Hunt’s 10-year plan to revamp NHS – as Labour is accused of politicising crisis
‘Need to get a better grip’
JEREMY Hunt last night called for a ten-year strategy to adapt the health service – as Tories rounded on Labour for ‘politicising’ a health crisis they insist is afflicting Western nations.
The Health Secretary acknowledged that the NHS would need more cash in the coming years to cope with an ageing population.
But ministers bridled at Labour claims the current crisis – which forced the NHS to cancel thousands of operations – was the result of funding cuts.
An ally of Mr Hunt pointed out that the Welsh NHS, which is under the stewardship of Labour, has suffered similar problems – if not worse – while countries from Australia to France have been hit by serious flu outbreaks in recent months.
They said: ‘It is irresponsible and wrong for Labour to try to politicise the current situation – the problems are worse in Wales and Scotland. France has had a million people with flu. There is a long-term funding situation which we have to address as a society. But that is not what the current situation is about.’
Parts of the health establishment appear to have tried to exploit the crisis too.
Consultant Anu Mitra said staff were forced to carry out ‘battlefield medicine’, although he later apologised to military doctors who practice ‘actual battlefield medicine’.
On Tuesday, another consultant, Richard Fawcett at Royal Stoke University Hospital, described conditions there as being like the ‘third world’.
Meanwhile, the British Medical Association (BMA) intervened yesterday to claim NHS funding was ‘well below’ what other comparable European countries spend on healthcare.
Mr Hunt – tipped to become Theresa May’s deputy – last night pointed out that the Government had kept its pledges to increase NHS funding. But he acknowledged more was needed.
He said the Government had found an extra £2.8billion for the NHS in November’s Budget, but said there would need to be ‘more discussion about funding’ when the current NHS plan ends in 2020.
Asked if the NHS needed a new tenyear plan, he told Channel 4 News: ‘That is exactly what I think we do need going forward.’
Mr Hunt acknowledged the NHS faced ‘real pressures’ and said it was right to cancel routine surgery in anticipation of further pressures, rather than leave it to the last minute.
The Health Secretary pointed out that the decision had been taken by an independent committee, but aides later said that, while he was frustrated for the patients concerned, Mr Hunt was content with the decision.
An aide said: ‘He set up the panel of independent doctors and gave them complete freedom to prepare for situations like this. They have come up with this plan and he supports them.’
Mrs May, who will visit a hospital today, paid tribute to NHS staff and pledged that operations would be rescheduled ‘as soon as possible’.
She said the NHS had been ‘better prepared for this winter than ever before, we have put extra funding in’.
But she added: ‘I recognise for those people that have had their operations postponed this is disappointing, it’s frustrating.’ Labour’s health spokesman Jon Ashworth claimed ‘ underfunding’ was to blame and the PM was ‘out of touch’.
Mocking Mrs May’s claim the NHS had never been better prepared, he said: ‘She will next be trying to lecture patients that “nothing has changed” for patients. The reality is we see hospitals at full capacity, ambulances backed up, cancelled operations and patients waiting for hours on trolleys.’
Sarah Wollaston, Tory chairman of the Commons health committee, said the crisis showed Mrs May and Chancellor Philip Hammond ‘need to get a better grip’ of the scale of the challenges facing the NHS.
The union Unite, which has 100,000 members in the health service, said the Government had ‘failed’ to provide sufficient funding for one of the nation’s proudest achievements.
Dr Anthea Mowat, of the BMA, said: ‘We have to look again at NHS funding, which remains well below what other comparable European countries spend on healthcare, to ensure the NHS has the staff and the capacity needed to deal with the pressures it faces year in, year out, but which are compounded during the winter months.’