The NHS is on its sick bed and needs fundamental reform to nurse it back to health
Walkouts have put NHS on its sickbed
IT was obvious that NHS strikes would harm patients — and now we have proof.
One million hospital appointments and operations have been cancelled because of the walkouts, figures are expected to reveal this week.
This is a shocking number. But the stories behind these figures will prove heartbreaking.
Think of the elderly Brits stuck at home unable to to take a stroll around the park because they are waiting for a hip operation.
Or the anxious father nervously waiting for a cancer scan who is told to hang on another week.
NHS waiting lists are already at a record high of 7.68million. That is one in seven of us.
These crippling walkouts are only adding to that painful queue.
Brits quite rightly love our NHS.
But the goodwill of patients is a two-way street.
The bond between the sick and NHS professionals has been hard won but could easily be lost.
Without that, the NHS will find itself in an increasingly fragile state.
Its doctors and nurses are the first hands that touch us when we are born, and often the final ones we feel at the end of our lives.
But many families will be wondering how it can be right that consultants, some earning around £127,000 a year, are striking for higher pay, while patients can barely afford their bills.
Many cannot even see a doctor funded by a record-high tax burden.
Our NHS is on its sick bed. It needs fundamental reform to nurse it back to health.
A criminal insult
LEGAL aid is there to ensure everyone gets a fair trial. But it must be proportionate.
We are astonished to learn the killers of innocent Sven Badzak are getting £400,000 to bankroll their lawyers.
Meanwhile, the mother of their victim has received a fraction of that in compensation. Just £11,500 to be precise.
It raises serious questions not just about the way our legal aid system is run, but about how we value lives.
Every day in this country, thousands of pounds are wasted on questionable pet projects.
The civil service is stuffed full of diversity and inclusion officers, all paid for out of taxpayer funds.
So it seems an insult that Sven’s grieving family have been given such a paltry sum from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority.
Sven’s mother Jasna has spoken with great eloquence and bravery about her son’s death. She deserves more.