Only radical thinking can find a long-term cure for the NHS
The writer is Labour’s shadow secretary of state for health and social care
“What is our long-term plan? We can’t leave the Labour party to have a long-term plan and we don’t.” These damning words came from Sir Edward Leigh, Conservative MP for Gainsborough, in response to a statement that Steve Barclay, the health secretary, gave in parliament this week.
He’s right to ask — the crisis the NHS faces has been 13 years in the making and will take time to fix. We need to do everything we can in the short term to give the buckling system a fighting chance to get through this winter. But the health service must also have a serious plan for the future to ensure we never end up in this situation again.
This story originally appeared on: Financial Times - Author:Wes Streeting
