We can’t fix the NHS with bigger cheques alone... |
By Kat James
Every few months, the debate around NHS funding kicks off again - and the proposed cure is usually the same: spend more.
But the real crisis in the NHS isn’t just about bigger budgets, it’s about how we use the money we have already got.
The NHS is still largely built on a 1940s model, designed for short-term illness and a much younger population. Today, the system is creaking under the weight of chronic conditions, rising demand, and a workforce stretched to breaking point.
Yet the solutions we keep reaching for are the same: squeeze more out of hospitals, rather than rethinking how care is delivered.
Take the latest productivity figures. NHS England reported that hospital productivity rose by 2.7% last year - an impressive achievement. But waiting lists barely moved. That’s because hospitals aren’t the place where this........