Daily News from National Health Executive
And here’s today’s news from National Health Executive on Friday the 5th of July 2024.
Following the frenetic general election campaigns from all the nation’s major political parties, the Sir Keir Starmer-led Labour Party has stormed to victory with more than 400 seats across the country, ousting Rishi Sunak as prime minister and condemning the Conservative Party to its worst defeat ever. The overall turnout for the election was around 60%, which is significantly down on 2019.
The Labour Party reached the magic 326 mark in the early hours of the morning, with the new prime minister declaring that “change begins now”. Sunak described the moment as a “difficult night” as he spoke after retaining his seat comfortably in Richmond and Northallerton. “The British people have delivered a sobering verdict tonight; there is much to learn and reflect on,” said Sunak. This was swiftly followed up by his resignation as leader of the Conservative Party, although he will remain at the helm until a successor is formerly selected.
On a day that will likely be overshadowed by the shifting of political power in this country following the Labour Party’s general election victory, the NHS celebrates its 76th anniversary. With junior doctors still in dispute, vacancies still toppling, discontent still festering, and promised investment falling short of what many consider to be needed, the next 76 years will be shaped by the next government’s first actions.
The latest five-day junior doctor walkout alone led to nearly 70,000 appointments being postponed, with over 23,000 staff being absent at the peak of the industrial action. This takes the total number of inpatient and outpatient appointments that have been rescheduled to almost 1.5 million. While nothing has been decided, if the shadow cabinet is anything to go by, Wes Streeting will have the pleasure of overseeing the NHS and the whole health and social care sector’s future. He must start by rebuilding a fractured health service.
On the eve of a new UK government, the Northern Ireland Confederation for Health and Social Care, which represents the leaders of healthcare organisations in the devolved nation, is calling for collective political support at Stormont and in Westminster to bring about the changes critically needed to rescue what it calls a beleaguered health and social care system.
Its members have two key asks, with the first being a creative approach to finding bridging funding to enable the delivery of three-year recovery plans. The second being a rallying call for political leaders to reach an agreement to collectively drive forward transformation initiatives at pace, including service reconfiguration.
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