Greater Manchester's NHS is buckling under the weight of pressure as it arrives at the most challenging time for the health service - winter. Ambulances queue outside of packed A&Es with patients as there are no beds available on wards, staff are fleeing the NHS in droves amid pandemic-induced exhaustion, and medics say there appears to be no end in sight for demand which is far outstripping the health and care services capacity.
The NHS and social care sectors have long been chronically understaffed and underfunded, according to medics themselves. The region's NHS bosses have hastily approved £34 million in emergency money as they scramble to shore up the system for winter.
Pots of millions are to be granted for extra beds, ‘virtual wards’ and voluntary help as the region’s NHS and social care provisions already struggle to cope with demand. But as medics claim the solution is a long-term effort to recruit staff to deal with demand, health bosses themselves admitted this week that the system is 'under significant pressure'.
