One of the few jokes in Jeremy Hunt’s Autumn Statement was when the Chancellor started talking about himself. As is the custom in fiscal events, he praised a colleague who had come up with an idea that he was now adopting, though it was immediately obvious that this member was Hunt:
On staff shortages, the former chair of the Health and Social Care Select Committee put forward the case for a long-term workforce plan. He even wrote a book about them. I have listened carefully to his proposals and believe they have merit. So the Department of Health and Social Care and the NHS will publish an independently-verified plan for the number of doctors, nurses and other professionals we will need in five, ten and 15 years’ time.
MPs chuckled indulgently.
When Hunt became Chancellor, a lot of NHS folk felt they’d finally got someone on the inside of the Treasury, which has historically seen the Department of Health as a spending black hole.
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