NHS dental surgery waiting lists have gotten so long that patients are being forced to wait three years to be seen. Some have turned to costly private care, while others have pulled out their own teeth due to the pain.
Research suggests that almost a quarter of healthcare workers are hesitant about taking a Covid vaccine. Key reasons include concern about the speed of vaccine development and a lack of trust in the Government.
Forcing health and social care staff to take a Covid vaccine would lead to "resentment and mistrust", says the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP), which boasts a membership of over 50,000 GPs in the U.K..
GPs at sites that are only administering the AstraZeneca Covid vaccine have been told to cancel all appointments for pregnant women after the JCVI admitted that “more research is needed” on the vaccine.
Reports are emerging that many health service workers in England are refusing the vaccine, as the number of workers coming forward to receive a Covid jab is falling.
The Government has been accused of "cronyism", as it has emerged that the Health Secretary owns shares in an NHS contract-winning firm with which his sister is also heavily involved.
The number of people waiting to receive hospital treatment continues to rise, with 4.7 million people stuck on a waiting list by the end of February in England alone. This is the highest number since 2007.
On the one hand Government obviously believes I can't be safe from Covid because all the restrictions remain – with no excuses for the vaccinated. On the other hand, they say the NHS is open for routine business.
NHS England is set to lower its national Covid alert level from four to three due to falling Covid hospitalisation rates. This reduction should help hospitals tackle record-long waiting lists for other illnesses.
In a further indictment of the drive to "protect the NHS", analysis reveals that c. 11,000 women could be living with undiagnosed breast cancer. A reluctance to burden the NHS is said to be wreaking a “tragic cost”.
