Around 20,000 ambulance staff are on strike over pay and staffing. Nurses have been striking too in the middle of a winter twin-demik of flu and COVID. 7 million patients waiting for operations, more than ever. The National Health Service has long missed its wait time targets. But situation has worsened considerably in recent weeks.
Britain’s National Health Service is in crisis. Wait times are rising, nurses and paramedics are striking, and doctors are overworked—leading to hundreds of excess deaths each week. We visit the front line: a stretched GP’s surgery in Wales. We ask why Germany and Poland love to hate each other. And what America’s army is doing to slim down its overweight recruits.
For full access to print, digital and audio editions of The Economist, subscribe here www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer