According to polling from May 2023, the NHS remains Britain’s primary source of national pride. Of course, there are elements of our healthcare system that are exemplary. Yet as Dispatches’ damning new report proves, the system’s successes cannot – and should not – overshadow its failures. In fact, after watching Undercover A&E: NHS in Crisis, you may wonder whether it is more fitting to describe the NHS as a source of national shame.
Our guide is the reporter Robbie Boyd, who begins working as a trainee healthcare assistant in the A&E department of the Royal Shrewsbury hospital after just 10 days of training. Boyd often seems to be the only one trying to maintain standards. Via a concealed camera, we see him repeatedly intervene to protect patients, flagging up problems with hygiene, best practice and basic safety to more senior members of his team. Yet, for all his compassion and common sense, his contribution feels like the equivalent of trying to put out a forest fire with a tea towel. At one point, he is left alone in a makeshift corridor ward with a woman screaming and convulsing as she waits 20 minutes for a nurse to return with pain relief. Boyd is the sole provider of comfort and reassurance during that time. All he can say is: “I’m so sorry.”
