Keir Starmer is emphasizing the need for reform in the NHS, stating that it does not mean abandoning the core principles of a publicly funded, free at the point of use service. He highlights his personal connection to the NHS and stresses that reform does not just mean pouring more money into the system, but rather addressing underlying issues like inefficient spending on agency staff and delayed appointments. Starmer acknowledges the challenges faced by the NHS during the pandemic, attributing some of the strain to past reorganizations that he deems as “hopelessly misconceived”.
No more money for NHS without reform, says Starmer as he outlines vision for health service – UK politics live | Politics
Starmer tells NHS it will get ‘no more money without reform’
Starmer is now talking about how the government will reform the NHS.
He starts by saying:
Let me be clear from the outset what reform does not mean first – it does not mean abandoning those founding ideas of a public service, publicly funded, free at the point of use, the basic principle of dignity, inspired, of course, by Bevan that when you fall ill, you should never have to worry about the bill.
Using comments he made a lot during the election campaign, he stresses how personal support for the NHS is for him. His mother and sister both worked in the NHS, his wife works in the NHS, and the NHS cared for his mother for many years when she was seriously ill, he says.
Starmer says reform “does not mean just putting more money in now,”.
A Labour government will always invest in the NHS, he says. But, he goes on:
We have to fix the plumbing before turning on the taps.
So hear me when I say this – no more money without reform.
I’m not prepared to see even more of your money spent on agency staff who cost £5,000 a shift, on appointment letters which arrive after the appointment, or on paying for people to be stuck in hospital just because they can’t get the care they need in the community.
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Wes Streeting will be making a statement to MPs about the Darzi report at about 11.30am. He is unlikely to say anything much beyond what Starmer said in his speech, but I will be monitoring it anyway.
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Q: Are you going to allow Ukraine to use Storm Shadow missiles to strike targets in Russia?
Starmer says he is off to Washington later for strategic discussions with President Biden about Urkaine and the Middle East. He does not answer the question.
And that is the end of the Q&A.
I will post more analysis and reaction soon.
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Starmer suggests plan to impose cap on adult social care costs has not been shelved for good
Q: When will you introduce the cap on adult social care costs (shelved by Rachel Reeves in her statement in July)?
Starmer says the last government promised this, but Labour had to delay the plans because they were “undeliverable” within the time frame proposed by the Tories. The government is reviewing it. But he says this will be included in the 10-year plan. “But it’s got to be done properly,” he says.
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Starmer says he can reform NHS because reforming organisations has been ‘common theme’ of his working life for years
Q: [From the Sun] Given you caved in to train drivers, how can Sun readers trust you to overcome resistance from the medical profession?
Starmer replies:
Because I’ve reformed before.
I reformed when I was heading up the Crown Prosecution Service. I wanted to change it, to make it much more victim oriented, and we faced a huge challenge. We took it on. We changed it.
I wanted to drive up conviction rates for violence against women and girls. We faced resistance about how we were doing it. We burst through that and made the change.
So I could give any number of examples. I’ve worked in Northern Ireland where we had to create a new police service. In Northern Ireland there was resistance, but we pressed on and did it.
When I arrived as leader of Labour party, I knew we had to change it. There was a lot of resistance, but we pressed on and did it.
Starmer said that, if there was one “common theme” to what he had been doing professionally “for some time”, it was imposing change.
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Q: When will people see a difference in A&E waiting times?
Starmer says the government is already working on this. It is a “classic example of where you need more technology”. Mainly people are waiting for the results of tests. So “much better use of technology” will make a diffierence.
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Q: What kind of preventative health measures are you looking at?
Starmer says prevention will be a priority. He mentions smoking. And teeth – he was shocked by how many children have teeth decay. That is preventable, he says. Diet and lifestyle are important too, he says.
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Starmer says he won’t led medical profession block reform
Q: Prof John Bell said this morning the BMA has been a drag on reform. Do you expect them to help you?
Starmer says he knows from his time as DPP that, whenever you try to reform something, some people are opposed. He says he wants to work with professionals. But if there is opposition, “we have to take that on, and we will take that on.”
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Q: When will you announce a plan for social care?
Starmer says he wants to work with staff on this. He wants a fair pay system for care workers. Social care is obviously part of his 10-year plan for the NHS.
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Q: What would you say to a patient who is on a waiting list in pain about how you will make things better for them?
Starmer says he is not offering a “quick fix”. It will take time and money.
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Starmer is now taking questions.
Q: Why will you be able to do this, when other reform plans have not worked?
Starmer says in the past governments have not applied his mission-driven approach.
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Starmer is now talking about the government’s three priorities for reform – more focus on digital, more focus on primary care, and more focus on prevention. (See 8.44am.)
He ends by saying the NHS can be reformed, because that has happened before. He says:
It won’t be easy. It won’t be quick. It will take a 10-year plan, not just the work of one parliament, but I know we can do it, because we’ve done reform before. The last Labour government reformed the NHS to deliver better outcomes for patients and better value for taxpayers.
And he says this should be a moment of “hope”, because of what is possible.
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Starmer is still talking about NHS reform, and he says it “does not mean trying to fix everything from Whitehall”.
He says the NHS is full of talent. He wants to work with staff on reform, he says.
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Starmer tells NHS it will get ‘no more money without reform’
Starmer is now talking about how the government will reform the NHS.
He starts by saying:
Let me be clear from the outset what reform does not mean first – it does not mean abandoning those founding ideas of a public service, publicly funded, free at the point of use, the basic principle of dignity, inspired, of course, by Bevan that when you fall ill, you should never have to worry about the bill.
Using comments he made a lot during the election campaign, he stresses how personal support for the NHS is for him. His mother and sister both worked in the NHS, his wife works in the NHS, and the NHS cared for his mother for many years when she was seriously ill, he says.
Starmer says reform “does not mean just putting more money in now,”.
A Labour government will always invest in the NHS, he says. But, he goes on:
We have to fix the plumbing before turning on the taps.
So hear me when I say this – no more money without reform.
I’m not prepared to see even more of your money spent on agency staff who cost £5,000 a shift, on appointment letters which arrive after the appointment, or on paying for people to be stuck in hospital just because they can’t get the care they need in the community.
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Starmer says this cannot all be blamed on Covid. He goes on:
Covid hit our NHS harder than healthcare systems in other countries.
The NHS delayed, canceled or postponed,far more routine care during the pandemic than any comparable health system.
And why? Because our NHS went into the pandemic in a much more fragile state, fewer doctors, fewer nurses, fewer beds than most other high income health systems.
Starmer says that was a result of the “ideologically-driven, top down reorganization of 2012” championed by Andrew Lansley. That was “hopelessly misconceived”, he says. And he quotes what the report says about the Lansley reforms being “a calamity”. (See 9.49am.)
Keir Starmer delivering his NHS speech. Photograph: Isabel Infantes/ReutersShare
Read the full story on www.theguardian.com
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2024/sep/12/keir-starmer-nhs-darzi-report-labour-tories-uk-politics