Today the government is launching the biggest ever national conversation about the future of our NHS.
After 14 years of Conservative neglect and mismanagement, the Labour government is taking immediate action to get the NHS back on its feet and fit for the future.
Days after coming into office, Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting ordered a full and independent investigation into the NHS that has since concluded that the NHS is in a ‘critical condition’. Having received the diagnosis of an NHS that is broken, but not beaten, we now need to develop the plan to lift it off its knees and make it fit for the future.
This plan cannot be top-down or led from behind a desk in Westminster. It must be built in partnership with the people who use our NHS, the staff who work in it, NHS leaders, health experts, industry, and the wider public.
Starting today, residents in Portsmouth can share their experiences of using the NHS, their frustrations, as well as their ideas for how to improve it, via the online platform Change.NHS.uk, which will run for five months and is also available via the NHS app. There will also be in-person events across the country, as well as an option for people to send in their contributions by post.
This insight will inform the government’s Ten Year Health Plan, due to be published in the Spring, which will deliver the unprecedented long-term reform needed to turn the NHS around.
Launching the Change NHS public engagement, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said:
“My mum worked for the NHS, my sister worked for the NHS and my wife still works for the NHS – so I know firsthand how difficult it has been for staff, and for patients battling against a broken system for over a decade. But it’s time to roll up our sleeves and fix it.
“We have a clear plan to fix the health service, but it’s only right that we hear from the people who rely on the NHS every day to have their say and shape our plan as we deliver it. Together we can build a healthcare system that puts patients first and delivers the care that everyone deserves.
“We have a huge opportunity to put the NHS back on its feet. So, let’s be the generation that took the NHS from the worst crisis in its history and made it fit for the future.”
Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting said:
“Today the NHS is going through the worst crisis in its history. But while the NHS is broken, it’s not beaten. Together, we can fix it.
“Whether you use the NHS or work in it, you see first-hand what’s great, but also what isn’t working. We need your ideas to help turn the NHS around.
In order to save the things we love about the NHS, we need to change it. Our 10 Year Health Plan will transform the NHS to make it fit for the future, and it will have patients’ and staff’s fingerprints all over it.
“I urge everyone to go to Change.NHS.uk today and help us build a health service fit for the future.”
Encouraging local residents, NHS staff, and industry experts to share their experiences and ideas, Amanda Martin MP said:
“It is absolutely vital that residents in Portsmouth share their ideas for the future of our NHS, and make sure our voice is heard.
“We all know the challenges facing the NHS after 14 years of mismanagement and decline under the Conservatives. Whether it’s struggling to get a GP appointment, or being stuck on an NHS waiting list. Now is the time to make sure we build an NHS that is fit for the future.”