Tories 'took golden inheritance on NHS and squandered it', health secretary says

The Tories “squandered a golden inheritance” on the NHS, the health secretary has said – as he laid out three “fundamental shifts” to fix it.

Wes Streeting told Sky News Tony Blair’s Labour government left the health service with the lowest waiting times and highest patient satisfaction “in the history of the NHS”.

“What’s criminal is that in the last 14 years, the Conservatives took that golden inheritance and squandered it. And they don’t bear any responsibility,” he said.

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Mr Streeting was speaking after an independent report he commissioned found the NHS is in a “critical condition”, with record waiting lists and too much of its budget spent in hospitals.

Off the back of the investigation, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer will give a speech today in which he will warn the health service must “reform or die” and set out a 10-year plan to fix it.

Giving a flavour of what that could look like, Mr Streeting said the NHS needed three “fundamental” changes.

That includes a “shift from hospital to community”, so people are diagnosed earlier and faster; greater investment in technology to create a “digital NHS”; and dealing with sickness in society.

He said: “That’s why today’s report was so important, because, ironically, although it’s looking back on how we got here and diagnosing the illness, it’s actually helping us to look forward and be honest about how we got here.”

The study, carried out by peer and surgeon Lord Darzi, argues the NHS is facing rising demand for care as people live longer in ill health, coupled with low productivity in hospitals and poor staff morale.

It criticises political decision-making under the Conservatives and the coalition government, including the impact of austerity, a “starvation of investment” and the reorganisation of the NHS under the 2012 Health and Social Care Act, which Lord Darzi called “a calamity without international precedent”.

This meant the COVID pandemic came “when resilience was at an all time low”, he said.

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Mr Streeting likened the findings to the Conservatives “not just failing to fix the roof while the sun was shining, but effectively pouring petrol on the house, turning the gas on”.

“And then the pandemic lit the match,” he added.

Asked how a report of such magnitude can be compiled in nine weeks, Mr Streeting said Lord Darzi spoke to frontline staff, leaders and thinktanks and was also given “unfettered access” to NHS and Department of Health data.

In other morning interviews, he warned the NHS would “go bust” if it was not reformed, but ruled out raising money through a salt or sugar tax.

Shadow health secretary Victoria Atkins told Sky News she had “never shied away” from the NHS’s problems during her time in office, when asked if she was embarrassed about the state her party left it in.

She accused Labour of “trying to get headlines” by trailing out the report, calling instead for a “proper conversation about what we do with the NHS”.

Lord Darzi, a former Labour health minister turned independent peer, ultimately argued the NHS can be fixed, saying his findings do not question “the principles of a health service that is taxpayer-funded, free at the point of use”.

Later this morning, the prime minster will set out his plans for the “the biggest reimagining of our NHS since its birth”.