Govt’s winter NHS plans ‘not serious’, says shadow health secretary

Labour’s newly appointed shadow health secretary Wes Streeting, has blasted the government’s NHS winter plans this morning.

He told MPs today that the government had failed to provide a “serious plan” for the coming months.

“Ministers cannot possibly believe that what we have been given today is a credible plan to meet these enormous challenges. If this were genuinely a plan about preparing for the winter, why does it arrive on December 3?” He argued.

“A serious plan to bring down waiting lists would have the workforce at its heart, a serious plan to bring down waiting lists would have clear targets and deadlines, and a serious plan to bring down waiting lists would recognise that unless we focus on prevention, early intervention and fixing the social care crisis, ministers have no chance of bringing waiting lists down to the record low levels we saw under the last Labour government.”

He went on: “Without a serious strategy to build the health and social care workforce that we need, this plan really isn’t a plan at all.”