THREAD: Austerity ripped the resilience out of the health and care service before it confronted its greatest challenge

Our new report reveals the extent of the crisis that was facing medics and carers even before Covid-19 hit (1/7) http://www.ippr.org/research/publications/resilient-health-and-care

Underinvestment in social and community care left 4 in 5 hospitals with ‘dangerously low’ spare beds as the crisis hit

While the NHS in England was not overrun, the government was forced to make harmful policies such as the mass discharge of patients into care settings (2/7)

The health service is severely understaffed, causing increased strain on healthcare professionals ‍‍‍ ‍

For the UK to meet top international standards, the UK needs 49,600 more long-term care workers; 70,000 more doctors and 220,000 more nurses (3/7)

The UK is very short of CT and MRI scanners compared to similar advanced countries. Our adoption of new treatments and tech is also markedly slower (4/7)

The UK currently spends £27.7 billion less on health annually relative to the size of our economy than the G7 average

The lack of capital funding is creating a growing backlog of maintenance issues, including fire hazards and sewage leaks on the NHS estate (5/7)

The UK's public health is not good. We have high levels of excess weight and alcohol consumption This increased people's vulnerability to Covid-19

The pandemic has also further exposed the vast health inequalities in the UK (6/7)

Our report rates the health service's resilience level against key categories and finds that it was in a dire state before the pandemic

The government must now abandon austerity and invest in building long-term resilience (7/7) http://bit.ly/IPPRrhc