NHS England has ‘maxed out on what is affordable’, says Mackey

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By Ella Pickover, PA Media

The NHS has “maxed out on what is affordable”, Sir Jim Mackey has said as he called on the service to “accelerate” improvements and stamp out unacceptable care which has become “normalised”.

The new chief executive of NHS England described the “shock and worry” of discovering that “undeveloped” plans for the NHS in England projected a multi-billion deficit for this year.

While expecting “some growth” from the Treasury in the upcoming spending review, he said the service faces “big choices” to “tackle variation” and “improve service standards”.

Meanwhile, Sir Jim said he will have “no problem” expressing his views to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and health secretary Wes Streeting.

Speaking at an event for the Medical Journalists Association in London, Sir Jim slammed “unacceptable” care – particularly for the elderly, which has become “normalised”.

He also expressed concerns over staff being “desensitised” to poor care – such as elderly people facing long waits on trolleys in A&E departments.