From underinvestment in community nursing, slower access to treatment, to high cancer rates compared with other countries, the report highlights some of the major issues the NHS is facing.
But the reputable surgeon and former health minister Lord Darzi has claimed that the NHS is fixable.
What exactly is the Lord Darzi report and what were some of its findings?
What is the Lord Darzi report?
The report by Lord Darzi offers a comprehensive analysis of the problems confronting the healthcare system and the present state of the NHS in England.
In order to evaluate patient access to healthcare, Lord Darzi took into account the information and data that were accessible and the standard of the medical care being given.
Lord Darzi is an academic surgeon who holds the Paul Hamlyn Chair of Surgery at Imperial College London. He is an expert in minimally invasive and robot-assisted surgery, having invented numerous novel methods and tools.
He has attempted to restructure the NHS in England and is well-known throughout the world as a proponent of implementing creative changes to health systems everywhere.
The NHS regularly asks Lord Darzi to perform reviews on the NHS in order to improve services.
What did Lord Darzi’s report find?
There has been a “surge” in a number of chronic illnesses, with children and young adults experiencing worse mental health more frequently. Both childhood vaccination rates and adult participation in programmes like breast cancer screening have declined.
There were 2.8 million people who were economically inactive at the beginning of 2024 as a result of chronic illness, with mental health issues accounting for the majority of the increase since the epidemic.
All waiting times, including those for surgery, cancer treatment, A&E, and mental health treatments, are falling short of their targets.
Low income, unstable employment, and subpar housing have all been contributing factors over the past 15 years, as well as the increasing difficulties people are experiencing in being able to access their GPs.
Lord Darzi said: “GPs are seeing more patients than ever before but, with the number of fully qualified GPs relative to the population falling, waiting times are rising and patient satisfaction is at its lowest ever level.”
Both the cancer death rates and cancer care rates are higher in this country than in others. Between 2013 and 2021, there was “no progress whatsoever” in the diagnosis of cancer at stages I and II. More recent data, though, indicates some progress.
Meanwhile, the NHS budget is “is not being spent where it should be”, with too much money “spent in hospitals, too little in the community, and productivity is too low”.
Individuals in need of social care occupy an excessive number of hospital beds.
The number of community-based nurses decreased by five per cent between 2009 and 2023, whilst the number of health visitors decreased by more than 20 per cent during the same period.
The NHS is left with dilapidated facilities and an excessive number of antiquated scanners as a result of capital budget raids and “parts of the NHS are yet to enter the digital era”.
Compared to other similar health systems, the NHS postponed, cancelled, or delayed a great deal more regular care during the epidemic.
“Distressingly high levels of sickness absence” and “disengaged” workforces are prevalent in the NHS.
What was the reaction to the report?
The NHS report “shows how broken our beloved NHS has become”, according to the British Medical Association (BMA), which also notes that the “devastating impact on our patients is deeply sobering”.
Prof Philip Banfield, chair of the BMA council, is calling on the incoming administration to move quickly to reinstate doctors’ compensation, support general practitioners appropriately, and undo legislative mistakes that created unfavourable working circumstances and encouraged physician attrition.
Wes Streeting, the Health Secretary, discussed Lord Darzi’s report on BBC Breakfast and BBC Radio 4 on September 12, saying the three “big shifts” he wants to see in order to fix the NHS are an emphasis on more care in community settings rather than hospitals., a transition from analogue technology to digital, and more of a focus on preventative measures to reduce the incidence of illness.
He affirmed that, going forward, community services will receive greater financing but hospitals will receive a proportionately smaller amount.
Though Streeting hinted that it would take some time, the administration intends to actually carry out the previous government’s plan to construct dozens of additional hospitals.
