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Britain / 14 January 2021
‘Chronic underfunding’ has left NHS unable to cope as hospitals face record delays on treatments
Paramedics unload a patient from an ambulance outside the Royal London Hospital in London
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Health Secretary James Murray during a visit to Watford General Hospital in Hertfordshire where he saw how, the hospital which was near the bottom of the league tables three years ago and corridor care had become normalised, now is consistently within the top 10 NHS Trusts in the country for A&E waiting times and have eliminated corridor care, July 9, 2026
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by Ceren Sagir
Deputy News Editor

HOSPITALS are struggling to deliver urgent care with record numbers of people waiting to start their treatment amid the pandemic due to “chronic underfunding” of the NHS, professionals have warned.

A total of 4.46 million people were waiting to start hospital treatment in England at the end of November 2020, the highest number since records began, official figures revealed today.

This compares with 4.42 million in November 2019 and 4.45 million in October that year — the previous highest number in the data which goes back to August 2007.

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