Wes Streeting, the Health Secretary, has expressed his shock over the failings he has discovered within the NHS since taking office. He revealed that much of the information he has received is not publicly known and pledged to disclose the truth about the issues affecting patients and staff.
Streeting has initiated an independent investigation into NHS performance in England, driven by the latest waiting time figures showing a backlog for hospital care that has risen to 7.6 million. This marks the second consecutive month of increases, although it remains below the peak of 7.77 million recorded in September.
The investigation, headed by NHS surgeon and independent peer Lord Ara Darzi, will contribute to Streeting’s 10-year plan for the NHS. He emphasized the need for transparency about the scale of the failures within the health service and expressed his commitment to addressing these issues.
Streeting noted that more concerning information about patient safety and accountability within the NHS is yet to be revealed. He stressed the importance of regulating senior managers to prevent the silencing of whistleblowers, ensuring that those responsible for failures do not continue to work within the NHS.
In an interview with The Sun, Streeting underscored the necessity of diagnosing the problems within the NHS before attempting to turn it around. He cited examples of individuals who had been let down by the system, including an elderly woman who waited three hours for an ambulance after falling out of bed and an RAF veteran who has been waiting 15 months for surgery.
The key waiting time targets for A&E, hospital waiting times, and cancer care have not been met in over eight years. In June, one in four patients waited longer than four hours in A&E, and a third of cancer patients did not start treatment within 62 days of a referral. The Nuffield Trust think-tank has warned that progress in reducing NHS waits has “stagnated,” with long waits becoming “endemic.”
Lord Darzi, a former adviser and minister under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, is expected to report back by September. Amanda Pritchard, NHS England’s chief executive, welcomed the investigation, acknowledging the pressures faced by frontline staff and the need for timely, high-quality care for patients. She emphasized the importance of the comprehensive analysis in building a future-fit NHS.
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