Fixing Britain’s health service means fixing its family doctors

Britons usedNHSA&EA&E to see the 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 () departments. ’s mortality model echoes the warnings from emergency doctors: around one in four excess deaths in recent months is attributable to in emergency care.The scenes in are just the most alarming symptoms of a . Downstream, one in seven patients is ready to leave the wards, which would free up beds for those clamouring to get in, but they would have no one to look after them if they were released from hospital. The government’s proposed solution—an extra £200m ($243m) to block-book places in private care homes—seems sensible. But it will take more than that to deal with the deeper problem: a chronic shortage of staff.