The Effect of the Coepodemic on the NHS

2min Snip

00:00

Play full episode

Summary

Transcript

Episode notes

The n h ss referra to treatment waiting list has reached an astounding six point eight million people, with well over two and a half million waiting for more than 18 weeks. Tim explained what impact he had seen from the pandemic. The pandemic really revealed the lack of capacity within the system - which cove clearly presented. Of course, alongside that, the coepodemic has caused a lot of psychological impact.

The UK’s new health secretary, Thérèse Coffey, has not taken on an easy job. Almost two-thirds of trainee GPs plan to work part-time just a year after they qualify, reporting that the job has become too intense to safely work more. A record 6.8 million people are waiting for hospital treatment in England, and 132,139 posts lie vacant across the NHS in England. Ian Sample hears from acute medicine consultant Dr Tim Cooksley about what’s happening within the NHS, and speaks to the Guardian’s health policy editor, Denis Campbell, about how the UK’s health and social care systems ended up in crisis and whether they can be fixed. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/sciencepod