Health secretary Jeremy Hunt is to remain in post following today’s Cabinet reshuffle, taking on the new longer title of secretary of state for health and social care.
The South West Surrey MP, who holds the record as longest-serving health secretary, has been in the post since 2012, when he replaced Andrew Lansley.
Guildford MP and former district nurse Anne Milton was tipped to replace Mr Hunt in the role earlier today, but he was assured of his position late this afternoon.
The re-appointment comes despite Mr Hunt having to apologise last week for the current crisis in NHS services, which saw hospitals cancel tens of thousands of operations.
He is currently negotiating with unions over a potential increase to nurse’s pay, but has stated that will not come until the current system of pay increments has been reformed.
Mr Hunt sent a letter to Pay Review Body chair Philippa Hird last month, urging her to ‘consider affordability’ when making their recommendations for a pay increase later this year.
It followed his commitment to increase the number of nurses working in the NHS, by boosting the number of nurses trained by 25%, describing it as the ‘biggest expansion of nurse training in the history of the NHS’.
