Why we need to utilise the whole health community to deliver better, faster healthcare today.
Health has taken centre stage of the political debate this summer. In July, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak confirmed government backing for the NHS’ 15-year workforce plan, which sets out ideas to address many of the challenges we see today - a public sector recruitment crisis, record waiting lists, and widening health inequalities. Whilst Labour Leader Keir Starmer has revealed the ‘meat on the bones’ of his NHS Mission.
Alongside the expected - such as training more doctors and nurses, and doubling places for medical students - it also sets out innovative plans to introduce apprenticeship schemes for key roles, and to explore the option for shorter medical degrees.
But the reality is that today, Britain faces unprecedented healthcare challenges - and the public knows it. New research from the Kings Fund shows the public has given the NHS its worst rating since records began - with just 29% saying they are satisfied with the service.
The problems - particularly when it comes to waiting list and workforce - are well known.
There are now seven million people on waiting lists - so most of us know somebody who isn’t getting the care they need, and want.
The NHS faces a workforce crisis, but the reality is that huge numbers of young people want to study medicine, and other healthcare courses every single year. The latest data from university admissions service UCAS shows that last year 112,000 people applied for just 11,000 medical school places. The doubling of places, alongside the potential for Doctor and nursing apprenticeships is an innovative idea and could address workforce shortages in the long term.
The NHS Workforce Plan set out on Friday is ambitious, and could solve problems in the long-term - but the reality is that it does nothing to help those who need a new hip, or urgent cancer care today.
That’s why Britain urgently needs to utilise the whole healthcare community - private and public - to get people across the country the urgent care they need, right now.
Regardless of your politics, it’s clear for all to see that the Labour Party has undergone a transformation in recent years - and with it, the party’s attitudes to tackling waiting lists.
Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting - who we recently welcomed to our reception in Parliament - has made clear his intention to use the private sector to tackle the backlog in treatment, and implement reform. His arguments are right - we can’t allow bureaucratic debates around who delivers the service to stop patients getting the care they need, and patients don’t pay anything extra for the service.
His plan has been backed by Alan Milburn - a titan of the New Labour government - who served as Secretary of State for Health from 1999 to 2003 under Tony Blair. The idea of health choices is powerful - one that Millburn introduced in government.
Millburn explained his thinking at the time, that people could be waiting two or three years for an eye operation - by which point it’s too late. So giving patients a choice means they can choose to go to a hospital with a two year wait, or another - which could be a private one - but the government still covers the cost in the same way.
Unsurprisingly, 75% of people chose shorter waiting lists, and with it, got better sooner.
Most people value health, and their family, above everything else - and rightly so. With waiting lists so high, the future of healthcare will without doubt be at the heart of the next General Election campaign.
Healthcare in Britain faces some of its most acute challenges in its history. It is vital that government utilises the power of the whole health community in the interests of patients - it’s essential to building a healthier Britain.