When I was diagnosed with kidney cancer in 2021, the NHS saved my life. I felt this Rolls-Royce machine kick into gear as I was treated by a world-class surgeon equipped with a robot and cared for by an incredibly caring team of nurses. I saw the best of the NHS.
But I also saw how the NHS is failing patients today. After I was discharged from the hospital, I was left alone, although I couldn't go to bed. Due to a growing backlog, I had to wait months longer than recommended for a scan to find that my cancer had not returned.
The most frustrating moment came when I went to the hospital to get the results of my follow-up tests. Upon arrival, the results were not processed on time and I was told I would have to arrange another time to return. I'm lucky to have a boss who doesn't care if I lose my job. But for someone on a zero-hours contract, the NHS's failure to send test results by text or even a message that results are not ready can cost you two days' pay.
These are inefficiencies and inconveniences that I can't see from behind my desk in the department. Health and social care, but patients are seen every day. That's why we invite you to provide insights and ideas to transform our NHS.
Lord Ara Darjee's inquiry into the NHS found the service had failed. 14 years of a toxic cocktail of underinvestment, vertical restructuring and lack of modernization have plunged the health service into the worst crisis in its history.
Darcy has been diagnosed and it is now up to us to issue the prescription through our 10-year plan. It will require a major reform of the health service from its inception. The plan is about how we will transform the NHS into a “health service near you”, powered by cutting-edge technology to help keep us healthy and out of hospital.
But this cannot be done by the government alone. Today we launch the biggest national conversation about the NHS since its birth. We will be holding events across the country, including citizens' meetings, to put patients in the driver's seat on NHS reform and ask the public what needs to change.
It will also be the largest employee engagement exercise in history. When I went to Singapore General Hospital last year, they told me about a program to get rid of stupid things that I think the NHS can do. It does what it says on the tin. By giving hospital staff some agency in their work lives, their morale and patient care improved. Over the next few months, we'll be inviting NHS staff to tell us about the silly things stopping them from doing their best and their ideas for changing the NHS.
I know how difficult it can be to fight a broken system to provide the best possible care to patients and go home at the end of the day knowing that the best you can do will never be enough. But there is light at the end of the tunnel. The cavalry is coming, together we can change this. My message to NHS staff: stay and help us change that.
The challenges facing the NHS today are enormous, but the opportunities are enormous. The current revolution in science and technology will change the way we receive healthcare. Nye Bevan would not have known it in 1948, but the model he developed took advantage of rapid advances in data, genetics and predictive and preventive medicine to make the NHS the best health system in the world.
It allows the introduction of patient passports so that whether you see a GP or a hospital surgeon, they have your complete medical history. We can determine a child's risk of disease from birth, so we can take steps to prevent it from occurring. It means the NHS can work hand-in-hand with the life sciences industry.
The conversation we start today will include questions such as how to ensure patient data is protected and anonymised – people are keen to save the NHS, but there are understandably concerns about Big Brother. We will also work on how to get the best deal for the NHS, whether that be additional funding, price cuts for the latest medicines or priority access. Who can pay?
We all owe it to ourselves or a family member to thank the NHS for a moment in our lives. Now there is an opportunity to pay off the debt.
