NHS in Crisis

What is The NHS crisis? 

he NHS crisis to be "The pressures on the NHS result from a decade of underinvestment in the NHS and other public services, a failure to address chronic staff shortages, raiding capital budgets and the longstanding neglect of adult social care." 

In December 2022, A&E and ambulance services posted their worst figures in our recorded history of the NHS. In November 2022 the total number of attendances for all departments in the NHS was 2,166,710. Compared to December 2022 it is 2,283,196, The numbers are increasing and don't seem to show any sign of slowing down.  The NHS is facing one of their toughest times. While they are on the frontlines fighting to help people the Government refuses to increase their pay. With the cost of living crisis and the prices of electricity, water, and gas are increasing. Prices of food and rent are also on the increase. Families have to decide between a meal or heating up their house during this harsh winter.

Some nurses are having to go to food banks just to support themselves.

• Out of more than the 1,000 nurses surveyed, 38% struggle to buy food

• Over half have less than £500 across their current and saving accounts

• As they struggle to make ends meet, 55% have considered quitting

It is not only NHS workers that are experiencing severe problems. Further statistics show that in November 2022 over 37,000 patients waited more than 12 hours in A&E for a decision to be admitted to a hospital department – the previous year, when just over 10,000 patients waited for the same period of time.  one in five ambulance patients in England waited more than an hour to be handed over to A&E teams.

Labourers are what make up this country.  England is nothing without the hard contributions of our nurses, doctors, teachers and other government workers. We have seen an increasing number of strikes not just from the NHS but other unions such as postmen and teachers. The evidence is all around us to show that the government doesn't support the heart of this country. Which are the teachers educating the next generation and the nurses, and ambulance services who fight tooth and nail to save lives.

The government is “confident” they are “ providing the NHS with the funding it needs” to get through this winter just like they did with the “ pandemic”. These are just some of the words from Rishi Sunak's official spokesman However, despite these confident words, The Royal College of Emergency Medicine claims that between 300 and 500 people are currently being killed each week because of delays with urgent and emergency care 

It’s hard to pinpoint how much of the NHS crisis is due to the pandemic. But the NHS struggles began long before then due to the government's neglect and underappreciation of health services. But it can't be denied that the pandemic was a catalyst for the NHS crisis to worsen. With the number of people dying every month due to the rapid pace of Covids spread and how it's constantly mutating. The nurses and doctors risked their lives during the pandemic. Back before we had the vaccine they worked every day to save as many lives as they could while being their most vulnerable. 

The government rather than increasing funding started a trend of clapping every Thursday and going to Christmas parties while everyone else was quarantined.

Our own Health Minister during the pandemic Matt Hancock had an affair and broke all the rules he was preaching while nurses and doctors were fighting to save lives and families were quarantining for the sake of the country. It's obvious that the government isn't doing nearly enough and hasn't been doing enough for a while

NHS bosses have released a 5-point plan that will boost capacity but top medics warn that this plan seems to be unachievable. The blueprint is backed by the prime minister and they expect it to ease pressure on the NHS and supposedly avoid another winter crisis. The idea is to boost capacity by hiring more medics and speed up discharges. Some of the specifics are 5000 extra hospital beds and 800 new ambulances and 3000 virtual wards. This is where sick patients are cared for in their own homes to free up beds and reduce waiting times.

However, experts claim that while this plan seems sensible without the necessary staff which as we know there is a critical shortage of medical staff this plan will not work