Former cancer survivor appointed as new health secretary
Following Labour’s landslide win in the General Election on Friday, Keir Starmer has appointed his new health secretary who has huge plans for the NHS.
Keir Starmer has appointed Wes Streeting as the new health secretary following the party’s major win last week. Streeting has been Labour’s shadow health and care secretary since November 2021, suggesting there is no-one better suited for the position.
In addition, Streeting also has his own personal reasons for wanting to tackle the ongoing NHS crisis. He is a former kidney cancer survivor himself and after his appointment he posted a video on X (formally known as Twitter) where he said: ‘The NHS saved my life. Today I can begin to repay that debt by saving the NHS.’
Following his appointment, Streeting outlined he will be working to tackle ongoing pay disputes, the workforce crisis and Nursing and Midwifery Council’s internal difficulties as well as many others.
Against this backdrop, Streeting claimed last week that he intends to hold talks with junior doctors currently on strike to discuss their pay problems.
In an official statement, streeting said: ‘This government has received a mandate from millions of voters for change and reform of the NHS, so it can be there for us when we need it once again.
‘It will take time – we never pretended that the NHS could be fixed overnight. And it will take a team effort. It will be the mission of my department, every member of this government, and the 1.4 million people who work in the NHS, to turn our health service around.
‘We have done this before. When we were last in office, we worked hand in hand with NHS staff to deliver the shortest waits and highest patient satisfaction in history. We did it before, and together, we will do it again.’
Various health experts, including officials from The Health Foundation, an independent health charity, have commented on the news of the appointment.
Dame Jennifer Dixon, Chief Executive of The Health Foundation, said: ‘We warmly welcome the appointment of Wes Streeting as Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, although no one should underestimate the scale of the challenge he has inherited.
‘The NHS is facing one of the toughest moments in its history, with the waiting list for routine hospital care at nearly 7.6 million and public satisfaction with the NHS at an all-time low. Labour’s plans to drive down NHS waiting times are rightly ambitious, but achieving them will require stable, long-term funding and relentless focus to increase capacity, support staff and unlock productivity improvements.’
‘We welcome Labour’s promise of a clearer national approach to delivering high-quality social care and vital action to improve staff pay and conditions. But wider reform of social care entitlements and extra funding is essential, and we urge the Secretary of State to set out a clear timetable for delivering this,’ Dixon added. ‘Labour has put growth and prosperity at the forefront of its mission, and a thriving economy can only be built on the foundations of a healthy population. Rebuilding the nation’s health will require an unprecedented level of cross government action on the wider social, economic and environmental factors that shape people’s health.’
Image: Aswin Mahesh
Cutting NHS wait times, supporting social care and addressing disability inequalities
