Some patients will be treated in hospital corridors this winter, Wes Streeting admits
ITV News Health Correspondent Rebecca Barry sat down with the health secretary as he launched a major consultation on the future of the NHS.
There will be patients treated "on trolleys in corridors" this winter, the Health Secretary Wes Streeting has admitted.
In an interview with ITV News Health Correspondent Rebecca Barry, Mr Streeting was unable to guarantee people won't be lying in corridors in A&E this winter.
"I wish I could sit here and tell you there won't be patients on trolleys in corridors, in fact I suspect there are patients in corridors on trolleys today," he admitted.
Mr Streeting warned "this winter is going to be difficult", blaming the previous Conservative government for pushing the NHS into its "worst crisis in history."
"I'm never, as long as I'm health secretary, going to pretend things are great in the NHS when they're not", he said. However, the MP for Ilford North did promise to "consign corridor care to history where it belongs".
Health Secretary Wes Streeting warns "this winter is going to be difficult" in an interview with ITV News
With the chancellor's first Budget looming and growing pressure around potential spending cuts, Mr Streeting said the NHS will be "prioritised".
"I don't want to get ahead of the chancellor... but I can tell you that when it comes to weighing up the priorities of the government, the chancellor is prioritising the NHS," he said.
The health secretary was speaking as the government announce a consultation on the future of the NHS, which is part of their 10-year health plan to reform the health service.
Hailed as “the biggest national conversation about the future of the NHS since its birth”, the government says the consultation promises to put patients and staff at the heart of its plans to transform the NHS.
But concerns have been raised about the delay a one year consultation could place on action to solve the NHS crisis.
The NHS will be "prioritised" in the Budget, Wes Streeting tells ITV News
Mr Streeting told ITV News while he "understand[s] cyncism about political or government consultations - this is the real deal".
He urged people to fill in the NHS questionnaire, promising they "will not be wasting their time."
"Work is already under way" to rebuild the NHS, Mr Streeting said, reiterating the government's promise to deliver 40,000 extra NHS appointments a week by July 2025.
"I will come back to mark the one year anniversary of the Labour government confirming we delivered on that pledge", he added.
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The health secretary also praised six-time Olympic champion Sir Chris Hoy, who revealed on Sunday he has terminal cancer with two to four years left to live.
Mr Streeting, who also went through cancer treatment himself, said Sir Chris's case is "a very timely reminder that what really matters when it comes to cancer care is getting to people early".
Despite this, the health secretary refused to give a time frame for when we will see the extra scanners his government has promised in hospitals.
The Labour manifesto promised to double the number of CT and MRI scanners to improve early diagnosis and treatment over the course of their first parliament.
"This is the real deal": The health secretary urges people to fill in NHS questionnaire
Speaking on Monday, the prime minister said NHS workers "deserve a lot better" than the last 14 years under the Conservatives.
“I know the last 14 years have been really, really hard," Sir Keir Starmer told ambulance workers in east London.
"We have had austerity, we haven’t had the right money and resources... then the burden of Covid and everything that followed after that. Frankly, you deserve a lot better than that."
The consultation is part of the government's plans to transform the NHS into a "neighbourhood health service" by shifting more care from hospitals to communities.
Mr Streeting has urged the public to “help us build a health service fit for the future”, saying he wants NHS staff and patients to have their “fingerprints all over” the 10-year plan.
The plan will also see greater use of data and technology by having a single digital patient record to speed up information about a patient and prevent them from having to repeat their medical history at every appointment.
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