Labour would put prevention at the heart of its revival of the NHS

‘Labour has already announced a package of £1.6bn to train 7,500 more doctors and 10,000 extra nurses a year,’ writes Wes Streeting MP. Photograph: sturti/Getty Images

I was pleased to read that Michael Marmot agrees that reform of the health service is necessary (Labour’s Wes Streeting is half right about how to fix the NHS, 24 April). Progressives cannot surrender the reform agenda to the right. The Labour party was founded to reform Britain’s institutions and change the way our country is run, for the benefit of working people.

When it comes to the NHS, a system geared to providing late diagnosis, instead of early intervention, fails millions whose conditions are missed until it is too late. And as Michael rightly argues, prevention is better than cure.