The NHS cannot heal itself

Rationing did not end in the 1950s. The largest-scale rationing programme is still in existence: our beloved National Health Service. Its austere regime is part of our national life. We no longer queue for bread or sugar, but we most certainly do to see the doctor. We no longer wait in line at the butcher’s, but we do in A&E departments and on interminable lists for appointments and procedures. There are no books or coupons, but rationing it remains. Indeed, the government has announced it is withholding elective operations and routine appointments this month. Rationing by any other name would smell as sweet.

And, like our drawn-out post-war rationing, it is ours alone. Nowhere else in Europe must one wait until one’s knee is arthritic to the point of incapacity before a surgeon will set eyes on it. Are your unsightly and painful varicose veins making you miserable? Terribly sorry— come back if you develop an infection or an ulcer.