Former Health Secretary Matt Hancock says NHS 'has got to be better' as service marks 75 years

Former Health Secretary Matt Hancock has revealed he 'cares deeply' about the NHS but says it's 'got to be better.'

As the NHS celebrates is 75th anniversary, the man who was in charge of the NHS during the biggest crisis it's ever faced - the COVID pandemic - has also said he wants to see it survive for another 75 years, and remain free of charge.

Matt Hancock has been speaking exclusively to ITV Meridian's political correspondent Phil Hornby about the future of the health service.

"Clearly the NHS is in a difficult position and I care deeply that the NHS is there, free for everybody to use over the next 75 years," he said.

"And to do that, of course, it needs more money, and it needs more people and it's getting more people.

"But it's got to be better, how it's run, better use of technology, and crucially, it needs to be better at helping people stay healthy in the first place.

"We can't just go on fixing problems."

The MP for West Suffolk was Health Secretary from June 2018 until June 2021 until he resigned for breaking his own Covid rules.

He says we should be able to use information better.

"You know when you book an appointment, you should be able to choose on the internet like you do when you're booking an appointment for everything else in life.

"Without that, I just can't see how it survives and I desperately want the NHS to be debt free at the point of views for the rest of my life and beyond."

Fellow former Health Secretary, Sajid Javid has also revealed he thinks the NHS is not sustainable, and the way it operates must change.

But Mr Hancock said he disagrees.

"The ability to not pay is absolutely central to what it is to live in this country.

"As soon as you introduce charging for the NHS, you move away from that principle that we all come together to support each other.

"And it also makes it actually I would think would make it a less efficient organisation.

• Former Health Secretary Matt Hancock says the NHS is in a 'difficult position.'

"The NHS is incredibly efficient by international standards, it just needs to do so much better on the modern use of technology, which frankly, almost all of us now use in our everyday lives.

"And critically, and this is where the UK is not very good on keeping people being healthy in the first place.

"The gap in life expectancy in this country, between say Buckinghamshire and Blackpool is almost 15 years, which shows we know how to help people to live longer, healthier lives because it happens in the richest parts of the country.

"But it doesn't happen everywhere.

"And there's so much to do to help people stay healthy in the first place rather than just having an NHS that fixes people when they get ill."

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