Government’s ‘plan for patients’: right diagnosis, wrong prescription says IPPR

Responding to the new 'plan for patients' Chris Thomas, head of the Commission on Health and Prosperity, said:

"Thérèse Coffey has got the diagnosis right, but the prescription wrong. It is yet another top-down demand that GPs do more with less – at a time staffing levels and workforce morale are at record lows. The NHS is in dire need of more resources and more capacity, not more pie in the sky targets.

"The consequence of the NHS’ malaise are avoidable deaths, and ever greater numbers opting for private healthcare services. In the short-term we face a humanitarian disaster this winter. In the long-term, the NHS risks becoming a fundamentally unfair two-tier system.

"To return to sustainability, the NHS urgently needs new capacity, a workforce plan, a shift of focus to prevention and catch-up resourcing to deal with the backlog of the pandemic and austerity. We also need a fit for purpose social care system, with better pay, more accessibility and far higher standards."