British PM Promises ‘Largest Ever’ Improvements to Crisis-Hit Health Service
Britain’s Prime Minister Rishi Sunak leaves 10 Downing Street in central London on January 18, 2023.
InternationalIndiaAfricaJames TweedieThe National Health Service is weathering a storm of crises, including record emergency department attendances, a backlog of non-urgent cases and strikes by staff who feel they have been betrayed since the COVID-19 pandemic.British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has promised the “largest and fastest ever” reductions in National Health Service (NHS) waiting times.Speaking to staff on a visit to a hospital in County Durham in the north-east of England, Sunak promised to cut the time patients are waiting “If we can deliver on it, I think we will see – in fact I know we will see – the largest and fastest-ever improvement in emergency waiting times in the NHS’s history,” Sunak said.The PM praised the “hard work” and “ingenuity” of healthcare workers, which he said made him feel “really confident we can deliver it.””We’re going to improve things for patients and make an enormous difference to people up and down the country,” Sunak added.
WorldUK PM Sunak Tells Nurses He Can’t Raise Taxes for Pay RisesYesterday, 15:53 GMTThe NHS is currently facing several crises. The service is struggling to catch up with a huge backlog of non-urgent appointments, tests and operations that were cancelled during the COVID-19 pandemic.Meanwhile, the numbers of people attending Accident and Emergency departments has soared, resulting on overcrowded waiting rooms and ambulances queuing to drop off patients who can wait days for a bed on a ward.Nurses and ambulance staff are now holding a series of strikes in demand of pay rises that at least keep up with double-digit inflation.
