Jeremy Hunt has been awarded a Humanitarian Award for patient safety despite overseeing the biggest crisis in the history of the National Health Service.

The Health Secretary was awarded the accolade for his global leadership on patient safety at the World Patient Safety Summit this weekend.

According to Nursing Notes, previous winners of the award include President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and Dr. Patrick H. Conway – all of whom worked tirelessly towards free and equal access to healthcare services in the US.

But as well as overseeing a period of crisis in the NHS, Hunt has also presided over the dismantling of the health service as private partners gobble up vast chunks of the tax-funded healthy body.

Mr Hunt, who said he was “humbled” by the award, claimed he had been ‘inspired’ by many amazing doctors and civil servants at the Department for Health and Social Care, adding that he accepted the award on behalf of the patient campaigners who lost their loved ones and pushed forward better patient safety.

On Twitter, he said: “All our patient safety progress is down to tenacious campaigners who have lost loved ones & turned personal tragedy into a mission to save others”.

This winter has been one of the worst on record for the NHS, with nurses leaving at a rate of knots over working conditions and many patients dying prematurely after being nursed in corridors.

Congrats to @Jeremy_hunt, who today received the ‘Humanitarian Award’ from @joekiani at the World Patient Safety Summit for his global leadership on #patientsafety #nhs pic.twitter.com/kp0Xo4EfFT — DHSC Media Centre (@DHSCmedia) February 24, 2018

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