NHS in humanitarian crisis

The Red Cross "is surely engaging in hyperbole" with its talk of a "humanitarian crisis" in the NHS, argues The Sunday Times. Nonetheless, this winter appears to be the worst in many years, with hospitals "creaking under the strain". Indeed, "in accident and emergency departments the proportion of patients being seen within the four-hour limit is the lowest for 12 years".

Thanks to funding pressures, moreover, "patients will be restricted to discussing only one ailment per visit to the doctor". It's all a far cry from the "new and highly responsive GP service" promised by Tony Blair, under whom everyone was supposed to be able to arrange a GP appointment within 48 hours.

"I never thought I'd say this as a doctor, but I'd be scared if a family member was taken ill and had to go into hospital," says Dr Max Pemberton in the Daily Mail. While Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has blamed overcrowding on people going to A&E with trivial complaints, the real fault lies with "cuts to social care budgets" that are "leading to almost one million fewer people now getting social care". As a result, "hospitals have been forced to keep patients longer than necessary".

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Trouble in the NHS is "really nothing new", according to Kristian Niemietz in The Daily Telegraph. Indeed, research shows that "the NHS is lagging behind the health systems of most comparable countries on a wide range of measures". For example, "waiting times are long by international standards". While Britain doesn't spend as much on health as some Western states, this only goes so far "in explaining why the NHS is failing on bread-and-butter issues".

Actually, the NHS is already "exceptional value for money", argues The Guardian. While Blair and Gordon Brown increased the percentage of GDP spent on health from 6% in 2000 to 8.8% in 2009, this was still below the European average of 10.1%. The trouble is that without more cash now, the healthcare system will "be in jeopardy" as the ageing population's demand rises. If the government continues with current spending plans, then by 2020 our health spending as a proportion of GDP will be back at little more than 2000 levels, a mere 6.6% of the national income.

When Brown left office in 2010, surveys suggested that the service was recording "the highest levels of public satisfaction", says John Rentoul on Independent.co.uk. Six years on, "the ratings have fallen" and with "most of the NHS's indicators heading in the wrong direction", things "can only get worse".