Boris Johnson puts sticking plasters on the NHS when what those working in it need is intensive care.
The extra £38billion the PM has promised is likely to be eaten up by the even more neglected social care sector before the NHS sees a penny. But this crisis is not simply about money.
Nor can it be blamed solely on Covid. The pandemic just made a bad situation worse.
Even before it came along, there were too few staff under too much pressure. If the NHS was such a great place to work, there would not be 93,000 job vacancies.
Today, the Sunday Mirror reveals that 27,000 exhausted medics quit between July and September last year – with 7,000 citing a poor work-life balance as the reason.
That represents two in 100 of a workforce the NHS cannot afford to lose. Add to that Covid absences, staff seconded to deliver an unprecedented vaccination programme and the winter pressures they would be under anyway and we are left with an NHS on its knees.
Mr Johnson must ensure it doesn’t end up on its back. The NHS administers 25% more treatments than it did in 2010 with only 2.3% more doctors.
The recruitment of new doctors and nurses must be a priority, which means providing more training places.
Only when the health service is properly staffed will it retain those already in it.
The NHS is Britain’s greatest post-war achievement. It cannot be allowed to collapse in the battle against Covid, nor in the struggle to clear the backlog once the pandemic is over.
Make amends
It is a disgrace that a same-sex relationship in the military remained a criminal offence for 33 years after it was made legal in every other walk of life.
Those who were jailed or kicked out of the armed forces in which they were so proud to serve never quite recovered.
Which is why the pardons the Sunday Mirror campaigned for are so welcome.
But they are not enough to make up for the shame and misery too many veterans have lived with for so long.
An apology by Boris Johnson on behalf of the nation will do that. And compensation for loss of pensions and earnings.
Only then will LGBT+ vets be able to hold their heads high and wear their medals with pride.
Kate the great
The Duchess of Cambridge hits middle age today – and new pictures released of Kate show just how radiant she is at 40. Despite Covid, we are lucky to live in the age we do.
Most of us look younger as we live longer, and 60 is the new 40. Or in Kate’s case, 40 is the new 20…
