NHS ‘broken’ says Starmer as report warns children’s health faces deadly crisis

Children’s health is facing a deadly crisis, with life-threatening diseases, obesity, eating disorders and infectious diseases on the rise, an alarming new government report reveals.

Sir Keir Starmer blames the Conservatives for the “spoiled NHSand says the Tories’ NHS reforms are “inexcusable and” hopeless.

Shocking findings about decay good health of the nation’s children are revealed in research by cancer surgeon and former health minister Lord Darzi.

He has been raising the bar on issues including:

• Declining vaccination rates for key childhood vaccines – some declining by a decade – making measles and other infectious diseases more common;

• ADHD medication prescriptions for children and adolescents up 10% last year;

• Hospital admissions for children and young people with eating disorders to increase by 82% from 2019-2020;

• Children from poor families are now twice as likely to be obese by the age of five, with one in three children becoming obese by 11 in the poorest communities;

• Life-threatening and life-limiting conditions among children have increased by 40% in the last 20 years.

“Too many are being let down,” Chief Darzi said in his report.

“Youth is important because it is short; too many children spend too much time waiting for care. It is clear that the NHS must do better,” he adds.

Lord Darzi’s Report for the Secretary of Health Wes Streeting it also revealed that more than 100,000 babies under the age of two were left waiting for more than six hours in A&E departments in England last year.

He found a 60% increase in waiting times for the previous age group in the last 15 years, with 800,000 children and young people on NHS waiting lists for hospital treatment.

The report said about 175,000 had been waiting six to 12 months, and 35,000 had been waiting for more than a year.

He also discovered that almost 500,000 children and young people were on a waiting list for mental health support and that 160,000 of them had been waiting for more than 12 months.

The NHS is ‘broken’

Speaking ahead of the report’s launch, Sir Keir said: “The effects of a broken NHS are being felt across our society – including our children.

“The challenges we inherited are strong, but I intend to prepare the foundations so that we do not rebuild our health services, but more importantly change and renew them for the benefit of future generations.

“That also means equipping the NHS to prevent illness, not just cure it – so that we can all live long, healthy lives, from childhood to old age.”

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And in a TV interview, the Prime Minister said: “Everybody watching this who has used the NHS, or who has relatives who know it’s broken, knows it’s a broken, unforgivable, situation. of our NHS.”

Regarding the reasons for this crisis, Sir Keir said: “The money taken out of the NHS, especially in the early years of the coalition from 2010 onwards, the Lansley reforms, which were unreliable, and now of course it’s COVID above all, that has put us in this bad situation for the NHS.”

He added: “It was the last government that broke the NHS. Our job now, through Lord Darzi, is to understand exactly how that happened and to bring about change, starting with the first steps – 40,000 more votes. But we have to make difficult improvements.”

Responding to the report, Royal College of Nursing secretary-general Professor Nicola Ranger said “patient care is not where it should be”.

“The standards of school nurses were lowered by the previous government and that had a direct impact on children’s lives,” he said.

“Today’s children and young people, without early years or mental health support, pay the same price as the most vulnerable adults without care packages.

“This week’s report should start to provide answers and health and care professionals will look closely at where staff see their role. A dysfunctional NHS will remain an NHS for a long time.” broken.”

Shadow health secretary Victoria Atkins said: “After 14 years of opposition, at a time of reflection on the issues facing modern health, Labour’s instinct is to politicize health children, rather than providing solutions and reform to our NHS.”

He said the Tories “always recognize there are pressures” on the health service, including “the influence of social media” and “a growing reluctance in some parts of society to vaccinate”. children”.

He added: “Finding a solution to these issues requires thinking deeply and intellectually, not chasing heads.”

“Unfortunately, all Labor has made a healthy living since the election giving press releases, appointing friends and giving financial rewards to young doctors who are beating, with no plans to change.”

Health secretary Wes Streeting and shadow health secretary Victoria Atkins it will be on Sunday Morning with the Trevor Phillips program on Sky News from 8.30 this morning