Responding to the Labour Party's announcement of plans to cut waiting lists and help people back into work, Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, said:

“Health leaders agree with the health and social care secretary that a healthy NHS is vital to both a healthy nation and a productive economy and so, they will welcome that the government will provide additional support to those NHS trusts in areas where there are the highest levels of sickness absence.

“Our recent analysis with the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) shows that reintegrating between half and three-quarters of people who have dropped out of the workforce for reasons of ill health since 2020 could deliver an estimated £109-177 billion boost to the UK’s GDP (2-3 per cent in 2029) and unlock £35-57 billion in fiscal revenue over the next five years.

“While we look forward to understanding what this announcement will mean in practice, it is clear that NHS services won’t need help to simply learn from the best but they will need additional investment and the space to put this into practice too.

“With a challenging winter period on the horizon, the government will need to use its Autumn Budget to deal with the NHS’s short-term deficit of at least £2.2bn as this is leading to local organisations either cutting or freezing posts, and to services halting or scaling back their transformation projects in order to respond to their immediate pressures.

“Also, it would be remiss for the government to overlook the powerful role that primary care can play in supporting people back to work, building on previous commitments to boost the proportion of the NHS budget allocated for these services.

“In the longer term, it is clear people should be supported far more to stay well and in work in the first place, rather than national policy having to respond at the point of sickness and workplace absence. The government’s 10-year strategy for health will be key to shifting the dial but unless NHS funding is restored to the long term average increases it needs, waiting lists and preventable illnesses will never come down to the desired levels.”