More concerns have been raised recently regarding how Reform UK might fund the NHS should they come to power nationally. Meanwhile Reform council leaders have been discovered to have made worrying statements about the use of vaccines.
Winter flu
As a winter flu crisis grips the NHS, Labour has been warning that under a Reform government, those suffering from such an ailment in the future could end up having to pay thousands of pounds for a hospital stay.
Stephen Kinnock, Labour’s health minister commented:
“For years, Farage has been clear he doesn’t believe in an NHS funded out of general taxation, and that he thinks Britons should be charged to use the health service. Farage cannot be trusted with our NHS.”
But a Reform spokesperson hit out at Labour’s claims, telling HuffPost UK: “Reform UK will never privatise the NHS.
“Under a Reform UK government, our NHS will always stay free at the point of use”.
No more details about how exactly this would happen were given.
Concerns about Reform and the NHS
There have long been concerns about Nigel Farage’s plans for the NHS.
It was noted in May that Farage was asked by Sky’s Beth Rigby about funding for the NHS. Farage had previously spoken about the French system, which funds its health system though a mixture of private insurance and public funding.
Rigby told Farage: “The French have a statutory health system levied from a mix of contributions from earned income an unearned income. There’s central government funding and a little bit of a top-up fee. That’s what’s allowed Labour to levy this charge at you.”
Farage replied: “Well if Labour are upset that the rich might have to pay for healthcare, I find that a very odd position for them to be in.”
Then Rigby asked: “Just to be clear, do you want it to be still funded through general taxation, or do you think we need to look at the funding model?”
Farage replied: “I do not want it funded through general taxation. It doesn’t work. It’s not working. We’re getting worse bang for the buck from than any other country, particularly out of those European neighbours. I want it free at the point of delivery, but it’s how we get there.”
Additionally, it was documented that while Farage had called for an end to the NHS being funded through taxes, he still refused to say how it would be paid for.
Richard Tice says NHS doesn’t need more funding
Then on 3 August, it was reported that Reform deputy leader Richard Tice had said that the NHS didn’t need any more funding as he claimed that it would only be wasted on bureaucracy. No evidence appears to have been presented to back up this point of view.
Tice also emphasised that Reform was looking to cut what was described as “public sector waste”. This is an interesting comment as Reform-run Kent County Council tried an austerity programme using DOGE-style policies imported from Elon Musk in the US and found that not only was there no waste, but they have ended up having to put council taxes up, just to keep public services going. Reform’s cost-cutting programme has been described as a “dramatic failure”.
Huge cost of healthcare in the US
The danger of going down the private insurance route that Farage seems to want was demonstrated in late December with an analysis on the mean cost of a hospital stay for the winter flu in the USA which worked out as the equivalent of almost £11,000 in 2024.
Meanwhile research in The Journal for Nurse Practitioners in early 2024 suggested that it could cost a patient almost £33,000 to pay for treatment from frostbite.
In a similar vein, a study US healthcare costs carried out in 2025, found that bills of £10,000 were given to members of the armed forces veterans hospitalised with norovirus, while a study in 2019 found that treatment for a hip fracture could cost up to £40 000.
Reform and vaccine concerns
Another health concern regarding Reform emerged in late December when it was reported that as many as one-in-three Reform UK council leaders across Britain had “expressed vaccine-sceptic views, openly questioning public health measures that keep millions safe”.
Leaders of four of the 12 councils run by Reform have made such comments, including the leader of County Durham Council here in the North East, as well as leaders in Kent, Warwickshire and Worcestershire.
The Reform leader of County Durham. Andrew Husband is reported as having a track record of now deleted anti-vaccine comments on Twitter/X. On one occasion, in 2023, Husband read a message from a fellow Reform member, Jim Ferguson, about a large increase in infant deaths, he claimed was related to vaccinations. Husband responded by stating: “Horrific, like all crimes against humanity”.
In response to all this alarming news, Zubir Ahmed, the health minister, who is also an NHS transplant and vascular surgeon, argued that such comments were “dangerous and utterly irresponsible”, also commenting that children and vulnerable people were exposed to harm.by politicians making such comments.
It was also noted that this comes after a “controversial doctor, the cardiologist Aseem Malhotra, used his main-stage speech at Reform’s conference in September to air a claim that the Covid vaccine had caused cancer in the royal family, which drew immediate condemnation”.
Much to be concerned about
As Reform continues to top opinion polls and it is now eight months since their success at the local elections last May, their ideas and policies are coming under more scrutiny.
It looks possible that a Farage-led Reform government would try and unravel the 80 year old contract between the NHS and the British people, that vital healthcare is free at point of service, thanks to public taxation. It is surely a huge concern that no details have been given as to how Reform would fund our health service nor evidence provided when comments are made about the NHS.
There is much for us to be concerned about Reform and their health policies. The general public must be told what a Reform government would really intend to do with our NHS.
