NHS crisis: Politicians are not offering a comprehensive solution on how to fix the health service
The NHS is in the worst crisis in its 75 years, say health experts.
And you only had to listen to the heart-wrenching stories of the audience during a live Sky News programme on the NHS at Coventry Hospital for the reality of that to be laid bare.
There was James, whose wife died after waiting too long for an ambulance – and Sarah, whose mum died from an infection in hospital after waiting too long to be discharged into community care.
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‘NHS can survive if people fight for it’
Stories that provoked gasps of horror and expressions of distress from the audience, as those around them recounted how they lost loved ones in a health system on its knees.
And as the stories of failings were shared, the obvious question that followed was whether the NHS can survive in its current form, or if it needs a radical rethink.
This is of course an intensely political question, given that it is governments that decide how much investment should be put into the health system, sort out the infrastructure, and decide how it should be organised.
There is a growing discussion in Westminster about how the NHS should be funded, with the former health secretary Sajid Javid telling me last year that he doesn’t believe the NHS can survive and the country needs an “honest conversation” about how we pay for healthcare.
He thinks the UK should look to European neighbours that have a mix of private insurance and state provision, where patients pay some money for services. He recently said those who can afford it should also pay to see a GP.
But this wasn’t a view shared by our audience, with many shaking their heads when I reflected some of the political discussion back in Westminster around the future of the NHS.
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Sir Rod Stewart calls Sky News
As Phil Brown, a retired children’s nurse, said: “As Nye Bevan [the founder of the NHS] put it, the NHS will survive for as long as there are people even now who are prepared to fight for it.
“Give back an elective nurses council, take away the parking charges, give us a four-day week, we will graft… and watch what all NHS staff can do.”
The audience reflected wider public sentiment, according to Hugh Alderwick, director of policy at the Health Foundation.
“Polling shows strong support for the core principles of the NHS, including it being free at the point of use, available to all and predominantly funded through tax,” he said. “The public want a better health service, rather than a different system and they back additional spending to supply it, with 71% thinking greater government investment in the NHS is necessary.”
Read more special coverage:
NHS needs are long-term, complicated and challenging
Sir Rod Stewart calls in to live Sky News phone-in
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Can the NHS survive?
But if the audience seemed to agree with the principle of an NHS free at the point of use and funded through taxation, the politicians are not offering comprehensive solutions to how to end a crisis that was beginning long before the COVID pandemic.
Chronic staff shortages, the need for more investment, a plan to fix adult social care and weak capital investment in buildings, equipment and IT, are some of the big problems facing the NHS but our politicians tend to deal in sticking plasters not real solutions.
The most obvious example being the ditching of Boris Johnson’s £12bn-a-year plan to better fund the NHS and social care through a National Insurance tax rise and a cap on individual care costs to protect the elderly from exorbitant costs.
That successive government inaction now hitting home with ambulance delays, bed blocking and high levels of unmet needs.
But on both sides of the political divide, parties are for now unwilling to grasp the nettle.
Read more special coverage:
Proposals to make some NHS patients pay for care spark backlash
Where – and why – there are long waits for emergency care
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‘NHS Crisis: Your Say’ Highlights
The Conservatives have delayed social care reform until after the next general election. They have promised a plan on improving emergency care, access and workforce to deal with acute staffing shortages, but there is a private admission within government that it is unlikely that patients will feel much improvement in services before an election and there is certainly no talk of increased investment.
Labour too is unwilling to commit to more funding, anxious that they open up a line of attack from the Conservatives if it commits to spending plans for the NHS.
As deputy leader Angela Rayner put it to me in a recent interview, Labour will focus on reforming the NHS – a big push on changing the way GP surgeries work and increasing preventative medicine – rather than raising taxes to pay for it.
The “retail offer” from Labour is to pay for more doctors and nurses by scrapping non-dom tax status and funnelling the estimated £3.2bn that will raise into extra training places.
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An NHS hospital under pressure
Lord Winston, the IVF pioneer who has worked in the NHS for nearly six decades, told me last week he had never seen it so bad and said he believed more funding would be inevitable. He urged Sir Keir Starmer to show more “courage” when it came to resolving the problems of the NHS.
With an election less than two years away, political leaders are for now playing it safe with difficult decisions delayed. But what was clear from our discussion is that voters want the NHS to survive in its current form. And they will expect their political leaders to deliver it.
World
Ten explosions near international airport in India-administered part of Kashmir, officials say
Ten explosions have been heard near Srinagar International Airport in India-administered parts of Kashmir, officials have told Reuters news agency.
The blasts followed blackouts caused by multiple projectiles, which were seen in the sky above the city of Jammu earlier on Friday.
Explosions were also heard in the Sikh holy city of Amritsar, in the neighbouring Punjab state, according to Reuters.
An Indian military official told the agency that “drones have been sighted” and “they are being engaged”.
It comes as tensions between India and Pakistan across the line of control around the region of Kashmir have boiled over this week, leading to fears of a wider conflict.
On Wednesday morning, India carried out missile strikes in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered parts of the disputed region.
The retaliation came weeks after 26 people, mainly Indian tourists, were shot dead by gunmen in an India-administered part of Kashmir last month.
The government in India said it hit nine “terrorist infrastructure” sites, while Pakistan said it was not involved in the April attack and the sites were not militant bases.
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Explained: India-Pakistan conflict
Around 48 people have been killed since Wednesday, according to casualty estimates on both sides – which have not been independently verified.
India also suspended its top cricket tournament, the Indian Premier League, as a result of rising tensions, while the Pakistan Super League moved the remainder of its season to the United Arab Emirates.
Meanwhile, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said at a conference on Friday that the US is in constant contact with both India and Pakistan.
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Conclaves are famously unpredictable affairs – and once again the election of Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost as the new pope caught many by surprise.
The newly elected Pope Leo XIV won the consensus of the 133 cardinal electors after only four ballots – a fast process for a diverse college of cardinals.
Though his name had circulated among some Vatican watchers, other cardinals had emerged as clear front-runners, including Pietro Parolin – the Vatican’s number two who would have been the first Italian in almost 50 years to become pontiff – or Luis Tagle, a Filipino cardinal looking to become the first Asian pope.
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What are the conclave’s secrecy measures?
Instead, it was the first North American to win the highly secretive process.
So, what went on behind the closed doors of the Sistine Chapel?
Until Thursday lunchtime, Cardinal Parolin was ahead, gathering between 45 and 55 votes, sources say.
A substantial number, but well short of the 89 votes he needed for a two-thirds majority.
At this point, Cardinal Prevost had between 34 and 44 votes.
But as the Italian struggled to grow his support during the first three rounds of voting, he stepped down from the race, endorsing Prevost instead, Sky News understands.
Read more:
Who is Pope Leo XIV?
List of demands in new pope’s in-tray
How does new pope compare to his predecessors?
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Who is Pope Leo?
An internal battle between Luis Tagle and Pablo Virgilio David – both cardinals hailing from Asia – cancelled out both of their chances.
And a contender from Africa – the most conservative sector of the church – was never likely for a conclave where the overwhelming majority of cardinals had been appointed by Francis, a progressive pontiff, sources say.
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Moment new pope emerges on balcony
An American pope has long been seen as highly improbable, given the geopolitical power of the US.
But Cardinal Prevost was able to draw from across the groups making up the electors: moderate US cardinals, South American cardinals and many European cardinals all coalesced around him.
Italian newspaper La Repubblica said Prevost “certainly attracted cross-party preferences, both ideologically and geographically”.
“In the conclave he was the least American of Americans: Born in Chicago, he lived 20 years in Peru,” the newspaper said.
It added: “As a man used to teamwork, Prevost appeared to many as the right man to make the papacy evolve into a more collegial form.”
Standing on Red Square, this was an intimidating sight, which felt much more like a celebration of war rather than peace.
I could feel the ground shake as the tanks rolled past, their caterpillar tracks on the ancient cobbles providing a deafening clatter.
The hairs on the back of my neck stood up in fear as the phalanxes of troops roared “Hurrah” in response to their commander in chief.
And the sight of combat drones being paraded on their launchers was actually quite sickening. Weapons that have been at the forefront of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine were paraded in a show of pomp and patriotism.
Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin watch the procession. Pic: Reuters
Ukraine war latest: Putin welcomes Xi at Victory Day parade
For the rest of Europe, the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War has been a celebration of peace, but this felt much more like a celebration of war.
And it wasn’t just military hardware on display here, but the very identity of modern Russia.
Pic: Reuters
For this is a country that is now defined by its military and its memory. The glory and sacrifice of 1945 have been weaponised to give credence to Russia’s current course and to make people believe that victory is their right.
For Russians, it served as a rallying cry and there was applause when the troops who have fought against Ukraine marched past.
But for those watching in Kyiv and other European capitals, it was an overt warning that Moscow has no intention of backing down.
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Putin hails sacrifice of Russian troops
The parade was considerably larger in scale than in recent years, when units and hardware have been needed on the battlefield. I think it was a deliberate attempt to project an image of confidence, and so was Vladimir Putin‘s positioning of his guests.
China’s Xi Jinping was given a prime position on the Kremlin leader’s right-hand side. It was no surprise given the economic lifeline Beijing has provided, but it felt like a particularly pointed gesture to the West – that they were looking at a new world order.
Despite that appearance of confidence, there were signs of Moscow’s unease that the parade could be disrupted.
There were snipers on every rooftop. Security was extremely tight. And the mobile internet signal across the city centre was completely shut down for fear of Ukrainian drone attacks, meaning none of the international media that had gathered could broadcast any live transmissions.
After the parade finished, Putin saluted the crowds as they spontaneously erupted into rhythmic shouts of “Rus-si-ya” at the sight of him.
Another PR coup complete without interruption, he will have departed as a very happy man.
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