Fears grow that Labour’s constant claims NHS is ‘broken’ could have 2 devastating impacts! B
Senior figures in the NHS have said that Labour’s messaging that the NHS is “broken” could be having two unintended consequences that only exasperate the problem.
Senior figures within the NHS are worried that Labour’s messaging on the state of the service has gone too far, according to the BBC.
According to senior sources, there is concern that Labour’s fixation with describing the NHS as “broken” is putting people off of accessing care and damaging staff morale.
Throughout his tenure, health secretary Wes Streeting and other senior members of government have repeatedly talked down the state of the health service, calling cancer a “death sentence” and describing maternity care as a “shame” to the nation.
One hospital leader told the BBC: “We understand the politics of what the government is doing – they feel they need to establish in the public’s mind what a difficult inheritance they have been given.
“It’s something the Tories did very effectively in 2010 and even back in 1979 over the winter of discontent.
“But there’s an increasing nervousness that if it continues much longer it could spook patients and make it really difficult to raise staff morale. Hope is important.”
The death sentence claim was made in a written response from government to a story covered by the BBC last week about the variation in waiting times by different cancers, and in the House of Commons by Streeting on 12 September, the day Lord Ara Darzi published his report into the state of the NHS.
In both cases, it was suggested Lord Darzi’s report found cancer was “more likely to be a death sentence for NHS patients than those in other countries”.
Lord Darzi did not use the phrase death sentence in his report, although he did point out the UK had higher cancer mortality rates. Lord Darzi has been approached for comment, but is yet to respond.
When asked for a response to the language, Cancer Research UK pointed the BBC to data showing that one in two people diagnosed with cancer now survive at least 10 years.
Meanwhile, the phrase “national shame” was used by Mr Streeting in response to a report by the Care Quality Commission report last week, which found two in three maternity units were not safe enough.
Thea Stein, chief executive of the Nuffield Trust think-tank, who was running an NHS trust until last year told the BBC: “Language is important. The problem with the phrase ‘broken’ is that people may think something that is broken needs to be thrown away.
Lord Darzi’s report on the NHS was damning but there are calls for more positive messaging (Image: Getty)
“”It is important that the government now puts even more emphasis on repair, rebuilding and hope, alongside the ‘broken’ message.”
A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care defended the approach being taken.
“Patients and staff can see the NHS is going through the biggest crisis in its history. They want the government to be honest about the scale of the challenge and serious about fixing it.
“Wes has said since the election that while the NHS is broken, it’s not beaten.
“We are going to work with NHS staff to develop a 10-year plan to turn the NHS around together.”
