//Not sure what we did to protect the NHS. //
//The government chucked money at it.//
And the population was subject to some of the most Draconian measures this country has ever seen. This was done as a cure for the capacity problems that the NHS has been suffering for so long as I can recall. Remember: “Stay at Home. Save Lives. Protect the NHS.”
//The governent knew pandemics were inevitable and even ran exercises to figure out how to cope with them - but then didn't act on them.//
Indeed. The exercises and models were run over a number of years. And as soon as a real pandemic hit, all the results of those exercises and the plans to cope that came from them were swiftly binned. Some of this stemmed from actions taken in China where the virus is said to have originated. They locked their country down in March 2020 and the rest of the world, for some inexplicable reason, followed suit instead of putting in place the measures that had been devised from their exercises. China went on to impose some of the most inhumane measures imaginable (such as taking children from their parents and forcing them into isolation apart) and is still locking down even as I write:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-62547503
There is an element in this country and elsewhere that believes that similar measures should have been taken here and that they should still continue.
It is now becoming apparent that what was ignored during the pandemic (i.e. that the NHS had become the National Covid Service and little more) was very relevant. Many people tried to have the point aired but were howled down as “granny killers”. Well, a lot of grannies are dying now as a direct result of that ludicrous policy. Deaths from illnesses that went undiagnosed or untreated since Spring 2020 are increasing and the results of running a health service that largely ignored diagnosing many serious conditions are now becoming apparent.
The NHS does not need protection. It needs radical reform. It needs to ditch its social engineering division (“diversity”, “equality”, “trans rights” and all that goes with it) and just crack on with healing the sick. The GP services needs abolishing as it has moved from being barely fit for purpose pre-Covid to being totally unfit for purpose now. The NHS is costing over £3k pa for every man, woman and child in the country. Politicians need to stop lauding its success by the amount of money lavished on it and instead concentrate on patients’ experiences as they “journey” through the system, and the eventual outcomes.