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In need of resuscitation

Hamish Birrell: public policy correspondent, The Economist

Standards will slip in the National Health Service

A national treasure

BRITISH PEOPLE have always been fond of the National Health Service (NHS)—but
rarely have they gone to such lengths to demonstrate it. During the first wave of the
pandemic, banners supporting the NHS were draped across streets and windows.
Charities associated with the health service were showered with cash. Every Thursday
evening people stood on their doorsteps to applaud health workers.

The NHS was one of the few parts of the British state to emerge from the first wave of
the pandemic with its reputation intact, having managed to avoid a Lombardy-style
inundation. In 2021 it will face a different sort of challenge: providing routine health
care while staying ready to meet additional spikes in covid-19 hospitalisations. It will be
unable to maintain the balancing act without letting standards slip.

Even before the pandemic, the NHS was in a bad way. Although protected from the
worst of austerity, for most of the past decade it received funding increases below the
level economists think necessary to maintain existing standards. Just before the crisis,