Starmer: The National Health Service must reform or die

The British Prime Minister Starmer has warned that Britain's state-run National Health Service must reform or die.

"What we need is the courage to deliver long-term reform, a major operation, not a Band-aid," Starmer said Thursday, AFP reported.

He said the NHS was at a fork in the road and had to choose how to meet these growing demands. "Raise taxes on workers to meet the increasing costs of an aging population, or make reforms... We know working people can't afford any more, so reform or die."

Mr Streeting, the health minister, told Sky News that the government would undertake "three major transformations" that would see some services moved from hospitals to the community, fully converted to digital form and "give staff the tools to tackle productivity challenges".

He said the government would not "just pour more money into a broken model and not reform it, as the Conservatives have done."

It follows a 142-page independent report that said the respected institution was in a "critical state".

The report found that the health of people in the UK has deteriorated over the past 15 years. Patients with many long-term conditions, such as diabetes and high blood pressure, have soared, while the UK has higher cancer rates than other countries and lags behind in treating major illnesses.

The waiting list has grown to 7.6 million, with one in 10 emergency ward patients waiting 12 hours or more to be seen.

The report's author, independent Member of the House of Lords David Darzi, said the NHS had fallen into a state of "disrepair" due to a lack of investment, top-down restructuring and the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

Nurses had earlier taken to the streets to demand a 30% pay rise in the struggling National Health Service, which is facing collapse.