Government's new health strategy ‘no more than hiding the crisps', Tories say
The Government's 10-year health strategy to tackle demand on the NHS centres on 'hiding the crisps', a shadow minister has said.
Under new proposals, retailers could be made to set targets to increase their sales of less fattening products.
Shadow work and pensions secretary Helen Whately said setting mandatory targets for supermarkets was 'nanny state'.
'They had 14 years in opposition to think about what they wanted to do about the NHS, they've had a year in government, and the number one thing in it seems to be hide the crisps,' she told Sky News' Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips.
'It's obviously the nanny state, but it's also not what people want for the NHS.
'People want to hear how they're going to get to see their GP.
'Telling people what to buy, I think, is not up to government. I believe in personal responsibility.'
Health Secretary Wes Streeting told the same programme the Government will work with supermarkets to help 'nudge people in the right direction'.
'By taking the approach we're taking with supermarkets, they will decide through the combination of where they put their products, how they do price promotions, the reformulation, what products they choose to put on the shelves,' he said.
'They will work with us to make sure that we nudge people in the right direction without any of us even noticing, in the same way that we've nudged the country in the other direction since the 1990s.'
Rejecting suggestions that the idea was too controlling, he said it was different to 'traditional nanny statism, where we regulate more heavily on price, on marketing, on what's sold'.
Labour's 10-year health plan is set to be published next week.
Other changes could include money for hospitals being linked to patient ratings.
According to the Times, part of the proposals will see patients contacted a few weeks after their hospital treatment for feedback.
Based on their responses, money could be diverted to a local 'improvement fund'.
Another proposal could see NHS users awarded points for upping their step count and eating healthily.
Points can then be traded for vouchers, with discounts at supermarkets and coffee shops, according to The Sun.
Hundreds of bodies responsible for overseeing and running parts of the NHS in England are likely to be scrapped as part of the changes.
Mr Streeting has said the current system is too complex and needs reform.
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Times
2 hours ago
- Times
Times letters: Tying hospital funds to patient satisfaction
Write to letters@ Sir, There is a big difference between motivation and financial incentives ('Hospitals' funds tied to patient satisfaction', news, Jun 28). Most health and other professionals are primarily motivated by wanting to make a difference in the world and have an impact in their chosen field. They are not indifferent to money, but are far more likely to be demotivated by lack of money than motivated by financial rewards. Improved technology and better systems are vital, but the NHS is essentially a people-based service. The new NHS plan will only succeed if the people who have to implement it are personally committed to doing so — providing the extra discretionary effort and passion that money can't buy. The NHS plan of 2000 was similarly far-reaching: it enjoyed enormous support from many NHS professionals and organisations and kickstarted the major improvements of the following CrispChief executive of NHS England and permanent secretary of the Department of Health 2000-06 Sir, It's hard to see how cutting the income of a poorly performing NHS trust will result in its treating its unfortunate patients better: the reverse is far more likely. A fairer and more intelligent policy would be to replace the managers of badly run trusts with others who have a track record of serving the public ParlourLincoln Sir, Too often elaborate and expensive plans are made without any patient involvement. If the ten-year NHS plan is to be successful then patient representation on every single 'change' project should be encouraged. The patients' voice needs to be clear and loud, so as to have a real impact on future Mabs ChowdhuryConsultant dermatologist, Cardiff Sir, To achieve success during the 20-plus years that I was a clinical director in an NHS commissioning group, I spent my life explaining to the non-clinical managers why their initial ideas might not work for clinicians. Labour's suggestion will only work if the managers are willing clinicians who know the system; to think otherwise is folly. One need only look at what happened when the pandemic struck, and managers abandoned ship to the doctors and nurses, to realise Shelley HaylesOxford Sir, You report that patients will decide how much hospitals are paid by rating their treatment and that an improved NHS app will give patients more choice over who treats them and where. On the first issue there has never been a problem with staff motivation but there has been a perennial one with facilities provided (namely, operating theatres, beds and equipment) — which is hardly the responsibility of those providing the care. On the second issue there have been many studies to show that patients prefer local treatment, where any complications can be dealt with promptly by the same team and overall travel kept to a minimum. These proposals will be ineffective and wasteful. Instead we need to eliminate inefficiency and provide adequate facilities for a professional workforce that should be trusted and not treated like difficult ThomasRet'd consultant orthopaedic surgeon, Itchen Stoke, Hants Sir, I enjoyed Ben Macintyre's account of Anglo-Iranian relations ('Iranian distrust of the British runs deep', Jun 28) but I fear he is too accepting of some of the propagandist claims regularly made by the Islamic Republic. He omits to mention British support for the Constitutional Revolution between 1905 and 1909, particularly the role played by the extraordinary Philo-Persian Cambridge scholar and activist Edward Browne. He might also have recalled Lord Curzon's intense interest in the country. He cites British support for Reza Khan in 1921, but after the chaos of the previous ten years many Iranians welcomed the stability he brought. Macintyre claims that Mohammad Mosaddegh was 'left-leaning'. He was certainly reformist and nationalist, but he came from an old Qajar family and had been a high functionary in the last days of the dynasty, suggesting paternalism rather than socialism. We and the Americans were certainly involved in his overthrow. But that would not have happened if substantial elements in the army, the religious establishment and the population at large had not supported the Shah. Finally, the present regime is well aware of the decline in our international influence. They shout loudly about us not because they believe we are really capable of damaging them but because it is helpful to them in rallying nationalist John JenkinsFormer British ambassador to Syria, Iraq and Saudi Arabia; Matfield, Kent Sir, Ben Macintyre's article brought back memories from the late 1960s, when an Iranian student friend told me that in Iran, should someone trip over a stone, you could be sure that an Englishman had put it AlbrightRottingdean, Brighton & Hove Sir, As a teacher I found that gaining the trust and support of parents whose children who were a threat to good order in school was enough to resolve the problem. Jenni Russell's comment piece ('Fear of knives is destroying the social order' Jun 28) reminds us that the more young men carry knives, the more others feel forced to do so. When teenagers appear in court charged with knife crimes their parents are not obliged to attend. These are the people who have brought these young people into the world and have engaged with the responsibility of bringing them up. Owners of dangerous dogs can appear in court; why not the parents of dangerous teenagers? Then courts could demand their co-operation and InsonEast Mersea, Essex Sir, I was much impressed by Jenni Russell's views on the disturbance of social order by petty crimes. Perhaps two days in supervised stocks might provide an effective solution; why waste money on incarceration when the low-cost public shame and indignity of this suffered by offenders might well make them mend their ways within a very short time?Peter HardymentCobham, Surrey Parliament's lingo Sir, The proposed 'inclusive' makeover to parliament's 'outdated' language must be resisted ('Division bell rings for 'confusing' parliamentary terms', news, Jun 28). 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When it comes, smile apologetically, pick up your phone and say you've just learnt that your friend can't make it and you'll be eating alone. You'll never be asked to JohnstoneLondon NW1 Sir, Dafydd Thomas's letter (Jun 28) reminded me of a dinner party in Nashville at which I was the only one of the 12 guests who did not carry a gun. The hostess said that she advised her children when returning home late to shout up 'It's only me, Mother'. Otherwise, she said, 'I'll shoot 'em'.Averil MansfieldLondon W2 Sir, Your editorial (Jun 28) accuses the M&S Red Diamond Strawberry and Creme sandwich of 'desecrating' the legacy of the 4th Earl of Sandwich, thus perpetuating the legend that the Earl created the delicacy. The Romans, among others, might contest that claim. The first Earl of Sandwich, however, whose scorched remains, recognisable only by his clothing and medals, were washed ashore after his ship was set on fire at the Battle of Solebay in 1672, could lay claim to the dubious honour of being history's first example of a 'toasted' CooteErith, Kent Write to letters@
Sky News
2 hours ago
- Sky News
From Brazil to Westminster: How health pilot is proving a force for good for patients and the NHS
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The Independent
4 hours ago
- The Independent
NHS to use AI ‘alarm system' to prevent future patient safety scandals in world-first
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