Understanding the NHS crisis

Is there a new crisis?

An NHS winter crisis (or talk of one) is nothing new, as we pointed out at the beginning of October. However, at present, there seems to be a divergence of views on whether there is a crisis and, if so, what has precipitated it:

"The Royal College of Emergency Medicine on Sunday said between 300 and 500 patients would die each week in emergency care, notably due to long waiting times.” 

Its vice president rejected suggestions that short-term factors had caused the crisis.  

The government considered the strain on the NHS was due to the pandemic fall-out and winter illnesses such as the flu. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak stated  "decisive action" has been taken, and the NHS had been provided with "record resources" to tackle the backlogs.

However, the Health Secretary knew exactly what was going on: He blamed high cases of flu and covid and fears about Strep A for the "massive pressure" the NHS was facing over the festive period, plus inaccessible primary care services, such as GPs, as they w…