Wes Streeting accused of ‘chaotic and incoherent approach’ to NHS reform | Wes Streeting

Wes Streeting has been accused of taking a “chaotic and inconsistent approach” to reforming the NHS that made it impossible for the government to achieve its own targets, according to a damning report by the Institute of Government (IfG).

The report praises elements of how the health minister has managed the health service in his first year in office, including improving performance at hospitals and retaining staff. A pay deal reached with junior doctors last year helped avoid a winter of NHS strikes

But he also criticizes key aspects of his performance, including the way he handled the abolition of NHS England and his failure to act to prevent the exodus of senior GPs.

The findings threaten to damage Streeting’s reputation after a turbulent week in which he was forced to deny accusations from Keir Starmer’s allies that he was preparing a leadership challenge against the prime minister.

Stuart Hoddinott, deputy director of the IfG and author of the report, said: “Some positive steps have been taken: performance in hospitals is slowly improving, there is a really big increase in the number of GPs and the layoff rate of hospital staff is the lowest recorded outside of the pandemic.

“But this has been undermined by a chaotic and inconsistent approach to reforming the service. The announcement of the abolition of NHS England was handled appallingly and management cuts to integrated care boards have been an unnecessary distraction.”

He added: “Worse still, nothing the government does will address the ongoing exodus of GP partners and it has made decisions that could actively harm the adult social care sector. Any further weakening of general practice and social care would be a disastrous legacy for Streeting and the government.”

The Ministry of Health and Social Services was contacted for opinion.

Government officials believe their political success depends on whether they can improve NHS performance, and Chancellor Rachel Reeves has made this one of her top three priorities in this month’s budget.

Streeting is thought to be the most likely person to replace the prime minister if he leaves before the next election, while his performance at the health ministry is under even closer scrutiny.

Despite Streeting’s promise of sweeping reforms to the way healthcare is run, the report finds that performance in many areas stagnated and even fell in some cases last year.

He criticizes the health secretary’s decision to abolish NHS England as a rushed, poorly explained distraction, calling it “an exemplary case of how complex policy decisions and announcements should not be made”.

A claim for more than £1bn to cover redundancy costs arising from the removal of Streeting was recently rejected by the Treasury.

The report also accuses the health secretary of pulling the NHS in contradictory directions; For example, he says he wants to provide more care to the community and then proposes new “integrated care organizations” that could result in allocating more money to hospitals.

The report adds that Streeting provided little detail on how his plans would be implemented, beyond relying on emerging technologies such as voice capture tools to take notes on GPs.

The report finds that the NHS is still struggling to improve productivity, with less than 10 per cent of areas managing to increase the number of elective procedures they carry out by more than the number of extra staff they employ.

As a result, it warns: “The government will struggle to meet its flagship target of 92% of patients waiting no more than 18 weeks from referral until they begin consultant-led treatment for non-urgent health problems. There is also little chance of meeting national waiting time targets for urgent care and cancer treatment.”