Exclusive: health secretary says PM 100% committed to NHS in Guardian interview
Theresa May has decided to give the beleaguered NHS a “significant increase” in its budget to coincide with the service’s 70th birthday in July, the health secretary Jeremy Hunt has revealed.
The prime minister intends to ramp up spending in order to show that the Conservatives can be trusted to run the NHS and because it needs extra cash to tackle chronic understaffing, cope with the ageing population and improve care, Hunt said.
May will fulfil her pledge of a “long-term plan” for NHS funding by ditching the austerity-era 1% annual rises it has received since 2010, the health and social care secretary told The Guardian in an exclusive interview.
She is unbelievably committed. You should not underestimate how committed she is to the NHS. So she is absolutely 100% behind getting this right
“I’ve been making the NHS’s case that we need significant and sustainable funding increases to meet the demographic challenges we face, and the prime minister completely appreciates that.
“Now the economy is back on its feet and growing much more healthily we’re able to have a discussion for the first time about [a] significant increase in resources, and that presents enormous opportunity for the country in terms of the type of NHS that our children and grandchildren will experience,” Hunt added.