Starmer Concludes Health Team Ministerial Appointments
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- Published: Thursday, 11 July 2024 10:16
- Written by Guy Tuggle
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Following the appointment of Wes Streeting as Secretary of State for Health & Social Care, Prime Minister Keir Starmer has signed off on the remaining members of the Health and Social Care team.
Stephen Kinnock MP (Aberafan Maesteg), son of former Labour leader Lord Kinnock, is the new Minister of State responsible for Care.
Karin Smyth MP (Bristol South) has been appointed Minister of State for Health.
Andrew Gwynne MP (Gorton and Denton) and Baroness Merron will report to Smyth and Streeting from their new positions of Parliamentary Under-Secretaries of State at the Department of Health & Social Care.
Which of the two Parliamentary Under Secretaries of State will be given day-to-day responsibility for primary care, including dentistry, is due to be announced.
The Labour Party knows that NHS dentistry is in its ’last chance saloon’. Wes Streeting met with representatives of the British Dental Association on Monday - his first working day at the Department - and all eyes will be on his team to not only resolve the long running junior doctors dispute, but also to set in train a wholesale package of reforms to NHS dentistry and its broken contract.
Who are the new Health Ministers?
Prior to winning her seat in 2015, Ms Smyth was a manager at the former NHS Bristol Clinical Commissioning Group having previously been a non-executive director at Bristol North Primary Care Trust.
As a Bristol MP, Karin Smyth will be all too aware of the gravity of the NHS dental access crisis. Bristol hit the news headlines in February when aspirant patients in a neighbouring constituency to Smyth’s formed long queues outside a defunct BUPA dental practice in the St Paul’s area which was reopening under new management with NHS capacity. 1500 people were registered over two days.
Smyth comes to her post with experience: she was Shadow Health Minister prior to the general election on July 4th. In 2017 a constituent was jailed for fourteen weeks having threatened to kill her for ’failure to resolve his case’. Earlier this year Ms Smyth, who describes the NHS as ’my passion’ underwent surgery to a leg following the discovery of a melanoma.
Andrew Gwynne was born in Manchester and educated at Egerton Park Community High School, various northern colleges and the University of Salford. Aged 21, he became the youngest councillor in the country representing a ward in Denton.
Elected to Parliament in 2002, Gwynne has occupied a variety of shadow roles and has worked for experienced Secretaries of State including former Home Secretary Jaqui Smith and Ed Balls. He is a long standing campaigner for victims of the tainted blood scandal.
Baroness Merron held various ministerial roles under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown including Minister of Health from 2009-10. She has served as Chief Executive of the Board of British Jews since 2014. As an MP, she represented Lincoln from 1997-2010.
Whether Baroness Merron or Andrew Gwynne is given the ’Primary Care Minister’ role, formerly occupied by Dame Andrea Leadson and which will include dentistry, is due to be announced and GDPUK will publish the incumbent’s name as soon as it is confirmed.
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