Star comment: Of course Hunt thinks NHS is healthy
Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has trumpeted the successes of the NHS in a speech to the Conservative Conference in Manchester.
We would expect no less. He is the Secretary of State with responsibility for making sure millions of people receive free-at-the-point-of-service medical care.
It is in his interest to look at the positives.
Mr Hunt may also be right regarding particular aspects of the NHS. His plans to increase nurse training places, undergraduate opportunities and provide reassurances to EU workers are welcome.
Similarly, his comments that the NHS is the best and safest healthcare system in the world will be echoed and welcomed by many.
And yet despite Mr Hunt’s remarks that the NHS ought not be used as a political football, the reality is that there remain serious challenges.
There is clearly a gap between the public’s expectation and the NHS’s ability to meet these expectations.
Take, for example, the issues with waiting times in A&E departments.
Improved management and increased investment may provide some solutions to the institution’s travails. For it is clear that despite Mr Hunt’s reassurances, all is not running smoothly.
For all his talk of improvements, of valuing staff and of finding student nurses to plug the gaps, there remain many difficulties within the system.
In Shropshire and Mid Wales, the service faces uncertainty surrounding provision at hospitals in Telford and Shrewsbury, while there are well-publicised issues with the temporary closure of midwife-led units.
This generates understandable concern among patients, staff and the wider public.
Clarity on the future of health provision locally would give people belief and would allow those running the local services to make plans for the future with certainty. It would also give staff more confidence and make the service more attractive to doctors, nurses and specialists. Speeches to the party faithful at an annual conference will not.
A bigger debate about the future of the NHS is needed. The everyday kindnesses and hard work of NHS workers do not disguise the challenges facing this cherished institution.
