Starmer sidesteps questions on how Labour would fund NHS reform
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer on Monday sidestepped questions over how his party plans to fund its wide ranging reforms to England’s health service, as he outlined his plans to build an NHS “fit for the future”.
Starmer warned that the NHS would not survive “five more years of Tory government”, arguing that a Labour administration would get the health service “back on its feet” by meeting within five years long-missed targets for the time people waited for ambulances and hospital treatment, and halving the gap in healthy life expectancy between different regions.
Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, which represents health organisations, praised Labour’s “constructive” vision but added: “[W]e need to see specifics on what a boost to funding would look like.”
He welcomed Starmer’s commitment to shift more care out of hospital and into the community but added that “we need to understand how Labour would achieve — and fund — such a move”, with more details needed on the party’s plans for social care.
This story originally appeared on: Financial Times - Author:Sarah Neville
