WHY WON’T THE NHS LET US STOP THE FLU OURSELVES?
Another winter, another warning of a crisis set to engulf the NHS. These day it’s either attributed to doctors’ strikes or seasonal viruses. However with the predictable nature of viruses and certain bacterial infections, a sceptic could start to wonder whether NHS leaders might be able to put together a better emergency plan.
Industrial action aside, do we always need to sit on the brink of catastrophe? Couldn’t the health service prepare better for natural fluctuations in demand?
An even more hardened sceptic might ask whether the social and economic disaster that was our Covid reaction (namely repeated, prolonged national lockdowns) might have been avoided if the health service was better prepared to respond to an unusual – but not entirely unpredictable – surge in demand.
But we mustn’t ask that question. No: we should have locked down harder and faster – this is what Baroness Hallett of the Covid Inquiry would have us believe. Her logic appears to be that locking down sooner could have allowed us to avoid some of the harms of lockdown…
In any event, it seems evident that the most important lessons from the Covid-19 pandemic have not been learnt. Why does our health service still remain on the precipice of disaster, with an inadequate number of hospital beds to cope with the expected need this winter?
Rather than spending millions on cutting edge cancer drugs, gene therapies or bionic prosthetic limbs, Britain needs first and foremost more acute hospital beds and a more efficient system which can move patients from emergency departments to appropriate destinations.
A more accessible primary care service, where the public is able to speak to or see a GP in a timely fashion, is also essential. The pandemic should have shown us that our country requires a sufficiently resourced healthcare system (or systems) that can cope with the population’s urgent and chronic medical needs.
Of course, the public also needs to be given greater agency and responsibility for managing their own health. For example, AstraZeneca has just launched a nasal spray form of its annual flu vaccine.
In the United States, people are able to buy this for children or adults, even receiving it as a home delivery in the post. In Britain, the nasal flu spray is only available to those aged three to 18 via the school immunisation programme or their GP. It would seem sensible, with the concern about this winter’s predicted influenza levels, for there to be more options available for the public to protect themselves.
As a society, we need to learn the importance of looking after our own wellbeing, and behaving in ways that promote better public health.
For too long the NHS has acted like a matronly aunt, ready to swing into action at the first sign of a graze or mild fever.
This cannot continue: the health service cannot function if we call upon it for every cough, cold or sniffle. The public should be encouraged to take more steps in self-care, and NHS services should be reserved for those times when we really need it. For all Labour’s grand talk of healthcare reform and digital transformation, the same stories are repeated year after year: the NHS faces yet another winter crisis, and many people still cannot see their GP.
2025-12-12T18:25:35Z
