targets? and how do you prevent that? ., ., that? the government of the day can set tar: ets that? the government of the day can set targets to that? the government of the day can set targets to focus priorities - that? the government of the day can set targets to focus priorities and - set targets to focus priorities and inevitably, if there is a lot of public concern about waiting lists, it is not surprising that there will be waiting list targets. we already have a whole set of targets for waiting lists that have not been met for some time. in terms of this debate at the moment, we need to remember that the nhs went into covid with demand already outstripping capacity, so we already had a waiting list of about 11.5 million before covid, so the challenge for the nhs of having the capacity to meet targets is one that predates covid. tt
services by developing plans and delivering on targets, but we often need to remember that is often a strong temptation for politicians who are facing difficult news to promise at the unachievable in terms of targets in ways that they might later regret. so we have seen this fairly recently with some gp targets and mental health targets. i think there is a real balance here where there is a real balance here where the nhs needs to know where to focus and prioritise, but at the same time, if any target that is set needs to be realistic because of the backlog. the continuing impact of covid and the fragile state of the workforce, have been under such pressure for so long. pressure for so long. doesn t the history of targets, pressure for so long. doesn t the history of targets, going - pressure for so long. doesn t the history of targets, going back - history of targets, going back 20 or 30 years, show that other areas of care are skewed to meet these
now it doesn t seem like you have real solutions. well, i wouldn t agree at all to what you just said. first of all, this week we had positive news on the labour market in spain in august. we have recovered more or less the employment that had been lost due to covid, and, in particular, youth unemployment figures are lower than what they were pre covid. moreover, we have a recovery plan which includes important structural reforms and investments with a top priority, which is indeed to reduce unemployment, to reduce youth unemployment, and to have a stronger and more sustainable growth going forward. interesting that you talk about the reforms now. spain, of course, like all eu countries, will qualify and is qualifying for major funds, recovery funds, from brussels as a result of the coordinated response to the covid crisis. i think you re entitled to about 140 billion euros worth of which you ve said you re definitely going to take the grants that is the money that doesn t come as l
to the covid challenge? i m very happy to respond, yes. see, surveys suggest that, actually, most europeans don t see it that way. there was a major survey done by the european council on foreign relations. it found what they described as a stuttering eu vaccine roll out had dealt a blow to public confidence in the union s capabilities. and that included a 52% result in spain, saying that they felt the eu project looked broken on covid. i m not aware of those polls, and i don t know when that polling, the exercise the underlying data, was gathered. that doesn t respond at all, doesn t reflect at all what i read in the media, what i sense in citizens and particularly not in spain. i think the european
or stopped due to the pandemic, in order to stop the spread of the pandemic. i think the weight of the tourism and hospitality sector in spain is larger than in other countries and that explains why the contraction was stronger. also, maybe the recovery is being much stronger than in other countries, actually. the outlook is very positive for the second part of the year. well, i know the growth figures look much, much better for the coming year. but if you re in spain and you re unemployed, particularly if you re young and unemployed, you probably take what you just said with a pinch of salt, because, frankly, structural unemployment, particularly for the young, is a problem that predates covid, covid made worse, and there s no sign that you re really able to tackle it. well, thank you very much for pointing that out, because unemployment and youth unemployment is the number one problem that we ve been trying to tackle. unfortunately, you know, the crisis has obviously halted any progr