Health secretaryâs âpower grabâ to override Nice comes amid growing concern move may be illegal and benefit big pharmaDozens of MPs are opposing Wes Streetingâs decision to award himself power to dictate what the NHS pays for drugs amid growing concern the move may be illegal.Thirty-one MPs have signed a House of Commons motion voicing their disapproval of the health secretary being handed the power to override the National Institute for Health and Care Excellenceâs (Nice) judgment on how much the NHS should spend on individual medicines. Continue reading...
Health secretary says NHS is âfailing womenâ and pledges to end âgaslightingâ by doctorsWes Streeting has vowed to stop women being âgaslitâ by doctors as he relaunches the womenâs health strategy for England.Speaking before the publication of the renewed strategy on Wednesday, Streeting said the NHS was âfailing womenâ and set out measures to help them access the healthcare they need. Continue reading...
Bereaved parents say review of nine deaths is too narrow and will urge health secretary to add 60 more casesAn inquiry into the preventable deaths of babies in Sussex will fail to learn the lessons as it âsystematicallyâ excluded dozens of families, Wes Streeting has been warned ahead of a meeting with bereaved parents.The health secretary has ordered a review of nine infant deaths at the University Hospitals Sussex NHS foundation trust amid maternity scandals across England. However, families are calling on Streeting to expand the investigation to include more than 60 babies who died between 2019 and 2023 and might have survived with better care. Continue reading...
Exclusive: Health secretary warns of dangers of protest vote as he pitches NHS as key battleground in May electionsVoters in Mayâs local and devolved elections risk putting the NHS in jeopardy if they vote for populist parties, Wes Streeting has said, as he sought to make the health service a key battleground.âThe founding principles of the NHS are at greater threat than at any time since the NHS was founded in 1948,â the health secretary said. Continue reading...
Health secretary says failure of peace talks âdisappointingâ and that UK-US relations have undoubtedly been strainedMiddle East crisis â live updatesWes Streeting has criticised Donald Trumpâs rhetoric on Iran as âincendiary, provocative and outrageousâ, and called the failure of US-Iran peace talks âdisappointingâ but said the success of future negotiations was necessary âin all of our interestsâ.âAs ever in diplomacy, youâre failing until you succeed,â the health secretary told Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips on Sky News. âSo while these talks may not have ended in success, that doesnât mean there isnât merit in continuing to try.â Continue reading...
The health secretary and the BMA trade accusations over who bears responsibility for the collapse of talksGood morning. Resident doctors in English hospitals started a six-day strike at 7am this morning. Many of them will continue to work, but there will be enough of them joining the strike to have a significant impact on the care hospitals can deliver. It is the 15th resident doctors (who used to be known as junior doctors) have been on stage since they launched a campaign in 2023 to get their pay back to the equivalent level it used to be before austerity kicked in after the financial crash.This morning Wes Streeting, the health secretary, deployed a new statistic in his PR battle against the BMA, the doctorsâ union organised the strikes. He confirmed a figure highlighted in the Daily Mailâs splash saying strikes by resident doctors have now cost the country ÂŁ3bn.We think that strikes cost ÂŁ50m a day. And so that is, an accurate reflection of the cost of these strikes.What is true is that in order to deliver a full pay restoration back to 2008 levels, using the RPI account of inflation, it would cost in the order of ÂŁ3bn a year.Letâs then assume that other NHS staff would understandably demand the same. Then that cost would be more like ÂŁ30bn a year. That is more than the entire cost of the Ministry of Justiceâs entire budget for running the criminal justice system. Continue reading...
Exclusive: Health secretary says industrial action in England also threatens to derail NHS progress on waiting timesWes Streeting has accused resident doctors of âtorpedoingâ their own pay rises and training jobs by walking out on strike again, as tens of thousands of doctors began a six-day stoppage in England.The health secretary said there was a âlegitimacyâ to concerns over jobs and wages but that the British Medical Association had scuppered any chance of a breakthrough when it rejected what he said was a serious offer from the government to transform medicsâ conditions. Continue reading...
Six-day stoppage in England next week to go ahead and minister confirms offer of extra training places withdrawnThe NHS is bracing for the longest strike yet by resident doctors after last-ditch talks failed, prompting Wes Streeting to accuse the medics of suffering from âdelusionâ.Many thousands of resident â formerly junior â doctors across England will stage a six-day stoppage over pay and jobs starting at 7am on Tuesday, just after the Easter weekend. A deadline for agreement ended on Thursday. Continue reading...
Health secretary still confident of success but critics say scrapping of NHS England has been âa total car crashâNHS to miss targets for cutting A&E wait times and performance in EnglandIn the Great Hall at the University of East London last Wednesday, the perennially upbeat Wes Streeting was exuding even greater positivity than usual. After years of neglect under the Conservatives, he said, the NHS was starting to revive thanks to Labourâs medicine.In a bravura performance in front of an audience of health service bosses, policy experts and student nurses in their blue and green uniforms, Streeting reeled off a long list of improvements in his 20-month tenure as health secretary. Continue reading...
Exclusive: health secretary says he does not think PM will face challenge after May elections, as public doesnât want âchaosâWes Streeting has said he does not want Keir Starmer to be challenged as Labour leader after the May elections as it would undermine the partyâs election promise to voters to avoid more chaos.The health secretary, who is widely regarded as a prospective candidate in any contest, urged voters to âgive the guy a chanceâ as he said that none of his colleagues would attempt to oust the prime minister. Continue reading...