Wes Streeting’s record as health secretary: His claims fact checked and what he left unfinished

In his resignation letter12to the prime minister on 14 May, Wes Streeting claimed he had delivered against the “ambitious targets” he was set by Keir Starmer and left the NHS in a better state after just under two years as health secretary. The BMJ looked at whether his claims were justified, and the in-tray he has left for his successor, James Murray.3Elective waitsThe claim“We surpassed our waiting times target despite strikes, waiting lists fell by 110 000 in March—the biggest monthly drop outside of covid since 2008—meaning that we are on track to achieve the fastest improvement in NHS waiting times in history.”The dataLabour’s key manifesto target was that the NHS should see 92% of patients referred by GPs for non-urgent planned hospital treatments within 18 weeks by 2029. At present, it is some way below this.But NHS England figures, published on 14 May, show the NHS has met its…