Wes Streeting tells Usdaw delegates that change has begun and the best is yet to come

Addressing conference delegates at Blackpool’s Winter Gardens, Wes Streeting said: “The NHS was broken. Broken by more than a decade of Tory failure. Broken, but not beaten. Because every day there are amazing people delivering outstanding and compassionate care despite all those challenges. Not beaten, because as Nye Bevan is often quoted as saying: ‘The NHS will last as long as there’s folk with faith left to fight for it.’ Well, every day since I became Health Secretary I’ve gone into work fighting for our NHS. While Nigel Farage might not believe in a taxpayer-funded National Health Service and Kemi Badenoch says she wants a debate about the NHS, there’s no debate where Labour stands. We will always defend our NHS as a publicly funded, public service, free at the point of use, so that when you fall ill you never have to worry about the bill.”

Addressing Usdaw’s long-standing mental health campaign, Wes Streeting continued: “I know Usdaw has long campaigned on the impact poor mental health and stress can have at work. And your ‘It’s good to talk’ campaign is helping to overcome stigma and offering practical support to members who may be struggling. Failing to take mental health seriously doesn’t just have an enormous impact on people. Absences take their toll on businesses, our NHS, and our economy as a whole. In the NHS, we’re expanding Talking Therapies. Last year, we provided almost 70,000 people with the support they need at work, up more than 60 percent on the year before. We know a timely intervention on mental health can save anguish and distress further down the line and to deliver this we need to expand the mental health workforce so everyone can access the right people, with the right support, at the right time. That’s why our Manifesto promised an extra 8,500 mental health staff. Tackling mental ill-health and the causes of mental ill-health. Central to good health and good mental health are good jobs. So while I’m focussed on fixing the foundations of our NHS, the whole Government is working hard to deliver our manifesto promise to deliver the new deal for working people.”

Acknowledging that while much has already been delivered by Labour, there is still much more to do, Wes Streeting concluded: “People are really struggling at the moment. Not living, just surviving. It’s not good for our health and it’s not good for our country. We were elected with a simple promise ‘change’. It won’t be enough for people to see it in the statistics, you need to feel it in your lives. Is my family better off? Is the NHS there for me when I need it? Do my kids attend good schools? Are my streets safe? Am I getting a fair wage for a hard day at work? Is our country better off than it was when I voted for change? Those are the questions people will be asking themselves at the next general election. In government, all of us feel that pressure to deliver the change people voted for. We don’t want to let you or our country down. Day by day, week by week, step by step, we will rebuild our economy, rebuild our public services and rebuild trust in politics. Lots done, so much more to do. Britain voted for change. We’ll deliver. Change has begun and the best is still to come.”