Minister of State for Health
It was the honour of my life to be appointed as Minister of State for Health in the newly formed Government, just days after the NHS marked its 76th anniversary.
For me, the NHS is personal. I spent 30 years working as a manager in the NHS before becoming an MP. I saw the power of good government to improve the system, working under the last Labour government as they delivered the shortest waiting times and highest patient satisfaction in history.
More recently, I experienced the NHS as a patient. When I was diagnosed with skin cancer in 2023, I saw some of the best of the health service first hand - receiving fantastic care from staff in Bristol. It also demonstrated the founding principles of the NHS, as a publicly funded service, free at the point of use. Of all the concerns running through my head at that time, a bill for the treatment I received was not one of them.
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These experiences drive my political passion to restore the NHS. I’m proud to have been given the opportunity and responsibility of rebuilding the health service, ensuring it is there for patients in the next 76 years – as it has been the last.
We know the scale of this challenge. The NHS is broken, with patients failed on a daily basis. It took the previous Government 14 years to drag the NHS into the greatest crisis in its history, and it will similarly take time to repair that damage. But we are determined to turn the NHS around. We’ve done it before, and together we will do it again.
Building an NHS fit for the future is one of Labour's five missions in government. You can read more about Labour's missions here.