Chancellor Rachel Reeves outlines Labour’s intention to ‘rebuild the NHS’ with a combination of targeted funding and structural changes. Reeves highlighted that priorities include more support for front line services and reducing waiting backlogs.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Well, any surveys that are done on the NHS demonstrate that the British people see it
00:05as something which is very close to their heart, because of course, let's face it,
00:10at some point in our lives, and hopefully not very often, we have to use the NHS in
00:15some form. We're an ageing population, so of course the demands on the NHS are increasing.
00:21If I may add, when the NHS was first conceived, 70-odd years ago, it was seen as something
00:26that would be treated from the cradle to the grave. Prior to that, as anyone who's
00:30seen series or any sort of dramatisation, you were on your own. And indeed, there are
00:35many countries where you are effectively on your own unless you can afford insurance.
00:38So it's a great service, really expensive. Now, of course, the fact is, though, we want
00:43it to perform better, because of course, nobody likes the long-waiting list that we've got
00:49for operations.
00:50While the NHS currently faces unprecedented demand, with GP practices delivering a record
00:56367 million appointments, that's 53 million more than before the pandemic. This surge
01:03includes a 20% increase in calls to NHS 111 and rising pressures on mental health services
01:11due to climbing referrals. These challenges underscore the need for the NHS to effectively
01:17adapt and manage demands to ensure timely patient care.
01:22The difficulty is that when faced with the prospect of having to pay more money for it,
01:27and indeed, that's what the budget was about, taking some more money from the forms that
01:32we saw in Rachel Reeves announced, and then dedicating this to improving the health service.
01:39The fact is, we probably won't see an instant improvement. It'll take quite a while. Things
01:44like the NHS, which people want to improve, but as I say, when it comes to paying for
01:48it, that's a whole different matter. Unfortunately, we live in a system where we want a European
01:55health system, but we want to pay American level taxes, and of course, something has
01:58got to give.