The annual survey of patient satisfaction with the NHS was published yesterday, and I wanted Labour Party members to see the progress we are making.
For the first time since before the pandemic, patient satisfaction with the NHS is on the up. Dissatisfaction has seen the sharpest drop since 1998 — the last year we had a new Labour government with a big mess to clean up.
After years of rising waiting lists under the Tories, they are now coming down following the work Keir and I have been doing to fix our NHS. That isn’t an accident. It’s the result of the record investment we’ve put into the NHS and the modernisation we’re driving through to get the service back on its feet.
And patients are starting to feel the change we are making. We’ve recruited 2,000 more GPs, ambulances are arriving faster, and cancer patients are being diagnosed earlier.
You will know from doorstep conversations how much cynicism there is in our country. People are doubting that politics can make a difference. The improvements Labour is making in our NHS is rebuilding hope and optimism. We are showing that things can get better.
That’s what Labour governments do.
And for me, this is personal. As a cancer survivor, I’ll never forget the doctors and nurses who caught my kidney cancer early and gave me the treatment that saved my life. I know first-hand what the NHS means to people.
But we should never take the NHS for granted. Universal healthcare only exists as long as people vote for it. At the last election, the British people voted to save it.
At the next election, the choice could be even starker.
Because Nigel Farage has made clear what he wants: a system that checks your pockets before your pulse, and asks for your credit card before your care. His words, not mine: “I think we’re going to have to move to an insurance-based system of healthcare.”
It’s alright for Mr Moneybags, we know he can afford it. But our purpose is to stand up for those who can’t.
It’s our responsibility to make sure that never happens.
That’s why we’re not just investing record sums in the NHS — we’re also modernising it, so it works for patients again. Care closer to home. Online access. Ending the dreaded 8am scramble for a GP appointment. The changes people need to see if we’re going to rebuild trust in our health service.
Farage likes to present himself as a patriot. But there is nothing patriotic about wanting to dismantle one of Britain’s greatest institutions: the National Health Service.
Every one of us has a role to play as we head into the elections this May. The NHS will be on the ballot paper.
Our record shows we’re delivering what the country voted for — a rebuilt NHS, fit for the future.
Together, let’s make sure that message is heard.
Wes Streeting
Secretary of State for Health and Social Care