It’s notoriously hard work, even by the usual parliamentary standards. “Her life is basically about Westminster,” a colleague recently told the Sunday Times. Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) staff should brace themselves for a very demanding new boss. Despite her reputation as a hard worker, however, she is very popular with her colleagues. “She’s cheerful and pleasant company and likes a few drinks,” says one. Coffey, 50, was born in Lancashire, grew up in Liverpool, studied briefly at Oxford University and then got a PhD in chemistry from University College London. He qualified as a Chartered Management Accountant, held stints at a Mars affiliate and the BBC and stood unsuccessfully as an MP and MEP. She became MP for Suffolk Coast at the 2010 election. Private, she is single, has no children and is close to her mother and sister. A colleague says: “Her political views are pro-free market and hard-right, including strong anti-abortion views.” But a Tory insider disagrees. “Her political worldview is very realistic,” they say. Friends say her Catholicism is also a key influence. One who has watched her closely over the past three years, during which she was work and pensions secretary, observes that she “seemed to have no ambition at the DWP other than to maintain the Osborne architecture of austerity and the reduction in the value of benefits. and keeping a lid on any inconvenient elements that might undermine it.” The same person adds that Coffey “can come across as cruel and unempathetic in public.” This could prove damaging when she speaks in her new role about the many difficulties facing the NHS, as health ministers need to show they understand the challenges facing patients and staff. Her closeness to Truss has sparked reports in recent weeks that she has been offered several roles. “She could have had her choice, given that she’s so close to Liz. But it is encouraging that he wanted to do health, given the dire state of the NHS. He must believe he can turn things around,” the Tory spokesman said. Coffey is discouraging and fraught with political risk, especially given the growing inability of the NHS to deliver meaningful care over long time frames. Jeremy Hunt, the health secretary from 2012 to 2018, said last week that the service was “facing the most serious crisis in its history”. “It is in its worst state in living memory,” says NHS Confederation chief executive Matthew Taylor. A potential wave of strikes over pay for NHS staff, including nurses and junior doctors, would pose a serious challenge to Coffey. Its most pressing problems are the long delays faced by ambulance crews waiting to hand patients over to A&E staff, the difficulty for patients to get doctor’s appointments and the fact that around one in eight hospital beds in England are occupied by someone who is medically fit to leave – but cannot be discharged because social care is not available to keep them safe. However, every NHS service is struggling. In England, one in nine people are already on a hospital waiting list. Archie Bland and Nimo Omer take you to the top stories and what they mean, free every weekday morning Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. What can Coffey do to change things? A huge cash injection is not an option, especially given Truss’ pledge to scrap the 1.25% rise in national insurance which started in April and was expected to generate £12bn a year for the NHS. Staff shortages are worsening – vacancies in England rose from 105,000 in March to 132,000 in June. But while both Theresa May and Boris Johnson have promised to present a strategy to deal with it, none has yet emerged. How will he do? A colleague opines: “I’m afraid Thérèse is out of her depth in this job. I have no idea how he’s going to approach the job, and more worryingly I’m not sure he does. “He will need a good and experienced team of junior ministers and he will need advice from senior NHS leaders if he is to get any sort of job done at a time of great crisis for our health services.”
