Wes Streeting, the shadow health secretary, bills himself as a Blairite reformer. Photo: Hugh Hastings/Getty Images
Everything can only get better for Labour. At least that's what the party hopes.
New polls show it has a nearly 30-point lead on health — a key election battleground at a time when alarm bells about the state of the NHS are rare were so loud.< /p>
As Sir Keir Starmer and his colleagues gather in Liverpool this weekend for what is likely to be the last party conference before the general election, they may feel optimistic that record NHS waiting lists will lead to victory for Labour.
And so it is. Here, seasoned observers advise caution as Labour's past strategy has been seriously ineffective.
In the 2019 election, health was highlighted as one of voters' biggest concerns. But Labor failed.
Now a report by Richard Sloggett, a former government adviser, contains a series of warnings to the opposition.
Looking back at the 2019 election, he says: “Labour's health campaign in 2019 was a disaster. He failed because of a fixation on NHS privatization and scare stories about trade deals with the United States, rather than a focus on voters' concerns.»
Since then the party has changed tactics.
Wes Streeting, the shadow health secretary seen as a rising star and potential future leader, has positioned himself as a Blairite reformer, focusing on the areas that polls show matter most to patients: waiting lists, access to GPs and doctor shortages . and nurses.
The Labor Party is therefore seeking to “take over the Tory fight” for health.
With the government seemingly embroiled in an increasingly toxic health labor dispute, it is perhaps hardly surprising that the Labor Party's lead on health care is so large.
Poll by Deltapoll for Future Health and WPI Strategy, shows that 46 per cent of adults said they trust Labor most to improve the NHS — almost three times the 17 per cent who trust the Tories.
Meanwhile, a weary 29 percent believe neither party can make tangible improvements.
Labor scored much higher than the Tories on or likely to end doctors' strikes in a poll of 1,500 adults, as well as improving access to GPs and hospital services.
Still clear good news for Labour. highlight one of the most dangerous areas for the party: spending.
Mr Streeting has repeatedly tried to sidestep the issue, keeping in mind that voters hit by the cost of living crisis are extremely wary of any attempts to raise taxes.
Indeed, 55 per cent of those taking part in the latest survey rejected future tax rises to fund improvements to the NHS.
But end bitter industrial disputes and improve the «consumer offer» for the public without asking for more money may be an unpleasant task.
p>
While Rishi Sunak has made it clear that rewards for doctors are the «final offer», leaders of the British Medical Association this week expressed optimism about securing more benefits from Labour.
Such talk has prompted accusations that Labor is will begin to increase expenses that the country cannot afford.
Although the Blair government has made tangible improvements in health care, it has been dogged by criticism that too much money was spent on wages at the expense of reforms, including a sharp rise in GP pay.
While Mr. Mr Streeting said the 35 per cent rise demanded by junior doctors was not affordable, he said he would put doctors «on the path to restoring pay».
However, his relationship with the workforce is unlikely can be considered as cozy.
The politician has already said he is not afraid to take on vested interests or say no to the BMA, a union he has described as «hostile» to his reform plans.
p>He has already promised GPs extra pay for doing so , so patients can see their preferred doctor, while insisting that overall the policy will be cost-neutral.
'Big challenge' for Labor
Mr Sloggett, a former special adviser to Matt Hancock, the former health secretary, said Labor could not afford to continue delaying difficult choices to make a clear offer to the public.
“The public is clear that they expect Labor to improve waiting times in hospitals and access to GPs and dentists,” he said.
“However, they are also not willing to pay more taxes for this. For Labor, this poses a major challenge to meeting public expectations while giving it little room to maneuver to invest new money in needed reforms or end wage disputes.
“The party is leaning heavily on removing non-resident tax status to help bring about changes to the NHS. But this will not be enough given the challenges the service faces, and the amount of money the party will receive through this route is questionable.»
And while technology and efforts to prevent ill health may free up funds in the long term, they will require initial investment.
When it comes to reform, both major parties are fighting over the same areas: using the private sector to build capacity, expanding the role of artificial intelligence, and new technologies and new ways to access health care.
For the public, waiting lists , increasing the number of doctors and nurses and access to GPs remain top priorities, with much less interest in how to do this.
Surveys show that reducing NHS waste is a priority. is also a major concern — and it is an area where Health Secretary Steve Barclay has shown relentless focus, cutting the central bureaucracy by 40 per cent.
Mr Sunak made cutting waiting lists a priority in January. of his five priorities.
But with waiting lists reaching a new high of 7.7 million in September and little progress in efforts to expand access to GPs, it is understandable why the Prime Minister might be keen to find new areas of focus.
And so on. This week he sought to introduce a much more radical health program in an attempt to make smoking obsolete.
As Mr Sunak promised the «biggest public health intervention in a generation» — a phased ban on cigarette sales and age legal purchases gradually increased, even after retirement age — he stepped directly into traditionally left-wing territory.
The Labor Party has already backed these proposals, first put forward by the commission more than a year ago.
Of course, these proposals caused some outrage from the party's right wing and civil liberties campaigners, who said the plans were «unconservative».< /p>
When the smoking ban is put to a free vote in the Commons, Mr Sunak may find himself forced into an unholy alliance. The Labor Party has already said it will lend its votes to him to get the legislation passed.
But the plans also opened up a wider debate about nanny state measures, with former Conservative Health Secretary Lord Bethell immediately calling for to expanded action to combat obesity, including a tax on unhealthy food.
This. the debate could put pressure on the Labor Party.
If the party wants to demonstrate its radical stance on public health, it will have to be much more outspoken about how it will tackle childhood obesity — an area in which it has so far been particularly cautious, apart from plans to limit junk food advertising.< /p>
Labour may feel safer attacking the Conservatives' achievements compared to their previous commitments, Mr Sloggett's research suggests.
He said the NHS was likely to be the Tories' «Achilles heel» when the election came around.< /p>
His analysis found the government had met, or was on track to meet, just 14 of 35 health-related commitments that it made during the 2019 campaign.
Notably, many of the promises that would be missed were among the biggest headlines.
Among other things, Boris Johnson's campaign promised recruit 6,000 more GPs, reduce waiting times for surgeries and A&E procedures and make the NHS a better place. to give birth to babies in the world.
Since then, the number of GPs has fallen, waiting times have increased and maternity services have deteriorated even further.
As the Tory party hopes After the next election, it is understandable that why Mr Sunak is keen to position himself as a candidate for radical change, rather than saddle himself with too many promises of the past.
Свежие комментарии