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Boris Johnson will focus on investment in the NHS in his first Queen’s Speech following the Tories’ landslide election victory.
The Government will lay out its legislative programme for the parliamentary session on Thursday.
Mr Johnson has said the speech will highlight plans for healthcare and Brexit, though he also wishes to look at law and order, infrastructure and education.
He said the Government will enshrine in law a commitment on NHS funding, with an extra £33.9 billion per year provided by 2023/24.
Addressing NHS nurses at a Downing Street reception on Wednesday, Mr Johnson said: “The NHS is the single greatest institution in this country and it’s absolutely vital that we as political leaders, all kinds and all levels, understand what is going on in the NHS.
“But the pressures and demands are enormous and we have to help you cope with that.
“We have to invest and as you may have heard in the last few weeks, we are. We are upgrading hospitals, and building new hospitals.
“We are going to have 50,000 more nurses. We retain 19,000 who would otherwise vanish, and recruit another 31,000. We have 6,000 more GPs and 50 million more GP appointments over the next five years.
“We are now putting the biggest investment in the NHS in living memory. We have to keep that investment going.”
The Queen’s Speech will include proposed legislation to abolish hospital car parking charges for “those in greatest need”.
This is likely to include disabled people, parents of sick children staying overnight, and staff working night shifts.
The NHS Funding Bill is intended to be the first piece of domestic legislation put on the statute book following the proposed passing of the Withdrawal Agreement Bill, which the PM insists will see the UK quit the EU on January 31.
The Government will also pledge to make it easier for hospitals to manufacture and trial innovative medicines, according to Mr Johnson.
Downing Street added that the Queen’s Speech will also confirm an additional £1 billion for social care every year of the new Parliament.
While the Government will also “urgently seek” a cross-party consensus for long-term reform so nobody has to sell their home to pay for care.
New legislation will see terrorists spend longer behind bars, while it will be made easier for the police to stop and search known knife carriers, Downing Street said.
It will also commit to increasing levels of funding per pupil in schools.
Brexit legislation will also be prominent, outlining proposals to implement the UK’s future relationship with the EU, which is due to be agreed by the end of December 2020.
It comes amid warnings the PM’s Brexit deal could be blocked by the European Parliament over the UK’s treatment of EU citizens.
