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seeemilyplay

20 Oct, 45 tweets, 19 min read

🩺 THE NHS CRISIS 2020 🩺

Unless you've been living under a rock (& I envy you, if you have), you'll be aware of the current crisis facing the NHS.

The UK media would have you believe this is unprecedented, but are they right?

Breaking news or broken news?

🧵 A THREAD🧵

1. Before we delve into the archive, here's a reminder of media reporting on this crisis. Surprisingly (& suspiciously), the BBC aren't freaking out:

bbc.co.uk/news/uk-englan…

2. The Daily Mail, on the other hand:

dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8…

3. Here's The Times with their bleak outlook for NHS Scotland. Collapse, you say?

thetimes.co.uk/article/covid-…

4. This is 'Voice of the People' (debatable, but whatevs) writing for The Mirror:

mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/v…

5. The cast of dramatic actors at The Guardian star in 'Another Leaked Document'. Coming soon to a socially distanced theatre near you:

theguardian.com/world/2020/oct…

6. The Independent will be their supporting cast:

independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-n…

7. Now, hold on tight, boys & girls. We're going all the way back to 1996, where Dolly the Sheep gets cloned, Take That call it a day & The Independent reports on the acute NHS bed shortage:

independent.co.uk/news/nationwid…

8. In 1997, Tony Blair (Booo!) leads Labour to a landslide election victory, there's death in a Paris tunnel & the BBC warns of the winter worries facing the NHS - 'a flu epidemic could bring it to the brink of collapse'

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/36608.…

9. As 1998 rolls around, the Good Friday Agreement is signed & the first DVD is sold in the UK. Everything is changing. Everything except the news, that is - the BBC reports (again) of the pending NHS meltdown:

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/45273.…

10. Nobody is partying like it's 1999 in 1999 - Harold Shipman is killing, Jill Dando is being killed (not by Shipman, btw) & NHS intensive care beds run out:

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/25…

11. Y2K panic passes & normal life resumes in 2000. At the BBC, this involves the 'NHS on its knees':

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/59…

12. And, 'six months to save the NHS':

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/69…

13. Against all odds, the NHS managed to drag itself into 2001, where Labour win a second term in another landslide & the world changes forever on Sept 11th. What doesn't change, however, is the BBC reporting on an NHS crisis:

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/special_r…

14. The Queen Mother dies in 2002, at the age of 101, & bed shortages leave hospital patients waiting for hours on trollies. It's unsure whether the 2 are connected:

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_…

15. The 2003 Health Secretary, John Reid, dismisses claims that the NHS is facing a winter bed crisis. Reassuring, when you consider the trustworthiness of our current Health Secretary:

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/32…

16. We're going to run through 2004 with our eyes closed & our ears covered because a 'lack of beds is killing patients' & we don't wanna see that, do we?

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/35…

17. A ray of hope on the horizon in 2005 with the BBC reporting a flu outbreak 'may overwhelm' the NHS, but it may not. So, fingers crossed, everyone:

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/42…

18. FFS! Hope snatched away as full hospitals have to turn patients away:

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/sou…

19. A whale turns up in the Thames in 2006 & the Queen celebrates her 80th b'day. Let's hope she isn't hospitalised as new superbug MRSA & fears over bed occupancy are not a combo fit for a queen:

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/53…

20. Madeleine McCann goes missing in 2007. MRSA & hospital overcrowding does not:

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/64…

21. By 2008, MRSA is mostly forgotten, as is Madeleine McCann. Flu, however, is making a comeback, threatening to overwhelm the NHS when it does:

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/77…

22. With all the morals of a skip rat, the BBC trot out a 'won't somebody think of the children' narrative in 2009 with their story of critical care paediatric bed shortages:

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/83…

23. Not to be outdone, the Daily Mail sees the BBC's bed shortage & raises them '4000 babies born in lifts, corridors, offices & toilets'. Nice played, lads:

dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1…

24. In 2010 (anyone else missing 2020?), Tony Blair is a war criminal, Gordon Brown is PM & we have the lowest number of intensive care beds in the developed world:

dailymail.co.uk/health/article…

25. Labour get their marching orders by 2011, but a hung parliament means we get a Tory/Lib Dem coalition instead. Cameron & Clegg, the worst duo since the Hillside Stranglers, cut funding to the NHS like there's a prize for it:

dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2…

26. While the killers of Stephen Lawrence finally face justice & Jimmy Savile avoids it, in 2012 the NHS faces another crisis - acute care on the verge of collapse:

healthcare-in-europe.com/en/news/acute-…

27. Or the 'brink of collapse', as The Guardian terms it. They're both pretty interchangeable:

theguardian.com/society/2012/s…

28. They could actually be on to something this time - 170 operations are being cancelled daily in 2013 due to a chronic lack of beds:

dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2…

29. Max Clifford goes directly to jail without passing Go in 2014 & the Telegraph finally 'exposes' the hospital bed shortage scandal. About time someone did:

telegraph.co.uk/news/health/ne…

30. Nobody's surprised when Gary Glitter is found guilty of child abuse in 2015. Similarly, there's no surprise that a winter crisis is underway & the NHS has a bed shortage. This is probably why this Independent is fookin' massive:

independent.co.uk/life-style/hea…

31. The Guardian have such an amateur dramatics vibe going on, don't they? Like, they're shit, but they always put in the effort:

theguardian.com/society/2015/d…

32. The mystery of the missing hospital beds is still going strong in 2016, which is the year Lord Lucan is declared dead. There's irony there, if you like that sort of thing:

bbc.co.uk/news/health-38…

33. The Guardian & the Red Cross join forces in 2017 & put on a Broadway worthy production of '99% Capacity NHS: A Humanitarian Crisis'. The critics didn't rate it:

theguardian.com/society/2017/d…

34. Theresa May is at the helm, waging a war against plastic in 2018. Meanwhile, the battle to save the NHS is being lost:

telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/01/0…

35. By 2019, after 2 years of rehearsals, the Guardian have their 'NHS Crisis' headlines word perfect:

theguardian.com/society/2019/d…

36. As 2020 arrives, Harry & Meghan fuck off & we finally leave the EU. So many comings & goings. It's kind of comforting that the MSM & the NHS are still a shambles:

mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/g…

37. By March, Covid-19 is killing more grannies than Harold Shipman & the NHS has about a fortnight left in it:

theguardian.com/society/2020/m…

38. In swoops Matt Hancock, cape & all, to save the day & the NHS (you mean, clapping doesn't work?) with the Nightingale field hospitals. We're definitely going to need those. Aren't we??

telegraph.co.uk/news/0/do-many…

39. Apparently not. Not being one to learn from their mistakes, the cabinet doubles down:

inews.co.uk/news/politics/…

40. Where have they been hiding all these beds? Call me crazy, but they could have been used to treat the thousands of people who have died unnecessarily due to cancelled appointments & fear of seeking medical attention:

manchester.ac.uk/discover/news/…

41. Falling for & sharing this old, worn out narrative is killing people. We should expect nothing less from the bought & paid for media, but we, as citizens, have a choice - be complicit in the sham or fight against it.

Ignorance is no longer an excuse!