Tony Blair says the NHS is 'not serving its purpose' and needs more help from the private sector

Former Labor Prime Minister Sir Tony Blair has said 'private' shouldn't be seen as a 'swear word' as he called for a " full cooperation" between the public and private sector in the NHS

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Sophy Ridge asks Sir Tony Blair if the NHS provides a good standard of care

Sir Tony Blair has said the NHS is 'not serving its purpose' and should rely on greater private sector involvement.

The former Prime Minister said he does not believe the health service is providing decent care to all patients at the moment, despite the hard work of staff.

Sir Tony called for 'full cooperation between the public and private sectors' and said 'private' should not be a 'dirty word'.

Millions of people languish on NHS waiting lists as doctors battle to reduce the Covid backlog and deal with the impact of industrial action.

A record 7.47 million people were waiting to start routine hospital treatment at the end of May, according to the NHS.

Patients face further disruption as junior doctors and consultants refused to call off their strike action after the government accepted the pay review body's proposal for $6 pay rises %.

Tony Blair has given his verdict on the NHS (

Picture:

SKY)

Sir Tony gave a grim assessment of the state of the NHS in an interview with Sky News' Sophy Ridge on Sunday.

When asked if he thought the NHS was providing a good level of service, he replied "No, at the moment. In some respects the staff are doing a great job in difficult circumstances.

"And I think the general experience of people is that if you're having really acute difficulties, it still provides very good care.

"But a lot of waiting lists are terrible, COVID, of course, has made it much worse.

"The truth is, you won't have much more money to spend, but you need to think about how we can do things completely differently."

Sir Tony said there should be 'full cooperation between the public and private sectors' to support the struggling NHS.

Mr. Blair said, "The always problem with the public sector, and that's what I've learned in government, is that the hardest part is getting it to innovate.

"Because in the private sector, if you don't innovate, you go broke, but that doesn't happen in the public sector."

He added that "private" should not be considered a "dirty word".

Sir Tony added: "The NHS is a great institution and we should keep its principles. But the truth? I mean you don't have to be a genius to look at it and say it's not is not the case, it does not serve its purpose."

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