During his speech at the Labour Party conference, shadow health secretary Wes Streeting warned that the National Health Service must modernize or die. He explained that with an aging population and illnesses such as heart disease, dementia, and diabetes on the rise, the NHS is threatened with being “bankrupted.” Mr. Streeting promised that if Labour came into power, they would prioritize mental health and services in the community. These actions would be part of fundamental reforms, including changes to social care.
Mr. Streeting criticized the current two-tier system, blaming the Tories for creating and allowing private patients to pay for routine operations such as knee and hip replacements. He proposed that abolishing non-dom tax status could fund more operations, scans, and appointments. However, Mr. Streeting also promised that there would be more GPs and a closer relationship between hospitals and the community, calling the initiative a neighborhood health service.
In an effort to achieve the “healthiest generation that ever lived,” Labour would support Rishi Sunak’s plan to increase the smoking age, as mentioned by Mr. Streeting during the conference. Mr. Streeting also stated that if voted into power, Labour would ban advertising of unhealthy foods and e-cigarettes with flavors like rainbow burst targeted at children. A national care service with a workforce plan and a review of pay would also be created to address current social care challenges in the UK.
Mr. Streeting also urged the current government to return to the negotiating table to settle the pay dispute with doctors. Although last week’s joint walkout by junior doctors and consultants did not lead to new strikes, Mr. Streeting believed that this was due to a window of opportunity to address the pay dispute. The shadow health secretary accused the prime minister of failing to reduce the hospital waiting list due to his desire to exploit the dispute instead of finding a solution
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