Washington Post: Socialized Medicine is Struggling in the UKhttps://hotair.com/john-s-2/2025/12/26/washington-post-socialized-medicine-is-struggling-in-the-uk-n3810249The Washington Post editorial board continues to challenge its progressive readers today with an editorial taking a shot at socialized medicine in the UK. As the paper notes, the UK's National Health Service is in the midst of an annual winter crisis reminiscent of COVID. The cause this year is the regular flu which is overwhelming hospitals and causing the nation's health secretary to warn sick people to stay home unless absolutely necessary.
The NHS has existed for years in a perpetual state of emergency. This was the case before the pandemic hit, and it has only gotten worse. Hospital corridors overflow and routine procedures get canceled due to a catastrophic event commonly known as “winter.” It comes around every year, yet the system, despite annual funding increases, still somehow remains unable to cope.
A campaign to keep people away from hospitals during the holidays is underway, which includes begging the public to seek out other forms of treatment for “less serious” injuries and ailments. The British press compares the messaging to “Covid-era stay-at-home pleas,” which included asking patients who needed care to avoid medical facilities in order to “protect the NHS.”
The Post is right about the current crisis. Wes Streeting, the UK health minister, compared the health system to a Jenga tower just two weeks ago, i.e. a system on the verge of collapse. Part of that strain is being caused by an impending strike by doctors.
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The result of an overwhelmed system is what has come to be euphemistically known as "corridor care."
The stats also showed that A&E departments are experiencing “worryingly high” levels of corridor care and demand heading into winter.
In November, some 50,468 people waited 12 hours or more in emergency departments, often on trolleys in corridors. This is the highest on record for that time of year. Some 2.35 million people went to A&E in November, the highest on record for that month.
An annual "crisis" points to several issue:
* Inadequate facilities space;
* Inadequate diagnostic equipment (e.g. compare per-capita numbers of MRI machines for the US and England);
* Under-staffing.
Decades-running annual crisis ... welcome to the less-than-wonderful world of government-run healthcare.
