New health minister brands NHS 'broken' ahead of pay talks

The new Health Secretary, Wes Streeting, has declared that the NHS is 'broken' on his first day in office, stating that discussions with junior doctors will commence next week. The Ilford North MP emphasized that the health service is 'going through the biggest crisis in its history' and that it cannot be fixed overnight. Mr. Streeting mentioned that he had a conversation with the British Medical Association (BMA) on Friday to initiate fresh talks aimed at resolving a long-standing pay dispute. The BMA described the call as 'positive' and has consistently requested a 35% pay increase to compensate for what it claims are 15 years of below-inflation pay rises. Mr. Streeting noted that Labour, which is in power for the first time in 14 years, had pledged to begin negotiations urgently 'and that is what we are doing'. 'From today, the policy of this department is that the NHS is broken,' he stated. His remarks came shortly after Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer appointed Labour MPs to new positions. Mr. Streeting, who retained his seat by a narrow 528-vote margin, said the new government would be 'honest' about the challenges it faced. He added: 'When we said that patients are being failed on a daily basis, it wasn't political rhetoric, but the daily reality faced by millions. 'Previous governments have not been willing to admit these simple facts. But in order to cure an illness, you must first diagnose it. ' Labour has promised to deliver an additional 40,000 operations, scans, and appointments per week in England - totaling two million a year - by introducing more weekend services and utilizing the private sector. They stated that the funding would come from cracking down on non-dom tax arrangements. The BBC has reached out to the Conservatives for comment. Junior doctors in England last went on strike at the end of June in their prolonged pay dispute. Mr. Streeting previously indicated that he would not meet the 35% pay rise demanded by the BMA. However, he mentioned that there was 'space for a discussion' on pay, as well as negotiations on how to improve working conditions for medics in training. Junior doctors constitute nearly half of the medical workforce in the NHS, with two-thirds of them being BMA members.