A series of major reforms to the NHS will “take a decade” and won’t be “universally popular”, Sir Keir Starmer has warned in a speech about the future of the UK’s healthcare system.
The Prime Minister pledged that his Labour government “will always make the investment in our NHS that is needed… even in difficult financial circumstances”.
But speaking at the King’s Fund health conference in central London, he also vowed: “We have to fix the plumbing before turning on the taps. No more money without reform.”
It comes as former surgeon Lord Ara Darzi’s rapid nine-week review into the state of the National Health Service (NHS) found the UK’s health system is “in serious trouble”.
Addressing the issues raised in the report, commissioned after Labour won the 4 July election, Sir Keir pledged “long-term reform – major surgery not sticking plaster solutions”.
His government, Starmer said, is working urgently on a ten-year plan which he insisted would be “so different from anything that has come before”.
He said NHS staff and patients will inform reforms, which will focus on “three big shifts”: moving from analogue to digital, from hospital care to community care, and from sickness to prevention.
But the Prime Minister also admitted the reforms “won’t be universally popular” and – suggesting he plans to push ahead with a proposed ban on some outdoor smoking – “some prevention measures will be controversial”, but vowed to “be bold in the face of opposition”.
Quizzed on how long before people would see change, he admitted reforms are “going to take time, that’s why it’s a ten-year plan”.
He added: “One of the problems in politics is politicians pretending they can fix everything before the next election. This is going to take ten years… it’s going to take a decade.”
On the impact on the nation’s prosperity, Starmer said: “When people can’t get the care they need they’re off work sick – with huge costs to our economy.”
But he did not elaborate on how quickly Brits could expect to see an economic boost from his mooted health changes.
John O’Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance (TPA), said the Prime Minister was “spot on to bang the drum for reform” but warned against the “same, failed playbook of ever more cash” for the NHS.
“The black hole of this monolithic system had lost the ability to turn more inputs into better outputs,” he added.
While the shadow health secretary Victoria Arkins called on the government to ensure NHS investment was linked to reform and productivity improvements.
She told GB News: “We have more doctors, more nurses and more investment in the NHS than ever in its history.
“It isn’t just about how this funding, this money is spent. It’s not just how much is spent, it’s how it is spent.”