The NHS faces "intense pressure" as it enters its 75th year amid a record rise in demand for care and "the biggest financial squeeze in its history", health service leaders have said. And the waiting list - currently a record 7.4million people in England - is set to grow further still, a health minister has said.
The threat of strikes, a lack of reform in social care and a rise in demand for emergency care are heaping pressure on the system, NHS Providers said. But its chief executive, Sir Julian Hartley, said that the pressures cannot be solely blamed on the coronavirus pandemic.
It comes as the leading health think tanks said that public support for the NHS as it reaches its 75th anniversary is "rock solid", but the service will not be around to celebrate its 100th anniversary without more investment. The King's Fund, the Health Foundation and the Nuffield Trust said the NHS has "endured a decade of underinvestment".
