The Backlog

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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 3 -  Future

Episode 3 -  Future

BBC Radio 4 - The Backlog, Episode 3 -  Future

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.

As we emerge from one of the worst winters in NHS history and with record numbers of people waiting for treatment, what does the future hold for our health service? To help clear the backlog do we need to radically reform the institution? Could technology be the cure-all for the NHS's ills? Or is it just a funding issue? 
 
In this final episode of The Backlog, the Economist’s Health Policy Editor, Natasha Loder, goes in search of some big ideas to help get us out of this current crisis and reshape the NHS so it's fit for 21st century health provision.

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