Britain’s ‘medieval’ health inequality is devastating NHS, experts say

A senior NHS figure said hospitals were witnessing a ‘chilling’ trend of vulnerable people deliberately self-harming to secure an overnight stay. Photograph: Jeff Moore/PA

Britain’s “medieval” levels of health inequality are having a “devastating” effect on the NHS, experts have warned, with the health service estimated to be spending as much as £50bn a year on the effects of deprivation.

Rising rates of child poverty have led to a growing burden on hospitals, with the knock-on cost to the NHS comparable to the annual defence budget.