Rishi Sunak holds emergency meeting with NHS officials as healthcare crisis deepens

British Premier Rishi Sunak convened an emergency meeting with National Health Service (NHS) and care leaders on Saturday as the United Kingdom gets plunged deeper into a healthcare crisis. According to The Guardian, the NHS Recovery Forum at 10 Downing Street aims to address key issues including urgent and emergency care, social care and delayed discharge and elective care and primary care.

As per a spokesperson for No 10, the meeting was “to help share knowledge and practical solutions so that we can tackle the most crucial challenges such as delayed discharge and emergency care." “As the Prime Minister made clear this week, easing the immediate pressures whilst also focusing on the long-term improvement of the NHS is one of his key promises,” the spokesperson said, adding, “We want to correct the unwarranted variation in NHS performance between local areas, because no matter where you live you should be able to access quality healthcare.”

However, the British Prime Minister has made it clear that the emergency meeting will likely not reverse the NHS’ fortunes. Attendees of the forum include NHS England CEO Amanda Pritchard, Cabinet Office minister Oliver Dowden, and Treasury minister John Glen.

The meeting was described as a “talking shop” by shadow health secretary Wes Streeting, who said, “After 13 years of mismanaging the NHS, this is the equivalent of the arsonists convening a forum with the fire brigade to put out the inferno they started. Patients deserve more than a talking shop.”

What is going on in the UK? 

Saturday's meeting comes as several A&E units find it challenging to deal with demand and trusts, and ambulance services announcing serious incidents. It also comes at a time when nurses and ambulance staff conduct strikes over salaries and working conditions. Pat Cullen, the Royal College of Nursing general secretary, urged Sunak to “grasp the nettle and negotiate with nurses” about the settlement in order to avoid the strikes.

“We’ll, of course, go to the meeting and make the case for nursing in all forums, but it’s sadly not what’s going to prevent strike action that’s planned for 10 days’ time,” she told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. “I have put out an olive branch to get us to the table, I’m asking the prime minister now to meet the RCN halfway. The ball is firmly in the prime minister’s court,” she added.