Sir Keir Starmer on Thursday pledged to build an NHS that is “fit for the future” after a landmark report warned the health service is in “critical condition”.
The report by independent peer Lord Ara Darzi, completed in nine weeks, found that the nation’s health had declined over the past 15 years and that significant reform would be required to return the NHS to peak performance.
Speaking at a press conference at the King's Fund following the release of the report, the Prime Minister said that the Conservatives had presided over a “lost decade” that had left the NHS “unable to be there for patients today”.
“We need to get the health service back on its feet and build an NHS that is truly fit for the future,” he said.
“Our starting point couldn’t be further from that goal. Public satisfaction in the NHS has fallen from an all-time high when the last Labour Government was in office to an all-time low today. That is because the last Government broke the NHS.”
Reacting to the report, Health Secretary Wes Streeting told Sky News that the crisis in the NHS would require investment but that this would not happen at once.
He told Sky News: “We have got here because of a decade of underinvestment in the NHS, particularly on technology. We are 15 years behind the private sector.”
Mr Streeting said that ministers would focus on capital investment, but acknowledged that he could not make up for a £37 billion underinvestment immediately.
“It’s not going to be a big bang, and it’s important I say that up front for two reasons,” he told Times Radio.
“One is so the Chancellor doesn’t have a heart attack over her breakfast this morning with me writing her spending review for her.
“But secondly, and very seriously, I think people know that it’s taken more than a decade to break the NHS and it’s going to take time to get the NHS back on its feet, and to make sure it’s fit for the future.”
Mr Streeting told BBC Breakfast that the NHS could “go bust” if action is not taken to reform it.
“If we don’t grasp both the immediate challenge in front of us and deal with the crisis today, but also prepare the NHS for the challenges of the future in terms of an ageing society and disease and rising costs, rather than a country with an NHS, we’re going to have an NHS with a country attached to it if we’re not careful, and more likely an NHS that goes bust,” he said.
Patients are facing “widespread problems” in accessing services across the country while funding has been disproportionately focused on hospitals and not other areas of the NHS, the report concludes.
The health service has also been “starved of capital” with “too many outdated scanners“ and “too little automation”, it says.
In his speech on Thursday morning, Sir Keir said that the scale of the damage done to the NHS revealed by the report is “unforgivable”.
He also outlined three fundamental areas of reform as part of a ten-year plan. This includes an emphasis on “moving from an analogue to a digital NHS”, shifting care from hospitals to communities and moving from “sickness to prevention”.
The 142-page report was commissioned by Labour following the party’s General Election victory on July 4.
Lord Darzi is an honorary consultant surgeon at Imperial College Hospital NHS Trust and sits as an independent peer in the House of Lords, after resigning the Labour whip in July 2019.
Lord Darzi’s report also warns that:
- The NHS is seeing a “surge” in patients suffering multiple long-term illnesses such as diabetes, high blood pressure and chronic breathing difficulties
- Mental health referrals are “soaring”, particularly among young people
- Staff are wasting time on solving “process problems” due to a lack of resources
- More operations and procedures were cancelled during the Covid pandemic
- compared with any comparable country due to “underinvestment” and “reorganisation”
The report concludes that, while the NHS is in crisis, its “vital signs are strong” and performance can be improved by utilising its “extraordinary depth of clinical talent”.
“Despite the massive gap in capital investment, the NHS has more resources than ever before, even if there is an urgent need to boost productivity,” Lord Darzi writes.
The peer does not advocate for changing the funding model of the NHS, writing that models in other countries are “more expensive, even if their funding tends to be more stable”.
But he warns that it will take “years rather than months” to get the health service back to peak performance.
In his speech on Thursday, Sir Keir pledged that the Government would have the “courage to deliver long-term reform”.
He said: “The NHS is at a fork in the road, and we have a choice about how it should meet these rising demands.”
“Raise taxes on working people to meet the ever-higher costs of aging population - or reform to secure its future.
“We know working people can’t afford to pay more, so it’s reform or die.”
In its general election manifesto, Labour promised that 92 per cent of patients would begin routine hospital treatment within 18 weeks of referral by the end of this parliament.
The party have also pledged to deliver 40,000 extra weekly NHS appointments to reduce waiting times, with plans to further utilise the private sector to increase capacity.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting said of the report: “I asked Lord Darzi to tell hard truths about the state of the NHS. He has produced an honest, expert, comprehensive report on the appalling state our health service is in.
“Today’s findings will inform our 10-year plan to radically reform the NHS and get patients treated on time again.
“The damage done to the NHS has been more than a decade in the making. We clearly have a long road ahead. But while the NHS is broken, it’s not beaten. We will turn the NHS around so it is there for you when you need it, once again.”
Amanda Pritchard, NHS England Chief Executive, said the health service was “committed to working with government to create a 10-year plan for healthcare to ensure the NHS recovers from Covid, strengthens its foundations and continues to reform so it is fit for future generations.”
