Wes Streeting’s 22 months as Health Secretary were marked by frequent media appearances and bold claims that the NHS was “on the road to recovery” under his leadership. In his resignation letter, he cited improvements in planned hospital treatment waits, ambulance response times, and A&E waiting figures as evidence of progress. However, critics argue that these claims were highly selective, ignoring persistent failures in urgent cancer treatment and long-standing reviews into maternity and mental health care that remain unresolved.
Sarah Woolnough, chief executive of the King’s Fund thinktank, acknowledged Streeting’s energy and the volume of policy documents produced, but questioned whether implementation matched the rhetoric. “Has there been the same energy and focus on implementing the government’s 10-year health plan? The answer is no,” she said. A former NHS executive said Streeting had no detailed plan for transforming the NHS and social care, describing him as “someone who told a good story” but whose substance would be shown to be wanting.
A hospital trust chief executive was more blunt, saying Streeting “talked a lot … but not effective,” and that NHS England’s Jim Mackey had done the heavy lifting. A Labour MP with NHS experience accused Streeting of chasing headlines and fighting with doctors rather than improving patient outcomes, adding: “Ask 100 people today if the NHS is more accessible than two years ago and they’ll all tell you ‘no’.”
Streeting did deliver some achievements, including the Tobacco and Vapes Act, a ban on junk food advertising before the 9pm watershed, and a 10-year health plan based on “three big shifts”. Yet Siva Anandaciva, the King’s Fund director of policy, noted Streeting faced a stagnant economy, post-Covid pressures, and industrial action—a difficult hand. But with a social care inquiry not reporting until 2028 and multiple unresolved reviews, critics say difficult decisions were repeatedly postponed.
