Hospital waiting lists are growing. Pharmacies are running out of antibiotics. Nurses have been taking industrial action for the first time in their history and next week ambulance drivers will join them — with strikes planned for Wednesday.
The U.K.’s National Health Service is beginning to look sicker than some of its patients. After limping through the COVID-19 pandemic, the NHS is finding the aftermath even more challenging.
Even before nurses took to the picket line on Thursday after failing to agree on a new pay deal, Britain’s system of publicly funded care was under pressure, with more than 7 million people waiting for routine operations and staff resigning at record rates.