I aim to cut NHS waits ...it’s the Labour way
Shadow Health Sec’s ambition
THE new Shadow Health Secretary aims to slash NHS waiting lists – just like when Labour was last in power and they fell from 18 months to 18 weeks.
Wes Streeting, promoted to Keir Starmer’s front bench team this week, said he despaired at the record backlog of 5.8 million people unable to get treatment.
And he highlighted around eight million “missing” patients who have avoided seeing a doctor during the pandemic and could now be suffering life-threatening conditions such as cancer.
Mr Streeting said: “If you need a hip replacement it has a big impact on your quality of life.
“But when it comes to cancer, time is of the essence.”
The MP, 38, who has recovered from kidney cancer himself this year, added Labour would “recruit, train and retain staff for the long-term” to tackle soaring NHS vacancies, which topped 100,000 before the Covid pandemic hit. Speaking of staff he met during his cancer care, he said some were in tears about their “poverty pay” and warned “we will lose them if we don’t pay them properly”.
And he promised his first job in his new role would be to write to Sajid Javid, demanding the Health Secretary comes clean over the 40 new hospitals PM Boris Johnson promised.
He said: “Boris Johnson counts paint jobs as a brand new hospital.
We need to know more about this phantom building programme.”
Mr Streeting described East London’s Whipps Cross Hospital, serving his Ilford North constituency, as “crumbling” and said all over the UK patients are “treated in dilapidated hospitals”.
And while backing the use of video consultations to free up time, he said GPS must also meet face-to-face with patients who needed more personal contact.