Ask a busy person

Somewhere out there a man called Rav Athwal is very busy. He is an economist, ex Head of Growth Strategy at the Treasury and now the Labour Party’s Manifesto Director. He is tasked with producing a final draft of Labour’s manifesto by 8 February.

Labour’s manifesto will be finalised when Starmer holds a “Clause V meeting” attended by the shadow cabinet, union representatives and other senior party figures. This will take place when Sunak calls the election.

The economy (35%), inflation (25%) and the NHS (24%) remain top concerns for Britons according to the November 2023 Ipsos Issues Index.

So what will the Labour manifesto say about the NHS?

Well, Kier Starmer has said the NHS is not sustainable unless we make serious, deep, long-term changes.

” is one of Labour’s 5 missions. Imagine having to choose just 5 key areas of focus, out of Everything That Needs Fixing.

NHS is key for Labour. Always has been. Labour’s plan for the NHS:

1.???? Drive down waiting times and get patients diagnosed earlier – Labour’s mission plan refers to using spare capacity in the independent sector to ensure patients are treated quicker; this was the approach of New Labour back in the early 2000s. ?

2.???? Dentistry Rescue Plan

3.???? A Neighbourhood Health Service with Neighbourhood Health Centres

4.???? Technology and early diagnosis

5.???? Better Public Health - banning the promotion of vaping and junk food to young people and supporting an incremental ban on smoking

6.???? Mental health – drive down waiting lists and mental health professionals in schools

But HOW will Labour get the NHS back on its feet if it wins the election?

Wes Streeting talks about the biggest expansion in NHS staff in history, harnessing breakthroughs in life sciences and technology – “booking an appointment with a GP as quickly as you can order a takeaway”…

Starmer talks about a shift to technology, describing it as a revolution that will accelerate a move away from hospital based care and a mindset that views health as all about sickness.

?He talks about a move from an analogue to a digital NHS. He describes technology as the game changer, the route to the NHS offering shorter waiting times – better treatment, early diagnosis, and meaningful prevention. He refers to the potential of AI.

Starmer acknowledges that to make this happen innovators need one route into the NHS not many, incentives to innovate throughout the system, fewer barriers to adoption, fewer hurdles to clear, less bureaucracy, more clinical trials, and a government that uses its full power to back our world leading life sciences. Well yes.

This is all heartening stuff. It’s a good summary of current problems - for people working in and around the health eco system these are all well known -? as are the solutions (broadly more money, more people, more innovation… so it was ever thus).

A key challenge is one of implementation. This creates an opportunity at an inflexion point for innovative thinkers and companies to come together to put forward practicable solutions. This will be post-Manifesto, so probably not for Rav Athwal, but a crucial step nonetheless.

Message me if you have some ideas you'd like to share. ?