The idea of separating emergency and elective (planned) care is not new but the genuine determination to improve services after the Covid pandemic has given this impetus.
Health
The NHS is a prime example of what happens when governments refuse to govern or indeed make any decision. Now the government is attacking the very people struggling to keep providing care in a mess of its own making…
The good news: new medical schools are operating in Britain. The bad news: they are unable to accept British students, and will be recruiting only applicants from abroad.
The government has told another new medical school that no British students will be supported – although it can recruit overseas students.
A major study shows that the rush to prevent deaths from Covid-19 raised the risk of dying from the more well known killers of undiagnosed high blood pressure and high cholesterol.
Physiotherapists and support workers at over 60 NHS Trusts across England began a rolling programme of strikes on 26 January in pursuit of their pay claim – the first time they have ever taken strike action.
Importing nurses from other countries is no answer to NHS staff shortages. Retaining nurses already working would be a step in the right direction.
Faced with an enemy operating a scorched earth policy, all NHS trade unions need to plan. And struggle will need to be persistent and protracted.
Safety in the NHS is ensured by the collective organisation of professional skilled workers, the scandal of Lucy Letby's murders at the Countess of Cheshire hospital shows.
An FOI request from the Royal College of Emergency Medicine has revealed the true extent of waiting times in Welsh Accident and Emergency departments.