It's puzzling that people blame "the NHS" for the state it's in. It's not a religion, simply a mechanism for paying for universal care (tax funded, free at the point of need, largely publicly provided). The main reasons it can't cope with demand, in no particular order are... 1. Alarming levels of child poverty, health inequality and unhealthy ageing. 2. Pointless, costly and harmful political redisorganisations and outsourcings. 3. Reluctance of politicians to pay for and secure safe staffing levels and infrastructure 4. Insufficient focus on prevention, primary care, social care and education 5. Inability of those in authority to tell the truth, particularly when things go wrong 6. Lack of accountability for those who cover up the truth, suppress whistleblowers and kick obvious scandals into the long grass. 7. Treating the staff so poorly that want to leave, or do leave, to seek a less stressful, better paid job. This has got nothing to do with the NHS as a funding system, but the political and voter choices that have allowed it to be underfunded - and hence unsafe - for so long. It's rare in life you get "more for less". In healthcare, we usually get "less for less". We are currently not providing prompt universal healthcare but rationing it so severely that people are suffering and dying for want of health, dental and social care. Myriad public inquiries have recommended rebuilding the NHS around safety and quality, but until we address these issues we are just pissing in the wind... This doesn't sound much like comedy, but I will try to add a few gags in before the Edinburgh fringe... drphilhammond.com