STORY
Health Secretary Wes Streeting used his keynote speech at the 2025 UNISON Health Conference in Liverpool to pledge bold reforms to the NHS and social care system, promising to tackle violence against staff, improve pay fairness, and begin building a National Care Service. In a landmark address, Streeting—himself a UNISON member—became the first Labour Health Secretary in 15 years to speak at a UNISON conference. He emphasised that the days of promises from opposition were over: “This is not about what a Labour government would do—it’s about what we are doing.”
Reflecting on Labour’s landslide election victory last July, he paid tribute to UNISON’s role in returning 74 new MPs and placing three of its own into senior health positions, including himself, Karin Smyth, and Stephen Kinnock. Streeting pledged sweeping changes to tackle staff burnout and retention issues, announcing mandatory national reporting of violence against NHS workers and measures to ensure trust boards are held accountable for keeping staff safe. “Zero tolerance for violence and harassment of NHS staff,” he declared. “Campaigned for by UNISON. Denied by the Tories. Delivered by Labour.”
He described shocking examples of racist violence faced by health workers after a mass attack in Southport, including assaults on Filipino nurses and arson attacks on care workers. “If those thugs represented the worst of our country, our health and care workers represent the best,” he said. Streeting also promised to fix persistent problems with NHS pay grading by introducing a digital system to apply the Job Evaluation Scheme fairly across the board. “Too many NHS staff haven’t been paid for the job they actually do,” he said. “A fair day’s work for a fair day’s pay.”
The speech underscored Labour’s wider ambition to restore the NHS, which Streeting accused the Conservatives of leaving in its worst-ever state. He set out a dual mission: to stabilise the service and reform it for the long term. A ten-year plan—developed through what he described as the “biggest conversation in NHS history”—will be unveiled this spring. Key themes of the upcoming reforms include shifting care into communities, modernising NHS infrastructure, and creating a more preventative approach to healthcare. The Health Secretary listed recent achievements of the Labour government, including ending doctors’ strikes, cutting waiting lists for five consecutive months, diagnosing 80,000 cancer cases early, and delivering 2 million extra appointments seven months ahead of schedule.
On social care, Streeting defended Labour’s record against critics who claim not enough is being done. He announced the creation of the first universal career structure for adult social care workers and highlighted the largest-ever increase in carer’s allowance, alongside new fair pay agreements enshrined in the Employment Rights Bill. He echoed Keir Starmer’s belief that care workers deserve the same respect as their more high-profile public sector peers. “With a Labour government, they will get the respect their profession deserves,” he said.
The speech concluded with a fierce defence of the NHS’s founding principles. Streeting hit out at right-wing calls to reform the funding model and introduce patient charges. “Over my dead body,” he said defiantly. “We will always defend the NHS as a public service, free at the point of use.” Framing the moment as a crossroads for the country and the health service, Streeting urged NHS workers to “stay and help us rescue it,” pledging: “Change has begun—and the best is still to come.”
