Sajid Javid forced to admit Daily Mail does not run the NHS

An interview on Sky News took an interesting turn Thursday, when the health secretary was asked if the Daily Mail runs the NHS. https://twitter.com/ukiswitheu/status/1448547192675966979 Sajid Javid was being interviewed by Kay Burley about a plan to give GPs in England £250m to improve their services, but only if they increase the numbers of patients being seen face-to-face. The move follows a heated debate from under-pressure GPs and Javid, who has pushed for family doctors to increase in-person consultations. https://twitter.com/hendopolis/status/1448535849675730946

The Daily Mail on Thursday attempted to take credit for the initiative, claiming it to be a 'Mail campaign triumph'. Its front page also carried a headline reading, 'Sajid, Boris and NHS boss credit Mail for scheme'.

https://twitter.com/hendopolis/status/1448400188666785796 During the Sky interview, Burley said to Javid: "I was speaking to a GP this morning, who said to me, ask him, who runs the NHS, you, or the Daily Mail?" Javid appeared to be slightly taken aback by the question, but responded, saying: "This NHS is run, everyone knows how the NHS is run..." Under the new scheme GP practices in England will be able to share in a "winter access fund" to hire more staff, but payments will be conditional on increasing the number of patients who get an in-person appointment. GPs, in future, must ask patients if they want to come into the surgery or are happy to talk to a doctor or practice nurse on the phone or by videocall instead. If the patient wants to come into the surgery, GPS must then arrange a face-to-face consultation.

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