Theresa May Apologizes for Delays in Britain’s Health System
" she said in a television interview after being asked if she would be happy if a relative were put through the delays
that patients were facing. that I know it’s difficult, I know it’s frustrating, I know it’s disappointing for people, and I apologize,
4, 2018
LONDON — A day after denying that the National Health Service was facing a crisis, Prime Minister Theresa May of Britain apologized
on Thursday for delays throughout the health care agency as it scrambled to cope with a particularly difficult winter season.
And all that comes against a backdrop of years of austerity-driven budget restraints, as well as staffing shortages
that many health experts attribute to the anti-immigrant atmosphere fostered by Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union, which is driving foreign health care workers back to their home countries.
But the $2.2 billion increase she referred to fell far short of the $5.4 billion
that Simon Stevens, the chief executive of the service, requested last year.
Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of the opposition Labour Party, said Mrs. May’s apology
was not good enough and blamed her Conservative Party for the crisis.
Hospital corridors are brimming with patients waiting for wards to be freed up,
and nonurgent cases are being referred to pharmacies or general practitioners.