‘Crack teams’ of clinicians drafted in to get sick Britons into work – Streeting

Senior doctors will be drafted in to implement reforms aimed at getting patients treated faster in economically inactive areas.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting said ‘crack teams’ of clinicians would bring ‘the best of the NHS to the rest of the NHS’ (James Manning/PA) (PA Wire)

“Crack teams” of leading clinicians will be sent to hospitals in areas of the country with the highest levels of economic inactivity as part of a Government bid to boost employment, Wes Streeting will announce.

Senior doctors will be drafted in to implement reforms aimed at getting patients treated faster in parts of England with the biggest numbers of people out of work due to ill health, the Health Secretary will say.

Speaking at the Labour Party annual conference in Liverpool, Mr Streeting will vow to “take the best of the NHS to the rest of the NHS.”

The teams have been selected due to their pace of delivery, with some having developed “new ways of working” that allow them to carry out “four times more operations than normal,” Labour said.

They will start with 20 hospital trusts in the parts of the country with the biggest rates of economic inactivity, Mr Streeting will say.

Some 2.8 million people are out of work due to ill-health, 500,000 more than in 2019, according to the Office for National Statistics.

The Office for Budget Responsibility forecasts that the bill for sickness and disability benefits will soar by £30 billion in the next five years, on current trajectories.

Mr Streeting is expected to say: “We’re sending crack teams of top clinicians to hospitals across the country to roll out reforms – developed by surgeons – to treat more patients, and cut waiting lists.

“The first hospitals targeted by these teams will be in areas with the highest numbers of people off work sick.

“Because our reforms are focused not only on delivering our health mission but also moving the dial on our growth mission.

“We will take the best of the NHS to the rest of the NHS, get sick Brits back to health and back to work.

“That’s the difference a Labour Government makes.”

The Health Secretary is also expected to hail Labour’s success in “ending the junior doctors’ strikes” after an above-inflation Government pay deal worth 22.3% was accepted by the British Medical Association.

But the Government faces further questions over how it will resolve an ongoing dispute with nurses after its offer of a 5.5% rise was rejected.

In an announcement timed awkwardly to clash with Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ speech to conference, the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) in England said it would not accept the deal by two-thirds in a record high turnout of around 145,000.