The UK’s National Health Service is “barely at the races” when compared with the health systems of other leading economies, due to insufficient funding of key elements, according to shadow health and social care secretary Wes Streeting.
Speaking at The King’s Fund, Streeting said people could “take your pick” of measures where the NHS ranked lower than other countries whether that’s cancer outcomes, emergency service responses or emergency department waiting times.
“We’re barely at the races in terms of competing with other leading economies,” Streeting said.
“And it’s easy to understand why when you look at where resources in the system go.
“If you compare the NHS with other OECD systems when it comes to where the money goes, actually investment in secondary care, we’re pretty much top of the table actually.
“But then you look at primary care, mental health, community services, diagnostics, capital, we’re either near the bottom, at the bottom or seriously lagging behind.”
Streeting used the speech to reveal Labour’s plan for a “neighbourhood health service” ensuring patients can access the help they need from a wider range of healthcare professionals closer to home
He explained faster diagnoses would be both more effective in terms of health outcomes and more cost effective in terms of the cost to the tax payer.
“And so that’s why we’re talking about shifting the focus out of the hospital into the community. It’s to provide both a better service for patients and better value for tax payers’ money.”
