NHS is starved of cash

THE whistleblower who told us of the appalling conditions at North Middlesex University Hospital says it was like working in a war zone.

His lurid description of A&E on these pages make it sound more like a Crimean War zone.

If only North Middlesex was a one off.

If only every other hospital in the land was a model of medical care and efficiency.

But there have been too many failing hospitals for even the most optimistic Health Secretary to believe North Middlesex is just a glitch.

The faults with North Middlesex may lie with its management. But Jeremy Hunt is responsible for them.

Shrinking North Middlesex was badly run. But too few staff and lack of resources did not help.

And that is the problem the NHS faces throughout the country.

Mr Hunt bangs on about more NHS money under the Tories. He doesn’t mention the proportion of our national wealth spent on health is shrinking.

Mr Hunt cannot be trusted with figures. He says the junior doctors strike will mean 125,000 cancelled operations and a million lost appointments.

The body representing the hospitals themselves says the reality is four times greater – 500,000 cancelled operations and four million unmet appointments.

It’s all part of the same problem. Mr Hunt does not have the money for his seven-day NHS which sparked the doctors’ dispute.

He doesn’t have the money for hospitals to run adequately, which is why others will end up in the same mess as North Middlesex.

And without vital resources the NHS will simply fall apart.