Trump’s broad side at the NHS
New row after he tweets that healthcare in UK ‘is going broke and doesn’t work’
‘Got the wrong end of the stick’
DONALD Trump triggered another diplomatic row with Britain last night after claiming the NHS was ‘going broke and not working’.
The US President wrote that ‘thousands of people are marching’ in the UK against the NHS, and insisted universal healthcare systems were ‘really bad’.
Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt hit back, saying he was glad he came from a country where ‘all get care, no matter the size of their bank balance’.
Downing Street intervened to say Theresa May was proud of the NHS, adding that funding was ‘at a record high’.
And Simon Stevens, chief executive of NHS England, invited the US President to visit British hospitals to ‘spend time with our brilliant doctors’.
It is the latest spat between the UK and the US since Mr Trump came to office, despite his claim that the special relationship is alive and well.
In November he was rebuked by Mrs May for retweeting videos posted by the far-right Britain First group. The dressing down prompted Mr Trump to instruct the PM to focus on ‘terrorism’ in the UK.
The US President revealed earlier this month he had cancelled plans to visit London amid the threat of protests – although there may be a working visit later in the year.
Mr Trump made the attack on the NHS as part of a row with his Democratic Party opponents, many of whom want a Britishstyle universal health system in the US.
Apparently referring to a rally in London on Saturday calling for more Government support for the NHS, the US President tweeted: ‘The Democrats are pushing for universal health care while thousands of people are marching in the UK because their u[niversal] system is going broke and not working.
‘Dem[ocrat]s want to greatly raise taxes for really bad and nonpersonal medical care. No thanks!’
But Mr Hunt responded to Mr Trump’s Twitter attack with a post of his own. ‘I may disagree with claims made on that march but not ONE of them wants to live in a system where 28million people have no cover,’ he said.
‘I’m proud to be from the country that invented universal coverage – where all get care no matter the size of their bank balance.’
The PM’s official spokesman said she was ‘proud of having an NHS which is free at the point of delivery. The Commonwealth Fund international survey rated the NHS the best healthcare service in the world for the second time in a row.’
He insisted that Mrs May and Mr Trump continue to have a ‘good relationship’.
Mr Stevens told MPs on the Commons public accounts committee that the President had ‘got the wrong end of the stick’ – and referred to his remarks as a ‘Twitter attack on the health service’.
He said: ‘People in this country don’t want to ditch our NHS. They want to keep it and strengthen it. Our invitation in the NHS, should the President be visiting later this year, would be to spend time with our brilliant doctors, hospitals, technology experts, scientists, hear about the cataract services, the hip replacements, the modern scanners, the world- first liver, heart and lung transplants, the genomic revolution all under way here in the NHS.
‘Healthcare for everybody delivered at half the cost of the US healthcare system is something that people in this country are deeply and rightly committed to.’
Mr Trump’s comments came shortly after former Ukip leader Nigel Farage appeared on one of the President’s favourite TV news shows to talk about the NHS.
Mr Farage said the NHS was ‘at breaking point due to a population crisis’. After Mr Farage’s appearance on Fox And Friends, the president thanked the show for ‘exposing the truth’.
Mr Trump’s social media messages came after a crowd of thousands chanting ‘Save the NHS’ descended on Downing Street on Saturday to demand more funding for the health service.
NHS workers last night attacked Mr Trump on social media. Natasha White wrote on Twitter: ‘How DARE you criticise our NHS. I am a nurse working for this fantastic organisation. It’s not perfect, it needs more money but it offers some of the best healthcare in the world to all – no matter how much money you have or have not.’
Sam Majumdar, a consultant, said: ‘We have a lot to celebrate and certainly nothing to defend!! NHS treats everyone the same.’
Nurse Kerry Cope posted: ‘Mr Trump, are you trying to go for the record for how many countries you can upset?’
Mr Trump is due to visit the UK later this year and faces the prospect of mass protests.