NHS survival
Barry Crossland, Elland
Most people value the NHS. However, after 13 years of Tory rule and inadequate funding the NHS is under severe pressure. Some doctors think that unless things are changed the NHS will not survive.
There are 7m people waiting for hospital appointments. One consequence, reported by the Office for National Statistics, is an extra 1,000 deaths per week, excluding Covid deaths, in the second half of 2022.
The government has an economic policy which is supposedly based on freemarket ideology. However, it continues to ignore the signals from the health and social care sectors. Junior doctors can go to Australia for better pay and conditions, and some are doing so. In the year to June 2022, one in nine nurses left the NHS. In the latter half of 2022 there were 165,000 unfilled care jobs. Because there is insufficient care facilities patients are not being discharged from
hospitals when they are well enough to leave.
Over the past 13 years,
NHS staff and care workers have seen a decline in their standard of living. In view of their commitment in coping with the Covid crisis, the Green Party think that they deserve more than “happy clapping”. From my experience of teaching and meeting NHS and caring staff they are not the kind of people who will take industrial action lightly. Instead of abdicating the government should be negotiating.
If the government want to save the NHS it is going to require more money. This could easily be raised by closing the tax loopholes enjoyed by the rich.
Readers may feel powerless but there are some things you can do. Firstly, vote for candidates, at local and national elections, who care about the NHS. Secondly, adopt a healthy lifestyle to reduce your demands on the NHS. There is no guarantee but a healthy lifestyle improves your odds and makes life more enjoyable. I never advocate what I am not prepared to do. At 85, I exercise most days and have a diet with lots of fruit and vegetables.
A healthy lifestyle improves your odds and makes life more enjoyable