The NHS will collapse like former High Street giant Woolworths unless it is radically reformed, Wes Streeting has warned.
The health secretary said it must be brought “into the 21st century” as Keir Starmer prepares to unveil Labour’s plans to slash waiting lists in a major speech on Monday.
More patients who need elective care will be able to decide where they are treated, while the NHS app will be overhauled to give people more choice.
On Sky News’ Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips, Streeting said: “We want to reduce waiting times to 18 weeks by the end of the Parliament. That’s the NHS constitutional challenge.
“That is a big, tough challenge that the country’s set for us – and the prime minister’s holding me to account, as well as the public – to deliver.
“So, it is ambitious, it’s not going to be easy, and when the prime minister sets out the plan, you will see the wide range of reform we’re putting in place to modernise the NHS to give it the tools to do the job, to bring it into the 21st century, so the NHS doesn’t go the way of Woolies and collapse.
“And I do think it is that existential for the NHS, which is why both in opposition and now in government, we have placed such heavy emphasis on reform, not just investment.”
The last Woolworths stores closed their doors in January 2009 after a century of trading in the UK.
At the moment, the NHS app can be used for the likes of booking and managing appointments, viewing health records and ordering repeat prescriptions.
The upgraded platform will allow patients who need non-emergency elective treatment to choose from a range of providers, including those in the independent sector.
Users will also be able to view and manage appointments, book tests and checks at convenient locations such as community diagnostic centres, receive test results, and book any necessary follow-up appointments, such as remote consultations or surgery.
Streeting said: “If the wealthy can choose where and when they are treated, then working class patients should be able to as well, and this Government will give them that choice.
“Our plan will reform the NHS, so patients are fully informed every step of the way through their care, they are given proper choice to go to a different provider for a shorter wait, and put in control of their own healthcare.”