Now we’ve got Jeremy Hunt as health secretary, “how long till we have Murdoch medicine?” asked UNISON’s Angela Rayner, speaking in the health debate at the Labour Party conference in Manchester today.
The quips continued as UNISON member and NHS Direct worker Sandra Maxwell discussed the health secretary’s “previous role for B-Sky-B, sorry, as culture secretary.”
The health workers were followed by shadow health secretary Andy Burnham who told Mr Hunt: “If you promise to stop privatising the NHS, I promise never to mispronounce your name …”
Conference delegates queued up to voice their support for the NHS and its workers. Ms Rayner told conference of her “son, born at 23 weeks gestation”, but thanks to the NHS, “Charlie survived and he’s doing well today.”
Ms Maxwell told conference: “It’s been a tough year for the NHS, but we’ve been trying hard to hold it together.”
She said she feared that “the government is intent on wrecking all the good advances made under Labour.”
Ms Rayner held out hope, praising Labour for its commitment to repealing the Health and Social Care Act, observing: “It is good to hear that Labour remain committed to getting rid of this hated piece of legislation.”
And she added that “our challenge now is to ensure that our party comes up with a credible alternative.
“One that puts cooperation ahead of competition. One that puts patients above profit. And one that ensures the NHS is something Britain can celebrate for decades to come.”