Jeremy Hunt defends record in fiery Newsnight clash with Emily Maitlis about 'NHS crisis'
JEREMY Hunt appeared on BBC Newsnight to defend his record as Health Secretary but found himself embroiled in a heated debate.
The interview comes as the Health Secretary issued an apology to patients after the crippled NHS was forced to cancel thousands of routine operations.
He said the controversial decision was taken to allow a "planned, methodical, thoughtful" approach.
Speaking on Newsnight, the Health Secretary said: “I think a crisis is when you have adverse circumstances and you don’t have a plan to deal with those challenges and that is not the case, in fact, it is the opposite.
“We have been planning most of the year now for the challenges of winter, but are there highly challenging circumstances on the frontline? Absolutely.
“The thing I would just like to say a big thank you to all the NHS staff, not just from me but the whole country because I think we can be incredibly proud of the efforts they are going to keep patients safe - working well beyond the call of duty.”
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But Newsnight presenter Emily Maitlis was incredulous. She blasted: “You are saying a big thank you to NHS staff, they are saying the following.
“Richard Fawcett, Senior Doctor in Emergency Medicine, said: ‘I personally apologise to the people of Stoke for the third world conditions of the department due to overcrowding’.
“Dr Taj Hassan President of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine: ‘We are seeing conditions people have not experienced in their working lives’.
“Tracy Bullock, Chief Executive of Cheshire Hospitals who said: ‘I am 30 years in and I’ve never seen anything like this’.
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“So, I will ask you again - is there a crisis?”
But Mr Hunt claimed the NHS was dealing with more people than it ever had done before, seeing 3,000 people a day on average than last year.
The Health Secretary continued: “There is a resources issue, but it is really important to recognise that this time of year creates pressures all over the world.
“For example, in Australia…”
But, Ms Maitlis interrupted: “Well it’s not about this time of year, is it?
“Three years ago in October of 2014, 200,000 people were in the group waiting for more than 18-weeks for treatment.”
She added, fiercely: “You will know well, that by the end of last year, that number had doubled - 400,000.
“So, this is not just a problem with the season, this is the direction the NHS is heading in.”
Mr Hunt replied: “Well, let’s just look at the longer term performance. Because in the five years that I have been Health Secretary we have an NHS doing 5,000 more operations every single day, the A and E Departments in this country are seeing 2,000 more people every single day within the four-hour target.
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“We have more doctors, more nurses and an independent report published in the middle of last year that in most major disease categories, outcomes have dramatically improved.”
But Ms Maitlis remained defiant, she said to Mr Hunt that he has failed to meet his targets of having patients seen within the four-hour period since July 2015.
She said: “Is that wrong?”
Mr Hunt replied: “No that is correct, but that is not the entire measure of the performance of the NHS.”
Ms Maitlis once again interjected: “Does the target not matter? Tell me if these targets are out of date and we can get rid of them.”
Mr Hunt said: “Of course it matters, but in that period there are 7,000 people alive today who would not be alive if we had the cancer survival rates of 2012.”
Again, the Newsnight presenter interrupted the Health Secretary, furiously: “But you set these targets and you’re missing them.
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“If the last time you met the target was in July 2015, then where are we now with that?”
Mr Hunt seemed slightly riled, and said with an intense stare: “Well I’ll tell you exactly where we are…”
Ms Maitlis said: “Go on.”
Mr Hunt continued, unfazed: “We are treating more people than we ever have in our history within the four-hour target.
“There is extreme pressure on the frontline and we are incredibly grateful for the hard work that those doctors and nurses are doing.”
Ms Maitlis concluded by asking the Health Secretary who would be held accountable for the current situation with the NHS.
He replied: “I take full responsibility, I am the Health Secretary. But I understand it is a big deal if you need to have a hip replaced and it has been delayed.”
