Intractable waiting lists

Baron Larrey rules OK.

This post is not for those with a weak stomach or those who will excuse politicians for what they are. If you fall in either category or both - look away now.

We are told that in the NHS in England, more than 7 million people are waiting for a hospital specialist or surgeon or whatever. Over 3 million patients wait over 18 weeks and 370 thousand over a year for treatment.

By any measure, these figures show we have an emergency on our hands - yes, a real one, not model-driven or PCR derived. Presumably, these are folk who have long-standing problems and need help. We do not know the makeup of their pathologies, but all are at risk in the forthcoming NHS winter crisis - we have become modellers and see the future.

Leaving aside the reasons for this crisis which has quite clearly been accelerated by the insane restrictions brought about by incompetent ministers, something must be done. Not “anything, as long as it is visible”, as politicians would have us believe:  throw some taxpayers' cas…