Health Secretary: NHS is a priority for this government
Health Secretary Wes Streeting insists the NHS “is a priority” for the government and insists “we are going to be honest with the country” over future funding for the service. Report by Blairm. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/itn and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/itn
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00:00We committed to investment in our NHS linked to reform in our manifesto.
00:05Those were promises that were fully costed and fully funded,
00:08promises we will keep, promises the country can afford.
00:12I'm working with the Chancellor, Head of the Budget and the Spending Review,
00:15to make sure that the money that goes into the NHS really does deliver
00:19the improvements for patients and better value for taxpayers' money.
00:23It's not easy, and by the way, it's why the Chancellor is having to make
00:27some really tough choices at the moment to stabilise the public finances,
00:30because unless you do, we all will end up paying a heavier price down the line.
00:35But the NHS is a priority for this government.
00:39I wish the inheritance wasn't as bad as it has been,
00:43but we're not going to duck the difficult decisions.
00:45We are going to make the hard choices and we are going to be honest with the country
00:48about both the scale of the crisis we've inherited
00:51and the time it will take to make things right.
00:53And I hope that within that honesty is the possibility of generating the confidence
01:00that we're actually going to get this right and actually do what we say,
01:03because I know that among the many things people are worried about in the country at the moment,
01:06it's not just the state of the public finances or the state of the NHS,
01:09it's trust in us as politicians.
01:11And I hope people appreciate the honesty,
01:13even if they don't always agree with the tough choices we're making.