Leaders | Waiting-longer rooms

Fixing Britain’s health service means fixing its family doctors

Don’t change the partnership model. Do change the targets

PWXCDC Elderly ill patients sit in a GP surgery waiting room, waiting to be seen by the doctor or nurse — Image: Alamy

Jan 12th 2023

Britons used to see the National Health Service (NHS) as a source of pride. It is now a source of danger. Leaked data suggest that, in one week in December, over 50,000 sick people in England waited more than 12 hours to be admitted to hospital from accident-and-emergency (A&E) departments. The Economist’s mortality model echoes the warnings from emergency doctors: around one in four excess deaths in recent months is attributable to delays in emergency care.

This article appeared in the Leaders section of the print edition under the headline “The doctor won’t see you now”