Who is Victoria Atkins, the new health and social care secretary?
Posted 14 November 2023 - 15:28
Ex-Treasury minister talks of ending NHS strikes, cutting waiting lists and bolstering services – but her old department turned down NHS request for cash injection
Prime minister Rishi Sunak has appointed former Treasury minister and criminal barrister Victoria Atkins as England’s new health and social care secretary as part of a major cabinet reshuffle.
Ms Atkins is the seventh health and social care secretary in as many years and comes to the role at a time of unrest in the NHS, following a period of historic strike action by nurses and with doctors’ strikes unresolved.
Ex-Treasury minister will now see close-up effects of budget shortfalls on health and social care
She brings with her insider knowledge of the Treasury, having served as a minister there before her promotion to the cabinet. In her new role, she will have to grapple with constraints placed on the NHS by the Treasury’s recent refusal to release £1 billion of requested new funding to tackle intense service pressures.
She will be part of the next pay discussions for NHS staff, with the government expected to write to the NHS Pay Review Body for the 2024-25 pay round soon.
In 2021, she was among MPs who voted against protecting the title of ‘nurse’ in law.
‘I am determined to drive forward discussions to end the industrial action’
In a statement, the MP for Louth and Horncastle signalled she will engage with unions and seek to end ongoing industrial disputes.
‘I am honoured to have been asked to serve as secretary of state for health and social care at this critical time for the sector. I look forward to working with NHS and social care colleagues to bolster services during what promises to be a very challenging winter, cut waiting lists and improve patient care,’ she said upon taking up the post.
‘I am also determined to drive forward discussions with striking unions in order to end the industrial action which has caused so much disruption to patients.’
Unions and health leaders have already called on Ms Atkins to address NHS funding concerns in the upcoming Autumn Statement, intolerable pressures at work and ongoing staff shortages.
Resignation from Boris Johnson government
Ms Atkins was among ministers who resigned from Boris Johnson’s government in 2022, telling him in a letter: ‘Values such as integrity, decency, respect and professionalism should matter to us all. I have watched with growing concern as those values have fractured under your leadership.’
Previous ministerial positions have included minister for women, minister for safeguarding and minister for Afghan resettlement.
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