Yes, the NHS is broken, but Labour will turn the tide, writes Health Secretary WES STRETING

Given the general knowledge about the state of the NHS, I didn’t think there was much that could shock the Department of Health and Social Care.

I walked into the department knowing that health care was facing the greatest crisis in its history.

Patients are finding it harder than ever to get a GP appointment, an operation, or even an ambulance when they need one. NHS dentistry no longer exists in large parts of our country, and half a million people who need social care receive no support at all.

But what I found on my desk in my first week genuinely surprised me.

There are NHS hospitals that have not been inspected for a decade. One in five health or social care providers has never been rated.

Some care home inspectors said they had never met anyone with dementia. Hospitals are given ratings based on inspections of just one corner of the building, rather than a thorough look at all departments.

WES STREETING: There is a huge amount of trust placed in the NHS and social care services. They have a duty to look after us at our most vulnerable. As a kidney cancer survivor, I owe my life to them

Wes Streeting with Amanda Pritchard, Chief Executive of NHS England, during a visit to the Abbey Medical Centre in Abbey Wood on 8 July

Mr Streeting (pictured centre) has warned of the ‘existential’ challenges facing the NHS (pictured June 15)

There is a huge amount of trust placed in the NHS and social care services. They are tasked with looking after us at our most vulnerable. That trust is partly based on experience – many of us owe a huge debt to the care of healthcare staff. As a kidney cancer survivor, I owe my life to them.

But trust is also based on trust that the right checks and balances are in place. This report published today shows that the regulator is not fit for purpose.

This comes back to a political leadership that oversaw a conspiracy of silence about the true state of the NHS. The Conservatives didn’t think patients would like the answers, so they stopped asking questions. Last year, fewer than half the number of inspections were carried out than in 2019/20.

The denial of the previous government seeped too much into the health care system. This government will be different. Our policy is radical candor.

On the day I was appointed Health Secretary, I announced that the NHS is broken. I wanted to send a message to everyone who works in the NHS that things have changed. They are no longer just getting spin and scapegoats from their government. We will be honest about the failings of the health service and serious about tackling them.

Sunlight is the best disinfectant. If patients are being left unattended and unsafe on stretchers in corridors for hours because there are not enough beds available, I want to know about it. If they are being treated in unhygienic conditions, I want to know about it. It will take time to get the NHS back on track, but we will only write the right prescription if we get the right diagnosis.

The National Audit Office warned this week that there is a ‘growing mismatch’ between demand for care and funding, but said there is scope for better use of existing resources (file image)

WES STREETING: ‘The Conservatives thought patients wouldn’t like the answers so they stopped asking questions’ (Photo July 6)

‘Sunlight is the best disinfectant,’ writes Health Minister WES STRETING (archive)

In the two and a half years since I became Shadow Minister for Health, I have been inundated with frontline nurses telling me that the Care Quality Commission is not doing its job properly. They are not being inspected enough. And inspectors are not talking to them about what is going wrong. Frontline staff do not want problems swept under the carpet, they want them acknowledged and fixed.

This isn’t just about patient safety. I want to reform the NHS so that patients have much more control over their own healthcare. Patients need to be able to see that they are getting the standard of care that we expect from the NHS, and they need to be able to trust the assessments of the hospital or GP they are looking at.

I would like to thank Penny Dash for bringing her important report to my attention and the brave people within the CQC who gave Penny the ammunition she needed to come out with the unvarnished truth.

I know patients will be concerned about some of the findings. I promise them that the mission of Keir Starmer’s government will be to get the NHS back on track so that it is there for them when they need it.