LEADING ARTICLE
The Times view on fixing the NHS: Unhealthy Plans
Both Labour and the Tories are guilty of excessive timidity in their plans to tackle the crisis in the health system
The Times
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For what all sides agree is one of the greatest challenges facing the country, what is most dispiriting is the lack of ideas. Both the Tories and Labour have rightly identified the crisis in the NHS as a critical issue before the next election. For Rishi Sunak, reducing NHS waiting times is one of his five priorities. For Sir Keir Starmer, “building an NHS fit for the future” is one of his five “missions” and the subject of a speech marking the publication of a policy document. Yet both the prime minister and the Labour leader offer remarkably similar prescriptions for the crisis, relying heavily on technology and patient choice in where they are treated to address backlogs and improve efficiency.
There’s no question that
