Streeting sets out three NHS ‘shifts’ ahead of Darzi review publication

Health secretary Wes Streeting committed to three ‘strategic shifts’ for the NHS which includes moving care from ‘hospital to community’. 

The Labour Government also wants to shift the NHS from ‘analogue to digital’ and from ‘treatment to prevention,’ Mr Streeting said this weekend.

At the same time, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) confirmed its appointment of Paul Corrigan, a Blair-era adviser who will work directly with Mr Streeting on his 10-year plan to reform the NHS.

In July, DHSC announced that the 10-year plan will be informed by a ‘rapid investigation’ into the state of the NHS, which has been led by Professor Lord Ara Darzi and is expected to be published on Thursday. 

Over the weekend, ahead of the report’s publication this Thursday, the prime minister said the previous Conservative Government ‘broke the NHS’, leaving it in an ‘unforgivable state’.

In an interview with the BBC, Sir Keir Starmer also said Lord Darzi’s report will claim that current issues in the NHS stem from previous policy decisions, including ‘hopelessly conceived’ reforms by the Conservatives. 

GP leaders from the BMA and RCGP have contributed to the Darzi investigation, warning about the risks to continuity of care, insufficient funding and rising ‘workload dump’ from other parts of the system.

Mr Corrigan, who developed the policy for foundation trusts during his previous tenure as health adviser, has been appointed to bring in ‘additional experience’.

DHSC said he will ‘work closely’ with the health secretary in a paid role to help ‘shape the Government’s 10-year plan and provide independent scrutiny of its structure and implementation’.

‘Paul’s arrival reflects the scale and complexity of the challenges facing the health and care system,’ the department added.

In July, before his appointment to DHSC, Mr Corrigan said that GPs should be given funding to keep people out of hospital in a new financial system that creates ‘savings’ for acute trusts. 

In another Blair-era appointment, the health secretary has also brought back Alan Milburn, who spearheaded increased private involvement in the NHS, to support with reform.