With record waiting lists, thousands of excess deaths, and nurses striking for the first time, the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) is once again buckling under pressure, stirring up debate on how to fix the system.
In England, the Conservative government is scrambling to settle pay disputes and free up hospital beds, while Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, positioning himself to be the next prime minister minister, backed plans to allow self-referral instead of waiting for GP appointments, and absorbing GP services into the nationally owned NHS.
