We can't keep getting it wrong first time, Wes Streeting says amid string of government U-turns
Health secretary says the government’s ‘new year’s resolution’ should be to ‘get it right first time’
The Government should aim to "get it right" the first time, the Health Secretary has said as he defended political U-turns.
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Wes Streeting insisted feedback is the "breakfast of champions" when discussing recent Government climbdowns during an appearance at the Institute for Government conference in central London.
He also criticised the centre-left of politics that blames the civil service and stakeholders for a slow pace of change across Government.
The Treasury is currently understood to be preparing a support package for the pub industry following an outcry over the impact of a major hike in business rates.
Read More: Rachel Reeves 'poised to U-turn on business rates' for struggling pubs within days
The move is the latest in a series of U-turns from the Government, which has also backed down on major welfare reforms due to pressure from backbenchers, and has partially scaled back inheritance tax on farms following lobbying by the sector.
Mr Streeting was asked whether U-turns are slowing the Government down, and he told delegates: "Feedback is the breakfast of champions.
"We love to hear it and if people think we're getting it wrong - and we think that they're right - far better to do the right thing rather than to spare one's political blushes."
He added: "In the NHS, we have an initiative called GIRFT - get it right first time.
"That should be our new year's resolution for 2026 - let's try and get it right first time."
On the NHS, Mr Streeting said progress is being made but there is still much more to do.
"On our best days, there will still have been patients on trolleys in corridors being treated in conditions that fall short of my ambitions and expectations for our health service," he said.
"Just as on our worst days there are still outstanding episodes of care being delivered by dedicated people.
"In the 18 months that I've had the privilege of leading the largest public service in the world and the largest corner of the British state, I've sought to get the balance right - being proud of our progress without overselling the success and being honest about our shortcomings and challenges without fuelling pessimism and defeatism."
Regarding the functioning of Government, Mr Streeting said he never forgets that "the British state is like a shopping trolley with a slightly wonky front wheel that will always orientate to the status quo unless it is steered in the right direction".
Arguing reform of the state and public services is needed to deliver for people, the Health Secretary said failure in this area had led to "disaffection, cynicism and ultimately the rise of populists".
He said there are several reasons why reform cannot be avoided any longer, adding the state is inefficient at a time when resources are limited.
"People are paying more in tax, but getting a poorer service in return," he said.
"From Whitehall down, the state has become too reactive - paying the highest price at the latest stage instead of preventing problems earlier and cheaper.
"It's penny wise and pound foolish."
Mr Streeting said people being told to wait to access public services are also suffering due to inequalities built into the system, while those with confidence and time manage to work their way round it.
He said: "Failure to address these challenges is creating a national mood of cynicism and pessimism, but the most corrosive sense of all is fatalism, the idea that things can't change.
"However much joy we continue to take in the simple pleasures of home, family and community, we're losing faith in our collective ability to do big things.
"The right encourage this argument.
"They're rolling the pitch to come in with a chainsaw and tear up public services entirely.
"Bafflingly, some on my own side of the political divide have begun to parrot the same argument.
"They complain about the civil service. They blame stakeholder capture.
"This excuses culture does the centre-left no favours.
"If we tell the public that we can't make anything work, then why on Earth would they vote to keep us in charge?"
The Cabinet minister said "our fortunes are in our hands", adding it is "precisely because we on the centre-left believe in the power of the state to transform people's lives that we are best placed to change it".
He added: "Where there aren't levers, we build them, where there are barriers, we bulldoze them.
"If people in charge aren't up to the job, we replace them with the best and the brightest."
At the end of 2025, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer told Parliament's Liaison Committee he was frustrated at the slow pace of change.
He said: "My experience as Prime Minister is of frustration that every time I go to pull a lever, there are a whole bunch of regulations, consultations and arm's length bodies that mean the action from pulling the lever to delivery is longer than I think it ought to be, which is among the reasons I want to cut down on regulation generally and within government."