Damien Hinds is Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, MP for East Hampshire a former Education Secretary.
This is the first time I’ve written for Conservative Home in my new shadow cabinet role.
I was delighted a few months ago to get the call from Kemi asking me to join her team and take on this incredibly important role, at a time when our new Prime Minister has propelled social care in particular to the forefront of his agenda.
I want to put on record my thanks to my predecessor, Stuart Andrew, who did a sterling job of holding the Government to account and, of course, attended the initial rounds of cross-party social care talks on behalf of the Opposition.
We remain committed to positive engagement in the cross-party talks on social care. We have also set out very clearly what our red lines are. There must be no more tax rises or borrowing and the Government must also be realistic with the public about the costs involved in establishing a National Care Service.
Ending the triple lock alone is both a wrong-headed decision and one that will not touch the sides when it comes to funding the cost of a future National Care Service.
Of course, we will engage constructively with the Government on social care but we need to see bold action and delivery. I am afraid to say that all we have seen so far are more reviews and thin press releases omitting crucial detail.
Whilst no doubt social care will be at the forefront of the national conversation as well as around the Health department over the remainder of this Parliament, we cannot lose sight of the other issues that those working in and using the National Health Service see every day.
One of those pressing issues affecting staff in the NHS right now is the disruption of an ill-thought-through reorganisation. In March 2025, to much fanfare by the Government, Wes Streeting announced that NHS England would be abolished and integrated care boards (ICBs) reduced in size and scope.
Of course, Conservatives are not against abolishing quangos. NHS England has extended its reach beyond what was ever imagined when it was created. Yet despite the fanfare of the announcement it took until November 2025 for Labour to announce how that would happen.
In fact many are still waiting, relying on precious little detail from the Government, including on funding, which has left patients, staff and frontline services in limbo with no detail, no policy and no plan.
No doubt Wes Streeting was too preoccupied with his botched leadership bid to get a grip of such an important policy. But for Yvette Cooper there is no such excuse. Staff involved in the process of the merger which is supposed to be completed in just 6 months have described the process as ‘utter chaos’.
The Government cannot hide from the fact that the reasons for this botched reorganisation lay firmly at their door. Not just because of a lack of ministerial direction, but also because of indecision.
Despite Andy Burnham presenting himself as a man willing to take tough decisions, it seems it is a lack of key decisions on the abolition of NHS England which is leaving patients and staff in limbo. Ministers need to get a grip and get on with this merger, not least so everyone can focus fully on getting NHS performance back on track.
For there are indeed multiple issues right now on NHS performance, with waiting lists stubbornly high and a number of indicators not going in the right direction.
Some may argue this is an inevitable result of the strikes in the NHS that have blighted Labour’s time in Government. There is a degree of truth in that. At heart the underlying problem is, as usual, Labour’s unwillingness and inability to deal with a militant union leadership.
That is why the Conservatives have announced a three-point plan to protect patients from strike action: face down the BMA, introduce Minimum Service Levels across the health service and prevent doctors from taking widespread strike action.
We would reintroduce the Minimum Service Levels for all health services including emergency services, nurses and hospital porters that Labour removed and ban both resident doctors and consultants from striking, in line with other public sector professions such as soldiers and police officers.
We have also set out a plan to tackle health tourism in the NHS.
At the moment as little as 39 per cent of owed payments from overseas visitors are being recovered, meaning the NHS is failing to recover outstanding debts with millions of pounds going unpaid. We will crack down on NHS fee avoidance by foreign nationals so British taxpayers who pay for the NHS have a fair deal, with some of the money recovered being used to offset the costs of our recently announced plans to bring back VAT free shopping for overseas visitors – a much needed shot in the arm for British businesses.
There is going to be much to do in the Health and Social Care brief in the coming months and years. Not just holding the Government to account over its failures but in time we will be setting out our plan for the NHS. One that is rooted in Conservative values, that puts patients and taxpayers first and a plan that will take the Department for Health and Social Care the right way when we return to Government.
Damien Hinds is Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, MP for East Hampshire a former Education Secretary.
This is the first time I’ve written for Conservative Home in my new shadow cabinet role.
I was delighted a few months ago to get the call from Kemi asking me to join her team and take on this incredibly important role, at a time when our new Prime Minister has propelled social care in particular to the forefront of his agenda.
I want to put on record my thanks to my predecessor, Stuart Andrew, who did a sterling job of holding the Government to account and, of course, attended the initial rounds of cross-party social care talks on behalf of the Opposition.
We remain committed to positive engagement in the cross-party talks on social care. We have also set out very clearly what our red lines are. There must be no more tax rises or borrowing and the Government must also be realistic with the public about the costs involved in establishing a National Care Service.
Ending the triple lock alone is both a wrong-headed decision and one that will not touch the sides when it comes to funding the cost of a future National Care Service.
Of course, we will engage constructively with the Government on social care but we need to see bold action and delivery. I am afraid to say that all we have seen so far are more reviews and thin press releases omitting crucial detail.
Whilst no doubt social care will be at the forefront of the national conversation as well as around the Health department over the remainder of this Parliament, we cannot lose sight of the other issues that those working in and using the National Health Service see every day.
One of those pressing issues affecting staff in the NHS right now is the disruption of an ill-thought-through reorganisation. In March 2025, to much fanfare by the Government, Wes Streeting announced that NHS England would be abolished and integrated care boards (ICBs) reduced in size and scope.
Of course, Conservatives are not against abolishing quangos. NHS England has extended its reach beyond what was ever imagined when it was created. Yet despite the fanfare of the announcement it took until November 2025 for Labour to announce how that would happen.
In fact many are still waiting, relying on precious little detail from the Government, including on funding, which has left patients, staff and frontline services in limbo with no detail, no policy and no plan.
No doubt Wes Streeting was too preoccupied with his botched leadership bid to get a grip of such an important policy. But for Yvette Cooper there is no such excuse. Staff involved in the process of the merger which is supposed to be completed in just 6 months have described the process as ‘utter chaos’.
The Government cannot hide from the fact that the reasons for this botched reorganisation lay firmly at their door. Not just because of a lack of ministerial direction, but also because of indecision.
Despite Andy Burnham presenting himself as a man willing to take tough decisions, it seems it is a lack of key decisions on the abolition of NHS England which is leaving patients and staff in limbo. Ministers need to get a grip and get on with this merger, not least so everyone can focus fully on getting NHS performance back on track.
For there are indeed multiple issues right now on NHS performance, with waiting lists stubbornly high and a number of indicators not going in the right direction.
Some may argue this is an inevitable result of the strikes in the NHS that have blighted Labour’s time in Government. There is a degree of truth in that. At heart the underlying problem is, as usual, Labour’s unwillingness and inability to deal with a militant union leadership.
That is why the Conservatives have announced a three-point plan to protect patients from strike action: face down the BMA, introduce Minimum Service Levels across the health service and prevent doctors from taking widespread strike action.
We would reintroduce the Minimum Service Levels for all health services including emergency services, nurses and hospital porters that Labour removed and ban both resident doctors and consultants from striking, in line with other public sector professions such as soldiers and police officers.
We have also set out a plan to tackle health tourism in the NHS.
At the moment as little as 39 per cent of owed payments from overseas visitors are being recovered, meaning the NHS is failing to recover outstanding debts with millions of pounds going unpaid. We will crack down on NHS fee avoidance by foreign nationals so British taxpayers who pay for the NHS have a fair deal, with some of the money recovered being used to offset the costs of our recently announced plans to bring back VAT free shopping for overseas visitors – a much needed shot in the arm for British businesses.
There is going to be much to do in the Health and Social Care brief in the coming months and years. Not just holding the Government to account over its failures but in time we will be setting out our plan for the NHS. One that is rooted in Conservative values, that puts patients and taxpayers first and a plan that will take the Department for Health and Social Care the right way when we return to Government.