Wes Streeting: “cutting waiting times is my immediate focus”

A focus on public health and prevention was identified as a key way to ‘fix’ the NHS when health secretary Wes Streeting spoke at the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change’s Future of Britain 2024 conference on Tuesday (9 July).

The newly elected health secretary emphasised that there are 7.6 million people on NHS waiting lists in England.

“Cutting waiting times is my immediate focus and the number one objective I have,” he said.

Streeting added: “One of the things I’ve said to my department and to the NHS is that we need to rethink our role in government and in our country at large.”

He emphasised that he sees the Department of Health and Social Care as a growth department that will enable people to get back into work, rather than purely a public service department.

“The health of the nation and the health of the economy are inexplicably linked,” Streeting said. “We are going to be a government that recognises that fact, and recognises that as we get people not just back to health, but back to work, that is a big contribution to growth.”

Anchor institutions can drive economic growth in all areas of the country because they employ people everywhere, he said.

Anchor institutions are described by NHS England as being ‘rooted in place,’ with ‘significant assets and resources which can be used to influence the health and wellbeing of their local community.’

Streeting was interviewed by broadcaster Jon Sopel as part of the full-day conference.

Streeting went on to recognise that the healthcare sector made a large contribution during the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, the entire system has suffered through indecision under the previous government, he said.

A balance of the pressures between immediate need and long-term opportunity were needed to allow the NHS to “thrive in the 21^st century,” Streeting added.

“There are the immediate burning deck issues that require urgent action, but there is a massive opportunity when there’s any change of government, but particularly when the change in government is from one party to another, to think long-term, to face the big strategic issues facing the country, and to make sure that we answer those challenges,” he said.

Streeting also identified the UK as a “powerhouse for life sciences,” and spoke of a potential “med-tech revolution.”

He outlined his plan to shift the relationship between the Treasury and the Department of Health and Social Care, which he said has a “begging bowl” culture currently.

The ageing population, growing costs and increasing levels of preventable disease are all existential problems for the future, Streeting said.

Public verses private

The Department of Health and Social Care will not view the private healthcare sector purely as a means to clear the NHS backlog, Streeting said.

He emphasised that he sees the relationship as mutually beneficial, not simply as an opportunity for private sector providers to “accumulate profit.”

“If you can marry the sharpest, brightest minds in UK life sciences and med-tech with the single payer NHS model that we have, with all of the untapped potential that it offers, the sky's the limit in terms of what this country can deliver for patients,” he said.

NHS staff he has met are “crying out” for reform, Streeting said, highlighting old and clunky technology, a lack of joined up approach to patient experience, and clinicians not having an overview of patients’ history or records, as key issues raised.

Streeting emphasised that “free at the point of use is about fairness and equity and defending a system that means when you fall ill, you do not have to worry about the bill. I think that is an equitable principle that is worth fighting for.”

However, inequality is already starting to appear, he admitted, adding: “People are already making the choice, and what we’re seeing is the opening up of a two-tier system, where those who can afford it are paying to go private, and those who can’t are being left behind.”

Streeting said he believes the use of the private healthcare sector is not just a pragmatic issue, but a principled one, which raises questions about why those with fewer means should be expected to wait for treatment.

This inequality is “an afront to my left-wing principles,” he said, adding that he believes primary care waiting lists can also be reduced with the support of private providers.

There should be a “shift in the centre of gravity” towards primary and away from secondary care, Streeting added.

“It will require a team effort. Wherever I go in health and social care, whoever I meet, I see a team of people who are ready and willing to put their shoulder to the wheel to get it done,” he said.