NYT OPINION: You Don’t Have to Be a Doctor to Know How Much Trouble the N.H.S. Is In
By Allyson Pollock and Peter Roderick
Section: Opinion
Source: New York Times
Published Date: March 17, 2023 at 02:00AM
“I come to work and can see that there’s a patient waiting eight hours to see a doctor. There are some days where I finish my shift, come back the next day and then I see the same patient still sat waiting in A&E” — the emergency room — “the next day,” Dr. Kiara Vincent, one of the doctors striking, told the BBC on Monday.
But you don’t have to work in a hospital to know that Britain’s N.H.S. is in the most serious crisis of its history; you just have to be injured, or ill. Thousands of people are estimated to have died in the last year because of overwhelmed ambulance and emergency services. There are 7.2 million people in England, more than 10 percent of the population, on waiting lists for treatments like hip or knee replacements, back surgery or cataract operations. And hundreds of thousands of people have had a doctor’s referral for outpatient care at a hospital rejected because there are no available appointments — they are simply bounced back to the doctor to begin the process again.
By Allyson Pollock and Peter Roderick
Section: Opinion
Source: New York Times
Published Date: March 17, 2023 at 02:00AM
But it’s not too late to save it.
On Dec. 15, nurses walked out and began the largest nurses’ strike in the history of Britain’s National Health Service. They were protesting working conditions that have left them burned out and stretched thin — and compromised patient safety — and wages that fell in the last decade in real terms. Ambulance workers joined them. This week, thousands of junior doctors went on strike for three consecutive days.“I come to work and can see that there’s a patient waiting eight hours to see a doctor. There are some days where I finish my shift, come back the next day and then I see the same patient still sat waiting in A&E” — the emergency room — “the next day,” Dr. Kiara Vincent, one of the doctors striking, told the BBC on Monday.
But you don’t have to work in a hospital to know that Britain’s N.H.S. is in the most serious crisis of its history; you just have to be injured, or ill. Thousands of people are estimated to have died in the last year because of overwhelmed ambulance and emergency services. There are 7.2 million people in England, more than 10 percent of the population, on waiting lists for treatments like hip or knee replacements, back surgery or cataract operations. And hundreds of thousands of people have had a doctor’s referral for outpatient care at a hospital rejected because there are no available appointments — they are simply bounced back to the doctor to begin the process again.
Read more at: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/17/opinion/nhs-britain-privatization.html
Bonus VideoThousands of junior doctors begin 72-hour strike
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