Former NHS manager appointed health minister

Two new ministers have joined the Department of Health and Social Care, the government has announced.

Karin Smyth and Stephen Kinnock have been appointed ministers of state as Labour begins to appoint to junior roles.

Cabinet-level positions, including the new health and social care secretary Wes Streeting, were announced on Friday.

Mr Kinnock, who will be the care minister, has represented Aberafan Maesteg, and its predecessor seat, since 2015. The Welsh Labour MP is a surprise appointment to DHSC, having previously covered the immigration brief.

Ms Smyth, who will be health minister, has held the seat of Bristol South since 2015. She was appointed shadow health minister last year, with a remit for NHS reform.

Her roles in the NHS, before her parliamentary career, included working in NHS commissioning, as a non-executive director of a primary care trust, and as manager of a GP commissioning consortium.

Ms Smyth has championed health issues during her time in Parliament, writing several articles for HSJ, and has criticised the health service for spending an “awful lot of money” on management consultants. She told an event last year: “It’s always frustrating when something happens and the first thing the health authority/PCT/CCG/ICB does is call in a bunch of management consultants from one of the big firms.”

In his first remarks as health and social care secretary, Mr Streeting said the “NHS is broken”.

Speaking before the weekend, Mr Streeting said: “Previous governments have not been willing to admit these simple facts. But in order to cure an illness, you must first diagnose it. This government will be honest about the challenges facing our country, and serious about tackling them.

“From today, the policy of this department is that the NHS is broken.”

Updated at 4pm on 8 July with more details