Shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth has said the appointment of Sajid Javid as the new health secretary is akin to ‘putting the fox in charge of the chicken coop’ given his record on austerity.
Speaking to the BBC, Jonathan Ashworth said the NHS entered the Covid-19 crisis ‘on the back of 10 years of underfunding’ and staff shortages, adding that Sajid Javid, as chancellor, ‘was responsible for that’.
He said the austerity has now, in part, led to 5.1 million people on waiting lists, over 300,000 people waiting a year for treatment, delayed cancer treatment and young people struggling to access mental healthcare.
Full story in Pulse, 28 June 2021