Given what is already widely known about the state of the NHS, I didn’t think I could be in for much surprise at the Department of Health and Social Care.
I walked through the doors of the department knowing that the health service is going through the biggest crisis in its history.
Patients are finding it harder than ever to get a GP appointment, an operation or even an ambulance when they need it. In large parts of our country, NHS dentistry no longer exists and half a million people who need social care receive no help at all.
However, what I found on my desk in my first week truly blew my mind.
There are NHS hospitals that have not been inspected for a decade. One in five health or social care providers has never received a rating.
Some of the inspectors who examined nursing homes were heard saying they had never met anyone with dementia. Hospitals are given ratings based on inspections of just one corner of the building, rather than a proper review of all departments.
WES STREETING: There is a huge amount of trust placed in the NHS and social care services. They are tasked with looking after us at our most vulnerable times. As a kidney cancer survivor, I owe my life to them.
Wes Streeting with Amanda Pritchard, chief executive of NHS England, during a visit to the Abbey Medical Centre in Abbey Wood on 8 July
Mr Streeting (pictured centre) has warned of the “existential” challenges facing the NHS (pictured June 15)
There is a huge amount of trust placed in the NHS and social care services. They are tasked with looking after us at our most vulnerable moments. That trust is partly based on experience – many of us owe a huge debt to the staff who work in the health service. As a kidney cancer survivor, I owe them my life.
But trust is also based on the assurance that the right checks and balances are in place. This report published today shows that the regulator is not fit to fulfil its role.
This brings us back to a political leadership that oversaw a conspiracy of silence about the true state of the NHS. The Conservatives didn’t think patients would like answers, so they stopped asking questions. Less than half the number of inspections were carried out last year as in 2019/20.
The denialism of the previous government has seeped into much of the health service. This government will be different. Our policy is radical frankness.
On the day I was appointed Health Secretary, I announced that the NHS was broken. I wanted to send a message to everyone working in the NHS: things have changed. You will no longer be fooled and scapegoated by the government. We will be honest about the failings of the health service and get serious about tackling them.
Sunlight is the best disinfectant. If patients are unattended, lying on stretchers in corridors for hours without safety because there are not enough beds available, I want to know about it. If they are being treated in unhygienic conditions, I want to know about it. It will take time to change the healthcare system, but we will only prescribe the right medicine if we get the right diagnosis.
The National Audit Office warned this week that there was a “growing mismatch” between demand for care and funding, but said there was scope for better use of existing resources (file image)
WES STREETING: ‘Conservatives didn’t think patients would like the answers, so they stopped asking questions’ (Photo from July 6)
“Sunlight is the best disinfectant,” writes Health Secretary WES STREETING (file)
In the two and a half years since I was appointed Shadow Health Secretary, I have been inundated with frontline nurses telling me that the Care Quality Commission is not doing its job properly, that they are not inspected enough and that inspectors are not telling them what is going wrong. Frontline staff do not want problems swept under the carpet, but acknowledged and resolved.
It’s not just about patient safety. I want to reform the NHS so that patients have more control over their own healthcare. Patients should be able to see whether they are receiving the standard of care we expect from the NHS and be able to trust the ratings of the hospital or GP they are considering.
I would like to thank Penny Dash for bringing her important report to my urgent attention, and the brave people within the CQC who gave Penny the ammunition she needed to come forward with the unvarnished truth.
I know some of the results will worry patients. I promise them that the Keir Starmer government will be tasked with changing the healthcare system so that it is there again when they need it.
