After a tumultuous week which culminated in Liz Truss sprinting out of a press conference, a new Chancellor was sent out to pick up the shards of a shattered economic policy.

Responding to the appointment of Hunt, alongside former health minister Ed Argar – who takes up the role of treasury chief secretary – NHS Confederation chief executive, Matthew Taylor, reflected:

“We congratulate both the Rt Hon Jeremy Hunt and the Rt Hon Ed Argar on their new appointments to Chancellor and treasury chief secretary respectively. The new Chancellor has been one of the most vocal politicians on the need for a new workforce plan for the NHS, recently admitting that the health service faces the ‘greatest workforce crisis’ in its history and shouldering partial responsibility for creating such a crisis as a former health secretary.

“He also understands well the gravity of the situation in the NHS as it approaches a perilous winter. Carrying 132,000 vacancies and with an exhausted workforce grappling the huge weight of patient need, this is Mr Hunt’s moment of truth.

“In recent months he has frequently called on the government to bring forward a now desperately needed, fully funded plan for an NHS workforce fit for the twenty-first century, so all eyes will now be on him to now deliver this, something he will know well.

“With 7 million people waiting for treatment, the new Chancellor is also in a unique position to provide some immediate and urgent support to the NHS as it attempts to contend with a real-terms funding cut that could stretch to over £9bn this year alone as inflation rates take their toll on budgets. Health care leaders would urge both Mr Hunt and Mr Argar to be cognisant of the immense challenges also facing the social care sector, which is itself carrying 165,000 vacancies.”

The UK is facing its largest-ever outbreak of avian flu, with 1,727 cases so far detected in the UK’s wild bird population. In addition, 161 captive birds have tested positive for the H5N1 strain. As a result, 3.2m birds have been culled across Britain in an urgent bid to stop its spread.

A leading testing expert has warned the British people that they must be extra vigilant. The UK is one of two western European countries where the potentially lethal H5N1 strain has already spread to humans.

The leading testing expert, Dr Quinton Fivelman, chief scientific officer at London Medical Laboratory, explained: “Obviously, this is a potential catastrophe for Britain’s bird breeders. This week alone, the Government has ordered that all poultry in Norfolk, Suffolk and parts of Essex must be kept indoors following the rapid spread of the virus. However, it could also represent a significant threat to humans.”

“It can be caught by touching infected birds, their droppings or bedding, or by killing or preparing infected poultry for cooking. It’s thought to be quite hard for humans to catch avian flu from birds but, when those cases do occur, there have been a number of fatalities,” he added.

Higher numbers of cases mean a greater chance of mutation which is possibly how the COVID-19 virus spread from bats to humans.

The main symptoms of bird flu can develop very quickly – within three to five days after infection – and include a cough or shortness of breath, a high temperature, aching muscles or a headache.