Islington Keep Our NHS Public marked the 77th birthday of the NHS with a street stall at Islington’s Angel. Fifty-one people signed postcards telling Keir Starmer to invest in the NHS, not private companies.

The NHS is in crisis because of years of underinvestment and we do not believe that Wes Streeting’s 10 Year plan will restore it to the great public health system it once was. Labour’s 10 Year Health Plan for England relies on new technology and the private sector to solve all the problems, while imposing workforce cuts and sidestepping the real crisis of underfunding and understaffing.

However the Government spins it, this plan is simply not enough to undo 15 years of austerity.

The promises to focus more on preventative care duck the real and tragic crisis at the heart of emergency care including shortage of beds, staff, funds and social care.

The plan’s reliance on technology and AI signals an untested experiment, motivated by a desire to fuel economic growth and pander to big tech lobbyists.

In his speech announcing the plan, Starmer trumpeted the efficacy of the NHS paying for patients to be treated in the private sector. But, this model of taking money out of the already cash-strapped NHS to give to private companies is fooling no one. (Take a look at Why using private healthcare companies harms the NHS – and us for some examples of why privatisation does not work.)

It is no surprise that the Government’s 10-Year Health Plan has been published without a planned chapter on how the changes it proposes will be delivered.

This is a plan that talks up transformation but retreats from the values that underpin the NHS: universal, comprehensive, publicly funded and publicly provided care.

Not such a Happy Birthday!

Please read the joint statement from Keep Our NHS Public and SOS NHS and share widely.