'I'm delivering': Wes Streeting says he has the funds to 'start turning the NHS around' as he defends Budget spending
29 October 2024, 09:09 | Updated: 29 October 2024, 09:45
Health Secretary Wes Streeting joins Nick Ferrari at Breakfast | Watch in full
Wes Streeting has confirmed he now has the funds to "start turning the NHS around" as he defended Labour's spending plans ahead of Wednesday's Autumn Budget.
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Speaking with Nick Ferrari at Breakfast, the Health Secretary confirmed that the forthcoming Budget will see Rachel Reeves "prioritise" the NHS.
Speaking with Nick, Streeting confirmed he now had the money to double the number of NHS scanners in a move that will help with "improving the productivity of the system".
"The chancellor has prioritised the NHS to root out waste and inefficiency," he confirmed.
"All of our manifesto commitments, despite the challenges we’ve got, stand today," he said, adding: "I owe it to taxpayers that their money is well spent."
It comes as the Chancellor is set to hand out billions of pounds to the health service at the Government's first Budget, but tempered expectations on Monday by admitting this would only “arrest the decline” of the NHS.
Wes Streeting on Keir Starmer's 'falling popularity'
"This isn’t new government policy, this is the delivery of the manifesto," he told Nick.
Vowing to start cutting NHS waiting lists in line with Labour's manifesto pledges, Streeting warned that despite increased spending, it's still set to be a hard winter.
"There are always more things money can buy," he conceded, telling critics accusing him of using funds that could be spent elsewhere to "get real".
"We’d all like more money for the things we care about," he said.
"I’m delivering."
Pledging 40,000 more appointments as a result of increased efficiency, the Health Secretary said his focus was not on simply on pumping the NHS with money.
It's but finding "different ways of working" and "improving the productivity of the system"
"All of our manifesto commitments, despite the challenges we’ve got, stand today," he asserted.
It comes as Labour admitted tax hikes and extra borrowing won't be enough to cure the "broken" NHS or "dire" winter crisis.
Wednesday's Budget is set to be make or break for the NHS, with spending top of the agenda.
He also reflected on the party's popularity given the harsh fiscal measures that need to be taken.
Addressing the PMs plunging popularity, Streeting said: "It's not just Keir, all of us".
"Were making decisions that are not going to make us very popular at the moment."
Adding that we need to stop "treating politics as a popularity contest".
