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Rishi Sunak has urged health leaders at an emergency meeting to take \u201cbold and radical\u201d action to alleviate the winter crisis in the NHS.<\/p>\n
The Prime Minister told them during Downing Street talks on Saturday that a \u201cbusiness-as-usual mindset won\u2019t fix the challenges we face\u201d.<\/p>\n
Critics said the discussions were a \u201ctalking shop\u201d that will fail to ease the vast pressure on frontline services after \u201cyears of inaction\u201d.<\/p>\n
England\u2019s chief medical officer Professor Sir Chris Whitty and NHS England chief executive Amanda Pritchard were among those summoned to No 10 for a rare weekend meeting.<\/p>\n
This crisis has been a decade or more in the making and we are now paying the high price for years of inaction and managed decline<\/p>\n
Matthew Taylor, NHS Confederation<\/p>\n
Senior doctors have warned the NHS is on a knife-edge, with many A&E units struggling to keep up with demand and trusts and ambulance services declaring critical incidents.<\/p>\n
A wave of strikes and high levels of flu and coronavirus are compounding the huge pressures in the health service.<\/p>\n
Alongside Health Secretary Steve Barclay and Treasury minister John Glen, Mr Sunak held sessions on four key issues including delayed discharge to social care.<\/p>\n
He was to explore ideas during the so-called NHS recovery forum on how to improve ambulance and A&E performance, cut waiting times for surgery and relieve pressure from GPs.<\/p>\n
Mr Sunak told health and social care leaders he recognised the \u201ctough time\u201d they have experienced over the last couple of years.<\/p>\n
\u201cDuring the pandemic we had to bring boldness and radicalism to how we did things in order to get through,\u201d he said, according to Downing Street.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we need that same bold and radical approach now because a business-as-usual mindset won\u2019t fix the challenges we face.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Sunak said he was filled with \u201cenormous confidence\u201d, hearing examples \u201cin different bits of the health service where things are going well\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cTogether today, we can figure out the things that will make the biggest difference to the country and everyone\u2019s family, in the short and medium term,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Leaving the meeting, consultant physician James Dunbar told reporters he was \u201cconfident that action will be taken\u201d but not optimistic the crisis would be dealt with before spring.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese are difficult problems to fix though, so I think it\u2019s unlikely we\u2019ll have it sorted by the end of this winter,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
It tells you everything you need to know about this Government\u2019s approach that the only people not invited to an NHS recovery forum are the NHS workforce<\/p>\n
BMA chair of council Professor Philip Banfield <\/p>\n
The Prime Minister was expecting to seek technological advice on issues such as supporting home care and having \u201cvirtual wards\u201d.<\/p>\n
Downing Street committed to publishing recovery plans to improve ambulance and A&E waiting times \u201cin the coming weeks\u201d.<\/p>\n
The British Medical Association, the trade union for doctors \u2013 which was not invited to the meeting \u2013 urged Mr Sunak to negotiate with striking health workers because \u201cany recovery plan is dead on arrival unless it addresses the workforce crisis crushing our health service\u201d.<\/p>\n
Chair of council Professor Philip Banfield said: \u201cIt tells you everything you need to know about this Government\u2019s approach that the only people not invited to an NHS recovery forum are the NHS workforce.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe needs to sit down with us to discuss pay \u2013 and he needs to do it now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation representing NHS organisations, said there are \u201cno silver bullets\u201d to solve the crisis after \u201cdecades of underinvestment\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis crisis has been a decade or more in the making and we are now paying the high price for years of inaction and managed decline,\u201d he said ahead of the meeting.<\/p>\n
\u201cPatients are experiencing delays that we haven\u2019t seen for years.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting said: \u201cThe only thing to have emerged from the Prime Minister\u2019s talking shop is a series of photographs of the event.<\/p>\n
\u201cRishi Sunak gives all the impression of someone who doesn\u2019t use the NHS and is now catching up with patients and staff who\u2019ve been crying out for help in the midst of the biggest crisis in the NHS\u2019s history.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need a little less conversation and a little more action.\u201d<\/p>\n
Liberal Democrat health spokeswoman Daisy Cooper urged Mr Sunak to \u201cdeclare a national critical incident\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow many more meetings does the PM need to hold before he decides to actually do something? How many more patients need to needlessly die?\u201d she said. \u201cThe time for action is now.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Prime Minister this week made reducing NHS waiting lists one of his key pledges over the next two years, but strike action is only making the crisis harder to relieve.<\/p>\n
On Monday, Mr Barclay will meet union leaders to discuss NHS pay for the next financial year in talks that are unlikely to avert planned strikes.<\/p>\n
Royal College of Nursing general secretary Pat Cullen told the Prime Minister to \u201cgrasp the nettle and negotiate with nurses\u201d to prevent industrial action.<\/p>\n
She told BBC Radio 4\u2019s Today programme: \u201cWe\u2019ll, of course, go to the meeting and make the case for nursing in all forums, but it\u2019s sadly not what\u2019s going to prevent strike action that\u2019s planned for 10 days\u2019 time.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have put out an olive branch to get us to the table, I\u2019m asking the Prime Minister now to meet the RCN halfway. The ball is firmly in the Prime Minister\u2019s court.\u201d<\/p>\n
A Department of Health and Social Care source said the Health Secretary plans to host an \u201chonest and constructive conversation about what is affordable for NHS pay in the coming year\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emailsSign up to our free breaking news emails Rishi Sunak has urged health leaders at an emergency meeting to take \u201cbold and radical\u201d action to alleviate the winter crisis in the NHS. The Prime Minister told them […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1577,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[173],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1576","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n