Therese Coffey, MP for Suffolk Coastal, has been named as the new Health Secretary, replacing Steve Barclay, as well as Deputy Prime Minister.
Ms Coffey was previously Secretary of State at the Department for Work and Pensions between 8 September 2019 and 6 September 2022, before being appointed to the health brief by new Prime Minister Liz Truss. She was Minister of State at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs between 25 July 2019 and 8 September 2019, and before this was Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs from 17 July 2016 to 25 July 2019. She was elected the Conservative MP for Suffolk Coastal in May 2010.
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‘I am honoured to be asked to serve as SoS for Health and Social Care. Patients are my top priority, as we focus on ABCD - ambulances, backlogs, care, doctors and dentists.’ said Ms Coffey.
Ms Coffey comes to the role at a time of uncertainty for the NHS, weeks before the RCN will take a decision on whether to strike.
‘Ms Coffey must buck the trend of her predecessors and listen to nursing staff. Our ask for professional and personal support cannot afford to fall on deaf ears - doing the right thing by nurses is the right thing by patients too,’ said RCN General Secretary and Chief Executive Pat Cullen.
‘The workforce crisis cannot be the elephant in the room any longer. Politicians skirt around the issue but, without enough staff, new promises will not be deliverable. A simple way to recruit and retain nursing staff - and to keep patients safe - is to pay them fairly for the invaluable work they do. Next week we will post strike ballot papers to 300,000 nursing staff across the UK. After many years of underinvestment, they are standing up for patients and themselves.’