we never pretended that the NHS could be
fixed overnight.
And it will take a team effort. It will be the mission of my
department, every member of this government, and the 1.4 million
people who work in the NHS, to turn our health service around.
We have done this before. When we were last in office,
we worked hand in hand with NHS staff to deliver the shortest
waits and highest patient satisfaction in history. We did it
before, and together, we will do it again.
