Politicians should ‘cut all the flim-flam’ on NHS future, says Victoria Atkins

Politicians should “cut all the flim-flam” and drop rhetoric which is “damaging public confidence” in the NHS, Victoria Atkins has warned.

In a Commons debate about Lord Darzi’s NHS investigation, the Conservative shadow health secretary urged Wes Streeting to “transition quickly from opposing to governing”.

Mr Streeting, the Health Secretary, had earlier warned the NHS is on course for “ruin”.

Lord Darzi published his NHS review in September.

The former Labour health minister made 28 findings, including that “it has taken more than a decade for the NHS to fall into disrepair” and that management structures are “still reeling from a turbulent decade”.

Ms Atkins told MPs: “Day 95 of this fumbling Labour Government and yet another general debate to talk about a report we talked about three weeks ago.

“That seems to be the golden – or should I say ‘Gray’ – thread running through this Government – lots of talk, but where is the action?”

The shadow health secretary suggested Mr Streeting could have made a “meaningful contribution” to healthcare on Monday by setting out how Labour would meet its “first steps” promise to put on 40,000 extra NHS appointments each week, or by bringing forward the Tobacco and Vapes Bill.

She added: “(Lord Darzi’s report) looks backwards but not far enough to mark the last Labour government’s policy and operational failures, because if this Government is serious about reforming the NHS – and I genuinely hope it is – then it and the Secretary of State need to transition quickly from opposing to governing.

“And this must begin… with the language he is choosing to use about the NHS.”

Ms Atkins continued: “Health leaders are raising concerns that his broken narrative is damaging public confidence and will lead to people not coming forward for care… and it is hurting the morale of staff who are working tirelessly for their patients.

“Just as the confected doom and gloom of the new Chancellor (Rachel Reeves) is damaging business confidence, so too does the Health Secretary’s relentlessly negative language risk consequences in real life.”

Former GP Luke Evans (Hinckley and Bosworth), intervening from the Conservative benches, called on leaders to “take the politics out of this debate”.

Ms Atkins replied: “Had (Mr Streeting) come to me and asked me to help him, I genuinely would have.

“The public are hearing this. They want politicians to cut all the flim-flam and the bluster and work together.”

Mr Streeting had earlier said the choice England faced was “NHS reform or no NHS”.

He added: “The first option is for the NHS to continue on its current path, heading down the road to ruin, mismanaged decline, a status quo so poor, that patients are forced to raid their savings to go private.”

He later said: “Just so we’re clear on this side of the House: over my dead body. This Labour Government will always defend our NHS as a public service free at the point of use, so that whenever you fall ill, you never have to worry about the bill.”

The Health Secretary also admitted he needed to confront “left-wing and right-wing orthodoxies” over the need to overhaul the NHS in the wake of the report.

“The Daily Mail agree on the need for health service reform, but attack proposals for public health reform as ‘nanny state’. The Guardian loves prevention, but all this talk about health service reform makes them very nervous,” he said.

“The truth is, the Daily Mail and the Guardian are half right and half wrong, but we all need to face up to the challenges of today.”

His Labour colleague Peter Prinsley (Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket) described Lord Darzi’s report as “a pretty accurate diagnosis of the situation that we’re in”.

Liberal Democrat health spokeswoman Helen Morgan said: “The reforms our NHS needs can’t be done on the cheap. Improving access to primary care means investing in more GPs, more NHS dentists and more community pharmacists.

“Boosting productivity means investing in better IT systems, bringing hospitals up to date with the new facilities they need”.