Department Of Health
Please note: Political content has been redacted from this transcript.
As you have heardtoday, Lord Darzihaspublished his independent report on the state of our NHS.
It is an incredibly comprehensive analysis.Some of you will have seen it, there are copies available, please read it.
A raw and honest assessment.That is what we asked for.
Andthat is whyI wanted to come here to the Kings Fund.
Home to many of our countrys leading healthcare experts.
Because your contributions are going to be vital.
As we get this precious institution back on its feet,
And build an NHS that is truly fit for the future.
And look, our starting point couldnt be further from that goal.
Public satisfaction in the NHS has fallen
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To an all-time low today.
Think of the impact that has on staff who are putting in so much day in day out, knowing that confidence is at an all-time low.
And that is because, as everybody in the country knows, the last government broke the NHS.
But until this morning, we didnt know the full scale of the damage,which is laid bare in the report.
Even Lord Darzi, with all his years of experience.
Is shocked by what he discovered.
It is unforgiveable.
And people have every right to be angry.
Itsnot just because the NHS is so personal to all of us.
Or because when people cant get the care they need
Theyre off work sick, with huge costs for our economy.
Its because some of these failings are literally life and death.
Take the waiting times in A&E
More than 100,000 infants waited more than 6 hours last year
And nearly a tenth of all patients are now waiting for 12 hours or more
Thats not just a source of fear and anxiety
Its leading to thousands of avoidable deaths.
And that phrase avoidable deaths should always be chilling.
Thatspeoples loved ones who could have been saved.
Doctors and nurses whose whole vocation is to save them
Hampered from doing so.
Its devastating. Heartbreaking. Infuriating
And thats just scratching the surface.
High-risk heart attack patients waiting too long for urgent treatment.
Cancerdiagnosispatientswaiting too long.
With cancer death rates higher than other countries
And when it comes to getting help for mental health
. 345,000 are waiting over a year.
Thats roughly the entire population of Leicester.
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Covid hit our NHS harder than healthcare systems in other countries.
The NHS delayed, cancelled, or postponed far more routine care during the pandemic than any comparable health system.
And why?
Because our NHS went into the pandemic in a much more fragile state.
Fewer doctor, fewer nurses and fewer beds than most other high income health systems
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What Lord Darzi describes as a calamity without international precedent.
A scorched earthapproach to health reform, the effects of which are still felt to this day.
And at the same time, they inflicted what the report describes as:
the most austere decade since the NHS was founded
Crumbling buildings.
Decrepit portacabins.
Mental health patients in Victorian-era cells infested with vermin.
When we say they broke the NHS
Thats not performative politics.
Just look at it.
The 2010s were a lost decade for our NHS.
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And its not just the state of our National Health Service in crisis.
Its also the state of our national health.
Were becoming a sicker society.
Spending more of our lives in ill-health than ten years ago.
There are 2.8 million people economically inactive because of long-term sickness.
As todays reportmakes clear -
The NHS is not contributing to national prosperity as it could.
Butperhaps Lord Darzis most damning finding is about the declining physical and mental health of our children.
Fewer children getting vaccinated
While those from the most deprived backgrounds
Are twice as likely to be obese by reception age.
And much of this is a direct result of wider social injustices..
Poor quality housing
Lower incomes,
Insecure employment.
All of it, not just damaging the health of our nation
Its piling up the pressures on our NHS.
Thats the report.
But look, I havent come here just to set out this appalling inheritance.Though it is really important that we know it and properly understand it in detail.
Getting people back to health and work would not only reduce the costs on the NHS.
It would help drive economic growth - and fund public services.
My government was elected on a mandate for change so Im also here to talk about how together we fix it.
I feel very deeply the profound responsibilityfor this.
And indeed, the opportunity of this moment.
The NHS may be broken, but its not beaten.
As the report says, the NHSmay be in a critical condition.
But its vital signs are strong.
Andwe need is the courage to deliver long-term reform.
Major surgery not sticking plasters.
Weve got to face up to the challenges.
Look atour ageing society.
And the higher burden of disease.
Look, the NHS is at a fork in the road.
And we have a choice about how it should meet these rising demands.
Dont act and leave it to die.
Raise taxes on working people.
Or reform to secure its future.
Working people cant afford to pay more.
So its reform or die.
Solet me be clear from the outset, what reform does not mean.
First, it does not mean abandoning those founding ideals.
Of a public service, publicly funded, free at the point of use.
That basic principle of dignity.
Inspiredof courseby Bevan,
That when you fall ill,
You should never have to worry about the bill.
That is as true today as when the NHS was founded 76 years ago.
And I believe that so deeply.
As some of you will know,my mum and my sister both worked for the NHS.
My wife works for the NHS.
The NHS cared for my Mum throughoutwhat was a very
But its vital signs are strong.
long illness
The NHS runs through my family like a stick of rock.
And you know, this isnt just about emotion.
Its about hard facts too.
The NHS is uniquely placed for the opportunities of big data and predictive and preventative medicine.
So the problem isnt that the NHS is the wrong model.
Its the right model.
Its just not taking advantage of the opportunities in front of it.
Andthats what needs to change.
Second, reform does not mean just putting more money in.
Of course, even in difficult financial circumstances.
My government will always make the investments in our NHS that are needed. Always.
But we have to fix the plumbing before turning on the taps.
So hear me when I say this.
No more money without reform.
I am not prepared to see even more of your money spent
On agency staff who cost 5,000 a shift
On appointment letters, which arrive after the appointment,
Or on paying for people to be stuck in hospital
Just because they cant get the care they need in the community.
Tonight, there will be 12,000 patients in thatveryposition.
Thats enough to fill 28 hospitals.
Sowe cant go on like this.
As Lord Darzi has said -
NHS staff are working harder than ever
But productivity has fallen.
Because patients cant be discharged,
And clinicians are spending their time trying to findmorebeds.
Rather than treating more patients.
That isnt just solved by more money - its solved by reform.
And third, reform does not mean trying to fix everything from Whitehall.It really doesnt.
When Lord Darzi says the vital signs of the NHS are strong.
Hes talking about the talents and passion of our NHS workforce.Thats what hes talking about.
The breadth and depth of clinical talent.
The extraordinary compassion and care of our NHS staff.
If we are going to build an NHS that is fit for the future
Then I tell you, we are going to do it with our NHS staff.
Andindeed,withourpatients too.
We are going to change it together.
Now, that starts with the first steps,
40,000 extra appointments every week.
But weve got to do the hard yards of long-term reform.
So this government is working at pace
To build a Ten-Year Plan.
Something so different from anything that hasgone before.
This plan will be framed around three big shifts,
Three fundamental reforms,
Which are