Wes Streeting has told NHS leaders they must be willing to take risks with new technology, promising that ministers will back those who pursue digital reform even when individual projects encounter problems. The Health Secretary used his first major address since taking office to argue that resistance to change within NHS management is itself a risk the health service can no longer afford.

Speaking to an audience of senior health officials, Streeting said the culture of avoiding failure had become an obstacle to the kind of modernisation needed to bring down waiting lists. He said the government would not penalise managers for implementing new systems that did not immediately succeed, provided there was a clear rationale behind the decision and patient safety was maintained.

The NHS backlog remains one of the most visible pressure points for the government. More than six million patients were waiting for consultant-led treatment as of early this year, a figure that successive administrations have struggled to reduce. Streeting pointed to artificial intelligence, remote monitoring and advanced diagnostic tools as areas where faster adoption could have a material effect on throughput, though he offered few specifics on funding or timelines.

The announcement reflects a broader calculation within the Department of Health and Social Care that the NHS cannot reduce waiting times through capacity alone. Officials have grown increasingly frustrated with the pace at which digital systems are rolled out across trusts, a process often delayed by procurement rules, concerns over data governance and a fragmented IT infrastructure that varies considerably from one hospital to another.

Reaction from trust leaders was cautious. Several NHS chief executives acknowledged that the shift in tone from the government was welcome but noted that ambitions for rapid digital adoption would have to be matched with resources. Running digital transformation programmes alongside existing financial pressures is not straightforward for organisations already operating under constrained budgets.

There is also the question of accountability. The Health Secretary's promise to protect risk-takers will need a clearer definition of where government backing ends. NHS managers have historically faced significant personal and professional consequences when high-profile technology programmes go wrong, a reality that has shaped institutional behaviour at least as much as official guidance.

Streeting acknowledged this tension and said the government would work with NHS England to establish clearer frameworks for evaluating digital investment, distinguishing between projects that failed to deliver the expected results and poor governance. How that distinction is drawn in practice will determine whether the pledge changes behaviour on the ground.

For now, the political logic is straightforward. Waiting lists will define whether this government is judged to have improved the health service. If technology does not begin to make a measurable difference in the next two years, the argument for calculated risk-taking will be a harder one to make.

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