Rishi Sunak says it will 'take time' to reduce NHS waitlists as he prepares 'significant' workforce plan

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

Rishi Sunak said it ‘will take time’ to reduce long NHS waitlists as he promises a new workforce plan will ‘do something that no government has ever done’.

The Prime Minister said his 15-year plan, named the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan, will be ‘one of the most significant announcements in the history of the NHS’.

His comments come just days after junior doctors across England announced a five-day strike action will be staged next month in a dispute with the government over pay and staffing. Join our WhatsApp Top Stories and Breaking News group by clicking this link Sunak conceded that “it will take time” for the overall NHS waiting list to come down, but said he believes his plan will see the “largest expansion in training and workforce” in its history.

He told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg show: “This week we’re going to do something that no government has ever done. “It’s going to be one of the most significant announcements in the history of the NHS, and that is to make sure that it has a long-term workforce plan so that we can hire the doctors, nurses and GPs that we need, not just today, but for years into the future, to provide the care that we all need.” He said it amounts to the “largest expansion in training and workforce in the NHS’s history. “But it’s also going to draw on the latest innovations and techniques to streamline the process from classroom to clinic, because it’s right that healthcare adapts and evolves as our needs change.” Pressed on how long it will take to see the benefits of the changes, he conceded it could take “five, 10, 15 years for these things to come through”.