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Five political decisions that drove the NHS to the brink

NHS wait lists are bursting at the seams. From austerity to privatising social care, this is how we got here

Five political decisions that drove the NHS to the brink
Mark Thomas / Alamy Stock Photo | Health chiefs have warned that hundreds of people may have died because of the NHS crisis.
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Rishi Sunak was once again forced to deny that the NHS is facing a crisis this weekend, claiming that the service is merely “under pressure”. 

The prime minister has continued to face questions about the state of the health service following increasingly dire warnings from health officials and record-breaking delays.

Close to one in four ambulance patients in England waited more than an hour in ambulances queued outside hospitals before being admitted to A&E in December. Last week Adrian Boyle, president of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine, warned that between 300 and 500 people are dying each week as a consequence of delays in urgent and emergency care.