I recently asked two wise doctors, senior in their profession, what was wrong with today’s NHS. Was it money? Was it recruitment, or pay, or structure? Without consulting each other, they answered what was wrong in one voice: “Us.”
Tales of NHS woe flow almost daily. Britain is now ranked 30th out of the 49 richest OECD countries for infant mortality, with matters getting worse, according to the Academy of Medical Sciences. Meanwhile, surgical waiting times can stretch to five and a half years in Northern Ireland, according to the Royal College of Surgeons. The Times health commission this week found an NHS in digital chaos, with “between 40 and 60” types of patient records and 10% of hospitals still entirely paper-based. It wants a nationalised care system, a sugar tax and “health passports”.
