It’s junior doctors – not underfunding – pushing the NHS to the brink

Yet again we start the year with news that the NHS is facing the worst crisis since its inception. This has a real impact. People who think the health service is in crisis will be less inclined to use it. As we saw over lockdown, this leads to fewer treatable conditions being diagnosed, more ‘excess deaths’ from various causes and a greater healthcare burden for the longer term. It’s a calamity that only worsens.

The NHS is forever on the point of disintegration and collapse. Or, in the words of the British Medical Association, the system is under ‘intolerable and unsustainable’ pressure. Why, then, do so many members of the BMA seem to be determined to make matters worse?

It is estimated that this week’s six-day strike by junior doctors will cause up to 200,000 operations and other treatments to be cancelled.