Emily Barley is co-founder of the Maternity Safety Alliance. She was formerly leader of the Rotherham Council Conservative Group, and the Conservative candidate for Wentworth and Dearne in 2019.
In his first month as Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Wes Streeting declared the NHS “broken” and its regulator, the Care Quality Commission (CQC), “not fit for purpose”, After 14 years of Conservative government it must be tempting for the party to deny problems and defend its record, but that would be a mistake. Instead, Conservatives must acknowledge NHS failures and their lack of action, and press Labour to be even more radical.
7.6 million people languishing on waiting lists, people dying on floors after waiting hours for an ambulance, hundreds of babies killed every year by negligent care, and appointments impossible to get. NHS failures are vast in scale and obvious to anyone who has had the misfortune to need medical care in the last few years. In government, the Conservative response to any criticism was to trot out a laundry list of the extra money they had ‘invested’ and miniscule reductions in waits they had ‘achieved’, more in hope than expectation that people would believe things were getting better.
Streeting’s approach was immediately different. Since day one, he has claimed he was “genuinely stunned” by what he has learned in office. He has tasked Lord Darzi, a former adviser to Gordon Brown, with leading an independent investigation into the state of the NHS, which Streeting says will “uncover hard truths” in a first step to “recovery”.
On the publication of an interim report on the state of the CQC, which regulates health and social care providers in England, Streeting said that the organisation is in crisis and its ratings of hospital and other services cannot be trusted – something I have previously argued – and pledged urgent action.
The NHS and CQC responses have been predictable; damage limitation is the name of the game. Amanda Pritchard, the NHS England chief executive, half-heartedly pledged her support for the new Darzi review while praising the “incredible job” done by NHS staff, and the CQC has shuffled deckchairs around, including appointing Kate Terroni, a new interim chief executive, who immediately apologised to her staff and the care providers they regulate for failures (but not to patients).
Behind the scenes, I’m sure the same NHS leaders who have been responsible for the slow slide into decline will be looking solemn as they acknowledge just enough problems to sound like they take it seriously, then set about putting together something supposed to pass as a plan to fix them without actually doing much at all – all to shut down criticism and protect the status quo, the only real change proposed being a demand for more money.
We should all hope that Streeting sees through the hokum and recognises that there are an awful lot of people whose main interest is in fending off attempts at reform not promoting patient safety, and that they are highly practiced at doing just that.
Conservatives must resist the urge to defend their record on the NHS, and instead plant themselves firmly on the side of patients and therefore of reform. It is no good to continue defending the indefensible or arguing that pink is green when everyone can see the brutal reality that the NHS is indeed broken. Instead, Conservatives in opposition must join Streeting in his new push for honesty about the state and scale of healthcare failure and help ensure the wool is not pulled over his eyes. And when it comes to solutions, Conservatives must press Labour to go further and faster in their reform.
This requires a new approach from the Conservative Party to everything NHS, with a fresh understanding of what the public wants – quality care that they can access when they need it, and without costing a fortune in taxes.
Over the last decade, Conservatives have been self-conscious because of polling showing a lack of public trust in their handling of the NHS, resulting in an under-critical policy approach. Where efficiency drives were needed, they poured in more money. When hard questions needed to be asked, they allowed themselves to be too easily soothed by NHS leaders. And when harmed families needed help and accountability, they shied away from calling out deadly failure. The death and destruction that has resulted from this approach is as obvious as it is tragic.
The Conservative Party must now recognise that far from increasing public trust, the obvious detriment to the public caused by the protection of the NHS eroded trust further and contributed to their enormous electoral defeat last month. In opposition, the party now has the moral responsibility to be on the side of patients and not only back the direction of travel set by Wes Streeting, but to create a political environment where the only option is for even more change in favour of quality and safe care. Not only is that the right thing to do, but it’s also the only way to build some semblance of credibility and trust on the NHS.
Emily Barley is co-founder of the Maternity Safety Alliance. She was formerly leader of the Rotherham Council Conservative Group, and the Conservative candidate for Wentworth and Dearne in 2019.
In his first month as Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, Wes Streeting declared the NHS “broken” and its regulator, the Care Quality Commission (CQC), “not fit for purpose”, After 14 years of Conservative government it must be tempting for the party to deny problems and defend its record, but that would be a mistake. Instead, Conservatives must acknowledge NHS failures and their lack of action, and press Labour to be even more radical.
7.6 million people languishing on waiting lists, people dying on floors after waiting hours for an ambulance, hundreds of babies killed every year by negligent care, and appointments impossible to get. NHS failures are vast in scale and obvious to anyone who has had the misfortune to need medical care in the last few years. In government, the Conservative response to any criticism was to trot out a laundry list of the extra money they had ‘invested’ and miniscule reductions in waits they had ‘achieved’, more in hope than expectation that people would believe things were getting better.
Streeting’s approach was immediately different. Since day one, he has claimed he was “genuinely stunned” by what he has learned in office. He has tasked Lord Darzi, a former adviser to Gordon Brown, with leading an independent investigation into the state of the NHS, which Streeting says will “uncover hard truths” in a first step to “recovery”.
On the publication of an interim report on the state of the CQC, which regulates health and social care providers in England, Streeting said that the organisation is in crisis and its ratings of hospital and other services cannot be trusted – something I have previously argued – and pledged urgent action.
The NHS and CQC responses have been predictable; damage limitation is the name of the game. Amanda Pritchard, the NHS England chief executive, half-heartedly pledged her support for the new Darzi review while praising the “incredible job” done by NHS staff, and the CQC has shuffled deckchairs around, including appointing Kate Terroni, a new interim chief executive, who immediately apologised to her staff and the care providers they regulate for failures (but not to patients).
Behind the scenes, I’m sure the same NHS leaders who have been responsible for the slow slide into decline will be looking solemn as they acknowledge just enough problems to sound like they take it seriously, then set about putting together something supposed to pass as a plan to fix them without actually doing much at all – all to shut down criticism and protect the status quo, the only real change proposed being a demand for more money.
We should all hope that Streeting sees through the hokum and recognises that there are an awful lot of people whose main interest is in fending off attempts at reform not promoting patient safety, and that they are highly practiced at doing just that.
Conservatives must resist the urge to defend their record on the NHS, and instead plant themselves firmly on the side of patients and therefore of reform. It is no good to continue defending the indefensible or arguing that pink is green when everyone can see the brutal reality that the NHS is indeed broken. Instead, Conservatives in opposition must join Streeting in his new push for honesty about the state and scale of healthcare failure and help ensure the wool is not pulled over his eyes. And when it comes to solutions, Conservatives must press Labour to go further and faster in their reform.
This requires a new approach from the Conservative Party to everything NHS, with a fresh understanding of what the public wants – quality care that they can access when they need it, and without costing a fortune in taxes.
Over the last decade, Conservatives have been self-conscious because of polling showing a lack of public trust in their handling of the NHS, resulting in an under-critical policy approach. Where efficiency drives were needed, they poured in more money. When hard questions needed to be asked, they allowed themselves to be too easily soothed by NHS leaders. And when harmed families needed help and accountability, they shied away from calling out deadly failure. The death and destruction that has resulted from this approach is as obvious as it is tragic.
The Conservative Party must now recognise that far from increasing public trust, the obvious detriment to the public caused by the protection of the NHS eroded trust further and contributed to their enormous electoral defeat last month. In opposition, the party now has the moral responsibility to be on the side of patients and not only back the direction of travel set by Wes Streeting, but to create a political environment where the only option is for even more change in favour of quality and safe care. Not only is that the right thing to do, but it’s also the only way to build some semblance of credibility and trust on the NHS.