The Backlog

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Factual: Health & Wellbeing

The Economist's health policy editor, Natasha Loder, explores solutions to the NHS backlog

The NHS faces a monumental backlog of patients waiting treatment. So how exactly do we tackle the backlog? The Economist's health policy editor, Natasha Loder, looks for answers.

After more than two years battling COVID-19, the NHS is struggling through its worst winter crisis in living memory and is facing a daunting task to clear the huge backlog exacerbated by the pandemic. Nearly six million people are on the NHS waiting list for routine treatment in England alone. As patients, often with worsening conditions, pour back into the NHS after putting off treatment, health secretary Sajid Javid warns waiting lists could top thirteen million. 
 
So how exactly do we tackle the backlog? In this new three-part series, the Economist's Health Policy Editor, Natasha Loder, assesses the scale of the problem and its impact on our health.

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The Backlog: Episode 2 - Workforce

Episode 2 - Workforce

BBC Radio 4 - The Backlog, Episode 2 - Workforce

The NHS faces a monumental backlog of patients waiting treatment. So how exactly do we tackle the backlog? The Economist’s health policy editor, Natasha Loder, looks for answers.

Is a severe staffing crisis the biggest barrier to tackling the backlog caused by the pandemic? A recent report suggests the NHS is short of nearly a hundred thousand workers and that existing staff were feeling under pressure and could quit unless the issue is resolved.  
 
But has the pandemic only exacerbated an historic workforce crisis? And if so, what radical solutions are needed to plug the gap and help train and retain doctors, nurses and other frontline staff?
 
In this episode, presenter Natasha Loder assesses the scale of the workforce crisis by speaking to staff, managers, policy experts, and the patients who have been affected.

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