The situation is being described as the worst crisis since the NHS was set up in 1948. As nurses went on strike on Wednesday, with its focus on low pay, the extent of the crisis facing patients in the UK's state-run National Health Service (NHS) is being laid bare. According to NHS England, a record 54 532 people in December waited for more than 12 hours once arriving at A&E. Darrel Wilson, 54, from Stockport, says nurses told him he would not have survived had his wife not driven him to hospital herself. Wilson said nurses told him he "wouldn't be alive" if he had waited for the ambulance.

Source: News 24 January 19, 2023 04:13 UTC