The human cost of the destruction of the National Health Service
By
NHS FightBack
3 February 2018
The thousands marching today in defence of the National Health Service (NHS) represent millions opposed to its destruction.
The NHS faces far more than a “winter crisis.” Rather, this winter has exposed how years of funding cuts, running down of services, combined with chronic staff shortages is threatening the safety and lives of patients.
In December, more than 300,000 patients waited more than four hours in England’s A&E departments to be seen, treated and discharged or admitted. The percentage of patients being treated within four hours fell to its lowest-ever level of 77.3 percent. Only three out of 137 NHS trusts managed to meet the official 95 percent target.
NHS units are unable to discharge many patients due to lack of social care and the loss of available beds. Many hospitals are running at a dangerous level of bed occupancy of more than 95 percent—10 percent higher than recommended as safe.
Standard targets for Accident and Emergencies (A&Es), cancer treatment and planned operations have all been missed. This year began with news of NHS England’s decision to postpone tens of thousands of non-urgent operations and outpatient clinics until the end of January to help hospitals cope with demand.
An Ambulance Service whistle-blower told the Health Service Journal that in the East of England alone at least 40 patients had been “harmed or died following significant ambulance delays” in less than three weeks between mid-December and early January.
A 57-year-old man in Suffolk froze to death after a 16-hour wait for an ambulance. An 81-year-old woman in Clacton on Sea, Essex died complaining of chest pain after a four-hour wait for an ambulance. An…