The National Health Service is creaking. A winter crisis in August and record waiting lists are evidence that our healthcare system is being pushed to the brink. And today we report further strains.
According to figures from the Institute for Fiscal Studies think-tank, London has the highest leaving rate for nurses and midwives of any English region. This only serves to heap even greater pressure on staff amid an ongoing mass shortage.
And it comes a month after an excoriating report by the House of Commons Health and Social Care Select Committee, which found that England is short of 12,000 doctors and more than 50,00 nurses and midwives, making this the “greatest workforce crisis” in the NHS’s history.
That London is the region suffering most from a lack of nurses and midwives, who tend to be paid less than other clinical staff, cannot be a coincidence. Given the cost-of-living crisis, and the already higher rents in the capital, it is little wonder that many feel they have little choice but to leave. Of course, staff shortages threaten our ability to slash treatment backlogs and get the health service back on a sustainable footing.
This will be an exceptionally challenging winter for the health service. The new Conservative administration cannot allow any further drift. A properly funded, long-term recruitment plan for the NHS must be a top priority.
The full Elizabeth
The Elizabeth line is quick, quiet and, from November 6, will be nearly complete. Transport for London has announced the date at which the line will become almost fully operational, meaning trains will no longer terminate at Paddington or Liverpool Street but instead run through new tunnels under central London.
Consequently, passengers will no longer have to change at these stations to continue on their journeys. And anyone who has attempted the long walk at Paddington with a suitcase on their way to Heathrow will know the current set-up is hardly ideal.
Autumn will also see the line operate seven days a week. Even Bond Street, the bête noire of Crossrail stations, is set to open by then too, relieving congestion at Oxford Circus.
Eventually, 24 trains an hour will operate at peak times in the central section, making those five-minute waits a thing of the past. And by next May, the entire line will be fully integrated into an east-west network from Reading to Shenfield.
It wasn’t without the odd delay, but the Elizabeth line is fast becoming a core part of the world-class transport system Londoners deserve.
Reach for the skies
Nasa’s James Webb telescope, a marvel of engineering and a portal into our solar system and beyond, is at it again.
The world’s largest telescope, situated nearly a million miles from Earth, has shown Jupiter as never before — with hazes, faint rings and auroras. With so much more to discover and capture, we look forward in wonderment to what the telescope sets its sights on next.
There is so much further to explore.
