Wes Streeting accused of ‘chaotic and incoherent approach’ to NHS reform
Wes Streeting has been accused of taking a “chaotic and incoherent approach” to reforming the NHS, which makes it unlikely the government will hit its own targets, according to a damning report by the Institute for Government (IfG).The report praises elements of how the health secretary has managed the health service in his first year in office, including improving performance and staff retention in hospitals.Thepay settlement he reached with resident doctors last year avoided a winter plagued by NHS strikesBut it also criticises significant aspects of his performance, including the way he handled the abolition of NHS England and his lack of action to stem the exodus of senior GPs.The findings threaten to puncture Streeting’s reputation after a turbulent week during which he was forced to deny accusations from allies of Keir Starmer that he was lining up a leadership challenge against the prime minister.Stuart Hoddinott, the IfG’s associate director and the author of the report, said: “There have been some positive steps: performance is trending slowly upwards in hospitals, there’s been a genuinely large increase in GPs and the rate at which hospital staff are leaving their jobs is the lowest on record outside the pandemic.
“But that has been undermined by a chaotic and incoherent approach to reforming the service.The announcement of NHS England’s abolition was abysmally handled and management cuts in integrated care boards have been a needless distraction.”He added: “Worse than that, nothing the government has done will address the ongoing exodus of GP partners, and it has taken decisions that may actively harm the adult social care sector.“The further decay of general practice and social care would be a disastrous legacy for Streeting and the government.”A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care said: “While the report acknowledges our success in delivering record numbers of GPs and appointments, it ignores our work to reform primary care and shift care out of hospitals, including £1.
1bn extra investment, and the creation of new neighbourhood contracts to deliver a truly neighbourhood health service in every part of the country,“Far from diverting money to hospitals as the IfG claims, integrated healthcare organisations will ensure funds are diverted towards prevention and community care to keep people out of them,“We are succeeding in our efficiency drive, with our move to bring NHS England back into the department freeing up more than £1bn a year that will be reinvested into frontline services, and a recent report showed we are exceeding our targets in improving NHS productivity,“We reject the notion we should go slower or do less, with our reforms and modernisation to date already delivering millions more appointments, cutting waiting lists and ensuring patients can benefit from the latest treatments and technology,”Government officials believe their political success hinges on whether they can improve NHS performance, and the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, has made it one of the top three priorities in this month’s budget.
As Streeting is widely tipped as the person most likely to replace the prime minister should he leave before the next election, he is facing even closer scrutiny over his performance at the health department.Despite Streeting’s promises of sweeping reforms to the way the health service is run, the report finds that in many areas performance has stagnated in the past year, and in some cases even declined.It criticises the health secretary’s decision to abolish NHS England as a rushed, poorly explained distraction, calling it “a case study in how not to make complex policy decisions and announcements”.Streeting has in recent days been rebuffed by the Treasury in his demand for over £1bn to cover redundancy costs stemming from that abolition.The report also accuses the health secretary of pulling the NHS in contradictory directions, for example, by saying he wants to shift more care into the community but then proposing new “integrated health organisations”, which could end up allocating more money to hospitals.
The report adds that Streeting has provided very little detail on how his plans would be implemented, beyond relying on emerging technology such as voice-capture tools to take notes for GPs.The NHS is still struggling to improve productivity, the report finds, with fewer than 10% of areas managing to raise the number of elective procedures they carry out by any more than the number of extra staff they hire.As a result, it warns: “The government will struggle to meet its flagship target that 92% of patients should wait no longer than 18 weeks from referral to starting consultant-led treatment of non-urgent health conditions.And it has little chance of meeting national waiting time targets for A&E and cancer treatment.”
New York Jets player Kris Boyd in critical condition after being shot in abdomen
New York Jets player Kris Boyd is hospitalized in critical situation after being shot in the early hours of Sunday morning.The NYPD said the 29-year-old was shot in the abdomen around 2am on West 38th Street in Midtown. He was taken to Bellevue Hospital, where he is in critical but stable condition.“We are aware of the situation involving Kris Boyd and will have no further comment at this time,” the Jets said in a statement.The New York Post reported that Boyd was shot after a dispute outside a restaurant turned violent
Benn battles demons and doubters to emerge triumphant against Eubank Jr
“I feel like I’m going to go home and cry,” Conor Benn said quietly in the early hours of Sunday morning at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. “I think I’m going to cry here. Oh man, it’s been hard.”Despite the surprising ease with which he had beaten his nemesis Chris Eubank Jr over 12 one-sided rounds on Saturday night, Benn’s face was bruised. But his mouth almost crumpled because of a different struggle locked deep with himself
Memories of England’s first Test in Perth: a terry towelling hat and Lillee’s aluminium bat | Brendan Foster
The first time I saw Australia play England in a Test at Perth, the Ashes weren’t at stake because the urn was gathering dust in a glass cabinet at Lord’s.A three-Test series against England in the summer of 1979-80 was hastily cobbled together after Cricket Australia finally capitulated to media tycoon Kerry Packer and awarded him the rights to televise top matches on Channel Nine. In return, Packer agreed to disband the World Series Cricket (WSC), which had caused a significant rupture in the game. England agreed to play the series on two strict conditions: the Ashes weren’t up for grabs, and the team wouldn’t wear the coloured uniforms made famous during WSC.It didn’t matter to me
Jamie George admits he was brains behind England’s provocative response to haka
Henry Pollock’s starring role in England’s response to the haka was designed by Jamie George, who revealed he took inspiration from the 2019 World Cup semi-final win and admitted they risked poking the bear before clinching a first home win against the All Blacks in 13 years.George admitted he was the brains behind England’s decision to initially line up as usual while the All Blacks performed their traditional war dance before breaking out into a V‑shape. As the eldest player in the squad, George was intentionally on one end with Pollock, the youngest, on the other. The captain, Maro Itoje, stood at the point of the V, which, in truth, looked more like a C-shaped formation.Pollock was seen licking his lips in response to the haka with George joking that England had their doubts over allowing Pollock – who has a habit of getting under opponents’ skin – such an important task
Ollie Pope believes pressure on England place will push him to deliver in Ashes
Ollie Pope believes the pressure of defending his spot in the England team amid constant speculation about his future and the rising challenge presented by Jacob Bethell has given him greater clarity and quality, leaving him well-placed to improve a poor record against Australia when the Ashes start on Friday.In 10 Test innings against Australia, Pope has never scored more than 42, averaging 11.17 in the three games he played last time England toured here in 2021-22, and 22.50 in two matches when the Ashes were last contested in 2023. The 27-year-old looked in fine form when scoring 100 and 90 in the warm-up fixture against the Lions at Lilac Hill and will head to the Optus Stadium with confidence high
England have become something ugly, brutish and formidable to play against | Andy Bull
Steve Borthwick has engineered his team to get stronger in the last quarter and the All Blacks could not cope with this monstrous lotThere’s the England they sell you in the glossy magazines and then there’s the England you find on days like this one at Twickenham. Cold, grey, hostile, the days when anyone lucky enough to have the choice takes one look out the window and realises time is going to be best spent indoors.The All Blacks did not have that luxury. Their head coach, Scott Robertson, spoke in the week about the work he had done to prepare his players. “We’re looking forward to it,” he said
Seth Meyers on Trump: ‘The most unpopular president of all time’
Colbert on Trump and Epstein: ‘They were best pals and underage girls was Epstein’s whole thing’
Colbert on Trump ‘building a massive compensation for his weird tiny penis’
‘I really enjoyed it’: new RSC curriculum brings Shakespeare’s works to life in UK classrooms
Jon Stewart on government shutdown deal: ‘A world-class collapse by Democrats’
Old is M Night Shyamalan at his best: ambitious, abrasive and surprisingly poignant