Welcome reforms are no cure for the NHS

For all the political noise surrounding the dismissal of Nadhim Zahawi as Conservative Party chairman, the Government will not be judged by the tax returns of a former minister. The next election will be fought on the usual issues – the cost of living, economic competence and, arguably above all, the NHS.

Few people do not have a tale of woe to tell about the health service either from their own direct experience or that of relatives and friends. Recognising the threat that this poses to Tory electoral chances, Rishi Sunak has taken it on himself to drive forward a plan to rescue the NHS.

This comprises five points: more beds, more doctors and nurses, discharging patients from hospitals when they no longer need to be there, more so-called “virtual” wards, and a better 111 service.

But while these are laudable ambitions, they are meaningless unless matched by delivery. Mr Sunak, setting out his plans on Teesside yesterday, conceded that he would be held accountable for results, but was convinced that the “largest and fastest improvements” ever seen in emergency care were possible if the plan is implemented.

The reality is that he is starting from a low base. It would be hard not to improve a situation where ambulances take an hour or more on average to attend a heart attack or stroke patient. When they arrive at a hospital, they are often parked on the forecourt for hours because there are no free beds and they are unable then to attend another 999 call-out.

Mr Sunak’s plan involves the provision of 800 new ambulances; but it is not the number of vehicles that is the problem but the blockages in the rest of the system. To that end, Mr Sunak is promising an additional 5,000 hospital beds and yet at any one time there are 14,000 patients who should have been released but have nowhere to go.

This requires more affordable care and a streamlined system for drawing up care plans for people leaving hospital. The five-point plan involves a further £1billion for an expansion of community care, but the shortfall in staff and beds dwarfs such an investment.

Mr Sunak is right to identify the state of the NHS as a serious worry for the country, and a plan to rectify matters is welcome. But how long before these measures are themselves rendered inadequate? A sense that the Government has yet to grasp the scale of this crisis is hard to shake off.