Can Britain Fix Its National Health Service?

 The NYT has the story

A National Treasure, Tarnished: Can Britain Fix Its Health Service? As it turns 75, the N.H.S., a proud symbol of Britain’s welfare state, is in the deepest crisis of its history. By Mark Landler

"As it turns 75 this month, the N.H.S., a proud symbol of Britain’s welfare state, is in the deepest crisis of its history: flooded by aging, enfeebled patients; starved of investment in equipment and facilities; and understaffed by doctors and nurses, many of whom are so burned out that they are either joining strikes or leaving for jobs abroad.

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"More than 7.4 million people in England are waiting for medical procedures, everything from hip replacements to cancer surgery. That is up from 4.1 million before the coronavirus pandemic began in 2020.

"Mortality data, exacerbated by long wait times, paints a bleak picture. In 2022, the number of excess deaths rose to one of the highest levels in the last 50 years, and those numbers have kept rising, even as the pandemic has ebbed.

"In the first quarter of 2023, more than half of excess deaths — that is, deaths above the five-year average mortality rate, before the pandemic — were caused by something other than Covid-19. Cardiovascular-related fatalities, which can be linked to delays in treatment, were up particularly sharply

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"Seeking to solve the problem, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak last month announced a 15-year plan to recruit and train 300,000 nurses and doctors, budgeting 2.4 billion pounds (about $3 billion) for the first five years. But critics point out that the plan does not fund wage increases, the only surefire way to prevent workers from leaving.

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"No mainstream politician proposes to privatize the N.H.S.: The specter of the inequitable U.S. health system still horrifies many Britons. And in some ways, the service remains a marvel, one of the world’s most comprehensive, taxpayer-funded health care providers — “free at the point of delivery,” in the words of its utopian motto. It still offers annual physical exams, mammograms, vaccinations and other services at a level that visiting Americans find impressive."