Trying to solve the many riddles of the NHS is like playing whack-a-mole. Fixed A&E? Then say hello to GP waiting times. Solved the junior doctors’ strikes? Crumbling hospitals would like a word.
While a sense of despair now envelops every aspect of the NHS, mental health services have been neglected to the point of total dysfunction. Newspaper headlines about “hospitals in crisis” are now as regular a feature of the festive period as mince pies. But unacceptably long waits for talking therapy or a sustained fall in the number of mental health beds don’t capture the public imagination in the same way.
