There is now a much wider understanding that the problems of the NHS are more than financial. We have heard from both patients and the public. At its heart the problem for today's NHS is that it is not sufficiently designed around the convenience and concerns of the patient. The NHS provides many patients with a good and reliable service. But it is simply not responsive enough to their needs.
Patients have to wait too long for treatment.
Records get lost. Wards are not clean. Standards are too variable. Old-fashioned demarcations between staff, restricted opening and operating times, outdated systems, unnecessarily complex procedures and a lack of training all combine to create a culture where the convenience of the patient can come a poor second to the convenience of the system. This is not because staff are lazy or uncaring.