With Labour’s landslide victory declared, Sir Keir Starmer took to the stage to celebrate, promising that “change starts now”. Nowhere is this more desperately needed than in our health. With his Prime Ministership, Sir Keir inherited a country commonly referred to as the “Fat Man of Europe” because two-thirds of adults are overweight or obese. Cancer treatment is 20 years behind the rest of the continent and the number of people too ill to work is at a record high. Stretched to its limits, the NHS has around 7.6 million people waiting for treatment, according to figures from May, and it would take 685 years to clear the current backlog on waiting lists. It is no wonder that less than 25% of people are satisfied with the NHS, compared to 70% in 2010.
Labour will inevitably hope that the theme song of its last election victory holds true: things are only going to get better. But there will be no small challenges ahead for our new leaders. They will have to deal with an increase in years of poor health, increasing numbers of doctors burning out and retiring early, and quotas in medical schools halting the flow of new recruits.
Here, three experts talk about the health priorities they want the Labor government and new Health Minister Wes Streeting to address.
Tim Spector
Geneticist and co-founder of ZOE Health Research Company
“We have the worst health system in Europe, the worst levels of obesity, poor mental health and poor cancer outcomes because we have failed to implement any serious preventive health policy over the last 20 years. And our diet in particular is the worst in Europe, with around 60% of our food being ultra-processed.”
“The first thing the Government needs to do is acknowledge the scale of the problem – it costs taxpayers nearly £100 billion a year as a result of unhealthy eating, including three million people who are unable to work – money that could be spent on prevention and improving the economy.”
“Government-funded institutions such as schools, universities, care homes and hospitals should limit ultra-processed food intake to 10 percent, as is the case in many Mediterranean countries. We cannot rely on the future of the Ozempic vaccine. Politicians here seem resigned to the lobbying power of the big food industry. These junk food companies make £30bn a year, but it’s the rest of the country that’s paying the price.
“I think the NHS should be taken out of political control. In most other countries it’s not the province of political parties that runs the health service. The health service is too important to be political. It would be much better if it was run by an independent group with a 10-year plan and budget and without politicians having to bear all the responsibility. That might help us focus on what really matters – doctors treating people and giving lifestyle advice, rather than wasting time on a health system that has become very bloated, inefficient and bureaucratic.”
“Unfortunately, our whole system, which was once the envy of the world, has become pretty corrupted. It’s time to take a leaf out of how our neighbours operate their systems and what works well, and not be afraid to borrow from them and not be afraid to change.”
Henry Dimbleby
Former Government Food Minister and co-founder of Chefs in Schools
