Category: World

The bus is the underdog of travel transport.

We endure hours in traffic jams and fork out for pricey air and train fares, often failing to consider the humble bus for anything but short trips within our local communities.

We’re missing out: from the tip of the North Island to the bottom of the South, New Zealand’s bus routes take in some of our most stunning scenery, from snow-capped mountains and beautiful beaches to cute towns and wine districts. And often for the fraction of the price you’d pay for more popular forms of transport. We drew upon suggestions from Stuff Travel’s Neighbourly community to help us compile the list below.

Take a food and wine tour on the 200 bus, Wairarapa

For an affordable day trip or weekender from Wellington, catch the train to Masterton and board the number 200 bus to the wine mecca of Martinborough.

Do you know of a particularly beautiful bus route? Email [email protected].

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Slicing your way between Wairarapa vineyards, you’ll stop off in cute country towns such as Greytown, where historic buildings have aged like the fine local wines, and artsy Carterton.

I’d recommend getting off in Greytown to grab a bite (family-run Pinocchio has twice featured in Cuisine magazine’s “top 100” restaurants list), a drink on the deck of the White Swan, or an artisan chocolate fix at Schoc.

Once in Martinborough, check out one or more of the 20-odd vineyards within walking or cycling distance of the village square (bikes are available for hire) or, if you’re more of a beer fan, make a beeline to Martinborough Brewery.

If you’d prefer not to venture too far afield, Karahui Wine Bar & Eatery in the old BNZ building and Union Square, a French-style bar and bistro at the Martinborough Hotel, are among the many excellent places to wine and dine.

To return to Wellington, catch the number 200 bus back to Featherston, where you can board a train back to the capital.

If buses are replacing the Wairarapa line, Stephen Bell of Upper Hutt recommends catching one from Wellington to Masterton for a stellar view of the Remutaka Range – particularly if you take a seat on the top level.

Glacial lakes and a dramatic pass on InterCity’s Christchurch to Queenstown service

Lindis Pass and baby blue Lake Tekapo are highlights of Intercity’s eight-hour odyssey from Christchurch to Queenstown.

Crossing the Rakaia River, you’ll pass through the pretty county town of Geraldine with its boutique arts, craft and giftware shops and gin distillery, arriving at Lake Tekapo, where the famous stone Church of the Good Shepherd looks across the water to seasonally snow-capped mountains, about an hour later. The bus stops for a break at Tekapo, so you’ll have time to snap a selfie if you wish.

After passing through Ōmarama, where visitors marvel at Mackenzie country’s super star-studded skies at the town hot tubs, you’ll head through the dramatic Lindis Pass through tussock-covered mountains which have a tendency to put life’s daily toils into perspective.

Arriving in Central Otago, you’ll pass mountain-backed vineyards and orchards en route to Cromwell and Frankton.

Arriving in the adventure capital at 4:30pm, you should have just enough time to catch the sun setting over Lake Wakatipu, depending on the time of year. But even if you miss it, you have Queenstown’s famous bar and foodie scene to keep you amused.

Discover secrets of the Otago peninsula on the number 18 bus

Beginning in central Dunedin, the number 18 bus offers a whirlwind tour of the northern coast of the Otago Peninsula, taking in some of its most underrated attractions.

You’ll follow the rocky volcanic coastline past a series of peaceful bays, many of which make for sheltered swimming, to Te Rauone Beach, where local resident Des Smith said wildlife such as penguins, seals and sea lions are starting to settle.

From there, it’s a short walk to private conservation reserve Penguin Place – the world’s first entirely tourism-funded conservation programme. The 90-minute tours include a visit to a yellow-eyed penguin (hoiho) rehab facility and a reserve, where you might also spot fur seals and blue penguins.

Alternatively, continue up the road on foot for about 30 minutes to the Harrington Point Gun Emplacements, an abandoned military complex built to prepare for a potential Russian invasion; the little blue penguin colony at Pilots Beach; and the Royal Albatross Centre.

If you’d rather put your feet up, pull up a pew (or picnic blanket) on the waterfront and drink in the views across the water to Aramoana.

As Smith said, the cruise ships often look so close it “feels like you can reach out and touch them”.

If you have kids in tow, you might like to get off at the stop on the corner of Portobello and Seaton Roads. The coastline there is a mini explorer’s delight, with caves and rock pools galore. At low tide, it’s possible to walk to the scenic reserve of Titeremoana (Pudding Island).

Get a taste of the wild West Coast on GreatSights’ Franz Josef to Queenstown service

Starting in the town named after 12km-long Franz Josef Glacier, you’ll watch some of the West Coast’s most dramatic scenery whizz by as you slice your way between the Southern Alps and the Tasman Sea.

Passing hidden lakes and remote, wave-battered beaches, you’ll head over Haast Pass toward mirror-like lakes Hāwea and Wānaka. Continuing south, you’ll pass Lake Dunstan, another watery wonder, en route to Cromwell via the vineyards and orchards of Central Otago, arriving in Queenstown by 4:30pm. You can start in Queenstown and end in Franz Josef if you prefer.

Take an epic North Island tour on InterCity’s Auckland to Wellington service

One of Intercity’s longest routes is also one of its best, offering a 11-hour overview of the North Island. Highlights include Tīrau, the so-called “corrugated capital of the world”; Taupō with its Singapore-sized lake; and the Desert Road, from which Mt Ruapehu rises from rippling plains of brown tussock.

You could take an overnight bus if you prefer, but that would defeat the purpose of a scenic tour.

Beach hop Auckland’s East Coast Bays on the number 856

Offering a scenic tour of Auckland’s East Coast bays, the number 856 bus makes for a perfect summer’s day out.

Setting off from the Takapuna train station, the bus skirts Lake Pupuke before following the well-named Beach Road past Castor, Campbells, Mairangi, Murrays, Rothesay and Browns bays and Torbay. Make it a day of beach hopping by stopping off at whichever take your fancy for a swim or a stroll.

Return to Takapuna, where you can catch the train back to central Auckland, or continue on to Albany, where you can do the same.

Aucklander Fiona Edgar described it as “lovely” and “very scenic”.

Visit the ‘eighth wonder of the world’ on a Milford Sound coach tour

No list of beautiful bus routes in Aotearoa would be complete without the ones to what the late English author Rudyard Kipling once described as the “eighth wonder of the world”.

Several companies, including Kiwi Experience, GreatSights and Realnz, organise bus tours to Milford Sound from Queenstown and Te Anau, with commentary and photo stops. Some even have glass roofs to make the most of the majestic mountain scenery.

Winding its way through Fiordland National Park, Milford Road is like a Lord of the Rings movie reel minus the characters from a moving bus.

The first pit stop on my 2017 Realnz (then known as Southern Discoveries) day tour was the Eglinton Valley whose movie star good looks have made it a favourite with the Hollywood set (it featured in Lord of the Rings and, more recently, Mission: Impossible 6).

Mirror Lakes, which reflect the snow-capped Earl Mountains, are another highlight, as are Monkey Creek, with its glacier-fed spring and resident kea, and the raging waterfalls that make up The Chasm.

Jump on a scenic cruise of the sound at the other end for a non-driving adventure that is undoubtedly world-class.

At your wits end trying to keep the kids entertained? The weather’s not playing ball, you’re trying to juggle work and other commitments and there’s still a week away until they’re all back at school?

Never fear – Stuff to Watch is here.

To help you out, we’ve come up with a list of a dozen movies currently streaming on Netflix that have stood the test of time – a handful of flicks targeted at each age group from easily bored pre-schoolers to torpid teens.

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SUITABLE FOR PRE-SCHOOLERS

The Gruffalo (2009)

Perfect for littlies who can only cope with sitting still for 30 minutes at a time, this animated adaptation of Julia Donaldson’s 1999 smash-hit book brilliantly brings the beautiful rhyming story of a mouse and a monster to gorgeous life in a style that stays true to Axel Scheffler’s gorgeous original illustrations.

The impressive vocal cast includes Helena Bonham Carter, Rob Brydon, Robbie Coltrane, James Corden, John Hurt and Tom Wilkinson.

Other tales based on the wildly popular books by Donaldson available on Netflix include The Gruffalo’s Child, Zog, The Highway Rat, Room on the Broom and Stick Man.

Arthur Christmas (2011)

Those Bristol wizards of stop-motion animation – Aardman – refresh the old “son of Santa” storyline with wit and aplomb in this adventure. The visuals are crisp and clean and the script is jam-packed full of zingers and action. Among a universally impressive vocal cast, Bill Nighy threatens to steal the show as the cantankerous Grandsanta.

“Both a heartwarmer and a sly dig at the gospel of family togetherness,” wrote The Independent’s Anthony Quinn.

Ponyo (2008)

It might not be the most famous of Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki’s anime tales, but this adaptation of The Little Mermaid is perhaps the most accessible to all ages and the one that showcases the emotional power of the format.

It not only proves there is still life in gently told, hand-drawn animation stories at a time when wise-cracking CGI dominates kids films, but it also weaves in environmental concerns and family fissures in a far more organic and subtle way than the likes of Happy Feet. Naturally, it also helps that the visuals are beguiling and bewitching.

SUITABLE FOR PRIMARY AGE

Labyrinth (1986)

David Bowie in fine form – and that outfit. Jennifer Connelly announcing her presence as a young star and terrific actress. Jim Henson’s jaw-dropping puppetry blending seamlessly with enthralling live-action.

What’s not to love about this coming-of-age fantasy adventure about a young woman desperately searching for her abducted baby brother?

“An innovative mix of sophisticated puppetry and special effects, Labyrinth has all the components of classic myth,” wrote Philadelphia Inquirer’s Steven Rea.

Paddington 2 (2017)

Director Paul King keeps the action and jokes coming thick and fast in this family comedy, while also allowing his vast cast of the creme of British acting talent (everyone from Joanna Lumley to Sanjeev Bhaskar cameo) to shine.

Apart from the bear himself (beautifully voiced again by Ben Whishaw), the real stars are two newcomers. Brendan Gleeson’s Knuckles McGinty and Hugh Grant’s self-absorbed Buchanan are comic-creations for the ages in what is a fitting tribute to the late Paddington creator Michael Bond.

Puss in Boots (2011)

Before this summer’s smash-hit sequel The Last Wish, the Antonio Banderas-voiced felonious feline’s last feature-length outing saw him strike trouble while relieving murderous outlaws Jack (Billy Bob Thornton) and Jill (Amy Sedaris) of their magic beans.

Just as he’s carrying out the heist – he’s beaten to the punch by one Kitty Softpaws (Salma Hayek), who, to Puss’ horror, is in the employ of his old San Ricardo Orphanage “brother” Humpty Alexander Dumpty (Zac Galifianakis). Despite bad blood between them, Humpty is desperate for his old friend’s help to complete his childhood dream of planting the magic beans and stealing the golden goose from the giant’s castle.

With rooftop chases, a catnip/marijuana allusion, sizzling chemistry between Puss and Kitty, countless egg jokes and perhaps one too many crotch gags, this certainly isn’t your grandma’s vision of the Mother Goose character, but the TexMex, Desperado and Zorro-inspired antics provide entertaining viewing for young and old.

SUITABLE FOR TWEENS

Back to the Future (1985)

With a heady mix of smart, attractive leads (Michael J Fox, Lea Thompson, the DeLorean car), science-fiction and metaphysical conundrums (a younger version of your mother is attracted to you), this is a first-rate comedy with a cracking soundtrack.

The original Robert Zemeckis-directed, Steven Spielberg-backed film was not only the biggest box office hit of 1985, but also an enduring slice of pop culture for at least one generation, inspiring everything from the pop band McFly to the 2010 film Hot Tub Time Machine, as well as countless ad campaigns and headlines.

Part of a two-year period of exceptional family-orientated films (Ghostbusters, Gremlins, The Goonies), what makes Back to the Future such a timeless classic is the way it lovingly captures both 1985 and 1955 – and compares and contrasts the lives of those growing up in each.

Monster House (2006)

Maggie Gyllenhaal, Steve Buscemi and Kathleen Turner are among those providing voices for this spooky animated adventure about three teens who discover that their neighbour’s house is really a living, breathing, scary monster.

“The first true horror film for children, ” wrote USA Today’s Scott Bowles, while Entertainment Weekly’s Lisa Schwarzbaum thought the movie “also shimmers and shakes in all its motion-capture animated beauty with the slyly deep sensibilities of executive producer Robert Zemeckis”.

Oddball (2015)

Charming Australian crowd-pleaser, based on the true story of an eccentric chicken farmer, who with the help of his grand-daughter, trained a mischievous dog (a Maremma Sheepdog) to protect a penguin sanctuary from fox attacks in an attempt to reunite his family and save their seaside town. Shane Jacobson, Alan Tudyk and Succession’s Sarah Snook star.

“Tugging at the heartstrings from the first scene, this adorable family adventure mirrors its canine hero – overcoming any flaws by being utterly charming,” wrote Radio Times’ James Luxford.

SUITABLE FOR TEENAGERS

Definitely Maybe (2008)

Fluffy, but engaging romantic-comedy about a 30-something dad in the midst of a divorce and the bedtime story he tells his 10-year-old daughter about his life before marriage.

A truly charming Ryan Reynolds keeps Abigail Breslin – and the audience – guessing whether Isla Fisher, Elizabeth Banks or Rachel Weisz is her mother.

“A romantic comedy with brains as well as heart, Definitely, Maybe is that rare studio release that feels like it was written by a human being, not by committee,” wrote Philadelphia Inquirer’s Steven Rea.

The Edge of Seventeen (2016)

The friendship between Hailee Steinfeld’s Nadine and Haley Lu Richardson’s Krista actually plays second-fiddle to the complicated and hilarious one between the former and her disaffected teacher Max Bruner (Woody Harrelson) in this coming-of-age comedy

That pair spark brilliantly as the fatherless teen and the depressed educator bond in a rather unusual manner.

“Deals with all the usual teenage concerns – dating, family, school – in a way that tries to go beyond genre cliché, with a heroine who is often unlikeable but always believable,” wrote Empire magazine’s Olly Richards.

Love and Monsters (2020)

Seemingly destined to be this decade’s Zombieland, South African director Michael Matthews’ charming and thrilling mon-rom-com (monster-romantic-comedy) took on extra resonance when it was first released into our locked-down world. Even now, the conceit of desperation to end separation will bring back memories for many, as will the bubbled-up life of the bunkers.

At its heart though, this is a rollicking roller-coaster of a road movie. Joel’s trek involves threats and colourful characters and beasties at every turn, writers Brian Duffield and Matthew Robinson stuffing the story with memorable moments, witty one-liners and, sometimes, a real palpable sense of danger. The latter is immensely assisted by the Oscar-nominated visual effects that bring the giant bugs and other creatures to life.

Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc said Monday that ongoing federal-provincial talks on the Canada Health Transfer are going well — and there could be a summit between the prime minister and the premiers in the coming days to finalize an increase to the Canada Health Transfer.

Speaking to reporters in Hamilton ahead of a cabinet retreat, LeBlanc said he’s been working the phones, talking to premiers and senior provincial officials as Ottawa looks to secure an agreement to increase the federal-provincial CHT transfer with conditions attached.

The provinces have been demanding a multi-billion dollar cash injection to stand up a system that has been undermined by COVID-19 and labour shortages.

Ottawa has said it wants its investment to go beyond short-term fixes to deliver systemic change to a system that faces a multitude of challenges — in primary care, mental health, long-term care, virtual care and data collection.

“There’s been a lot of progress over the weekend,” LeBlanc said. “I’m optimistic.”

LeBlanc also suggested the deal that’s in the works could guarantee a certain level of funding for years to come.

“This is part of a process that will take us, we believe, to an important agreement that will improve the health-care system for the long term for Canadians,” he said.

LeBlanc said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will meet with his provincial counterparts only when some of the finer points of the deal have been negotiated.

The premiers have been demanding a face-to-face meeting with Trudeau for months.

“At the right moment, as the prime minister has always said, he’ll sit down with his fellow first ministers,” LeBlanc said.

To help stabilize the system, the premiers have been asking Ottawa to dramatically increase how much it spends each year on the CHT — the block of money sent by the federal government to the provinces and territories to fund health services. The premiers want Ottawa to increase its share of health-care costs from the current 22 per cent to 35 per cent.

The federal Liberal government has said the 22 per cent figure doesn’t reflect the whole funding picture.

In 1977, some tax points were transferred from Ottawa to the provinces, which allowed them to collect a larger share of all tax revenues to fund social programs like health care. Those tax points, Ottawa argues, should count for something.

‘We all serve the same people’

Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos told reporters on Monday evening that Ottawa and the provinces are becoming “hopeful” an agreement would be reached “quite soon.”

“There is significant goodwill [between Ottawa and the provinces],” Duclos said. “We all serve the same people for the purposes.”

Trudeau and his ministers have convened here in Hamilton — an industrial city of some 785,000 people an hour west of Toronto — to discuss health care and other politically sensitive issues that might emerge when Parliament resumes sitting next week after its winter break.

A small group of protesters gathered outside the Hamilton conference centre where the cabinet was meeting, carrying signs with expletives denouncing Trudeau for his government’s actions during the pandemic crisis.

The economy is also top of mind for the cabinet as inflation continues to drive up the cost of living — an issue that dominates the political message of Trudeau’s main opponent, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre.

Poilievre has blamed inflation on high government spending, while the governing Liberals say it’s a global phenomenon driven by the pandemic, supply chain disruptions and the ongoing war in Ukraine.

To address affordability, the government temporarily hiked the GST rebate and the federal housing benefit for renters. The cabinet could decide to push ahead with more supports when the Commons returns for its first sitting of 2023.

Carlene Variyan, associate vice-president at Summa Strategies and a former senior staffer in several Liberal ministers’ offices, said that if more measures are coming, they’ll be similar to what has already been offered.

“I think we know what the playbook is from this government on measures to support Canadians during times of economic downturn. It’s always going to be policies that are very focused on workers and delivering direct support to families, rather than trickle-down measures,” she said.

‘It’s clear that health care is collapsing across the country’

Also up for discussion at the cabinet retreat is the Liberals’ supply-and-confidence agreement with the NDP, now almost a year old.

In exchange for New Democrats supporting the government on confidence votes between now and 2025, the Liberal government has agreed to spend more on social programs.

At the NDP’s urging, the government has started to enact a national dental care program for children.

The deal also calls for the creation of “a universal national pharmacare program” by year’s end.

NDP MP Matthew Green, who represents Hamilton in the Commons, said the list of challenges facing Canada is “long” but not one of them is “more acute” than “our national crisis of public health care.”

In a letter to Trudeau on Monday, Green said “it’s clear that health care is collapsing across the country” and calls for a robust response from the federal government.

He said Trudeau must enforce the Canada Health Act and ensure “equal access to care for all, a prohibition on charging patients for insured care, a ban on extra billing and preferential access.”

The NDP has been critical of Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s plan to send more surgeries to privately run clinics to clear a backlog for procedures like hip and knee replacements.

The NDP has said such a plan is a slippery slope to a two-tier health system. The Ontario PCs have defended the move as a prudent approach that will relieve a severely strained hospital system.

Asked about Ontario’s plan, LeBlanc said Ottawa isn’t responsible for health-care delivery — but the federal government will insist provinces adhere to the Canada Health Act.

The Canada Health Act requires universal access to publicly funded health services covered by provincial and territorial plans, and bans user charges and extra-billing.

As the Liberal government pushes ahead with its climate change agenda, which could disrupt the country’s natural resources sector, the Liberal-NDP supply-and-confidence agreement also calls for a “just transition” programme to help displaced workers find jobs in other industries.

Natural Resources Minister Jonathan Wilkinson has said legislation to help workers in the oil and gas sector move into green energy jobs will be landing sometime this year.

“This time feels different,” said Peter Neville, a doctor who has worked in the NHS since 1989. “It’s never been as bad as this.”

Scenes that would until recently have been unthinkable have now become commonplace. Hospitals are running well over capacity. Many patients don’t get treated in wards, but in the back of ambulances or in corridors, waiting rooms and cupboards – or not at all. “It’s like a war zone,” an NHS worker at a hospital in Liverpool told CNN.

These stories are borne out by the data. In December, 54,000 people in England had to wait more than 12 hours for an emergency admission. The figure was virtually zero before the pandemic, according to data from NHS England. The average wait time for an ambulance to attend a “category 2” condition – like a stroke or heart attack – exceeded 90 minutes. The target is 18 minutes. There were 1,474 (20%) more excess deaths in the week ending December 30 than the 5-year average.

Ambulance staff and nurses have staged a series of strikes over pay and working conditions, with the latest walkout by ambulance workers happening Monday. More are planned for the coming weeks. The chief executive of the NHS Confederation, which represents NHS organizations in England, wrote to the government on the eve of an ambulance strike last month to warn of NHS leaders’ concerns that they “cannot guarantee patient safety” that day. In response, a government health minister advised the public to avoid “risky activity.”

While the NHS has suffered crises before, this winter has brought a new reality: In Britain, people can no longer rely on getting healthcare in an emergency.

Founded shortly after World War II, the NHS is treated with an almost religious reverence by many. Britons danced for it during the 2012 London Olympics and clapped for it during the pandemic. “Our NHS” is a source of national pride.

Now, it is coming unstuck. There has long been an implicit contract between British people and the state: Pay taxes and National Insurance contributions in return for a health service that is free at the point of use.

But, with the tax burden on track to reach its highest sustained level since the NHS was founded, Britons are paying more and more for a service they increasingly cannot access as quickly as they need.

Some of these strains can be seen elsewhere in Europe. Doctors in both France and Spain have held strikes in recent weeks, as many countries face the same problems of providing care to an increasingly aging population – when inflation is at its highest level in decades.

Yet there are fears that the NHS is in worse shape than its international peers, and CNN spoke with experts who said they fear they’re witnessing the “collapse” of the service.

So how did Britain get here?

When Covid-19 hit, the NHS went into full crisis-fighting mode, diverting staff and resources from across the organization to care for patients with the disease.

But, for many in the NHS, Covid-19 remains a crisis from which they are yet to emerge.

During the height of the pandemic, many ordinary practices were put on hold. Millions of operations were canceled. The NHS “backlog” has ballooned. Data from November showed there were more than 7 million people on a hospital waiting list in England.

This winter, a “twindemic” of Covid and flu continues to put additional strain on capacity.

Explanations for the current crisis “have to start with a consideration of Covid-19,” Ben Zaranko, an economist at the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) whose work focuses on Britain’s health care system, told CNN. “There’s the simple fact that there are beds in hospitals occupied by Covid patients, which means those beds can’t be used for other things.”

Covid also created a strain on the amount of work the NHS can do. “If you add up all the time that staff spend doing infection control measures, donning protective equipment and separating out wards into people with and without Covid … that might impede the overall productivity of the system,” Zaranko said. Rates of NHS staff sickness are also considerably higher than they were pre-pandemic, according to IFS analysis.

But, again, Britain was not alone in battling the pandemic, yet it appears to have suffered a worse hit than comparable nations.

This is despite there being more doctors and nurses in the NHS now than there were before Covid. According to an IFS report, even after adjusting for staff sickness absences, there are 9% more consultants, 15% more junior doctors and 8% more nurses than in 2019.

Yet the NHS is treating fewer patients than before the pandemic.

“It seems to be that bits of the system aren’t fitting together anymore,” Zaranko said. “It’s not just about how much staff there are and how much money there is. It’s how it’s being used.”

Even with the increase in funding since the pandemic, the UK is still playing catchup, after what critics say is more than a decade of underfunding the NHS.

Neville, a consultant in a hospital, judges 2008 the “best” he has seen the NHS in more than 30 years of working in it. By that time, the NHS had enjoyed nearly a decade of hugely increased investment. Waiting lists fell substantially. Some even complained about getting doctor appointments too quickly.

“When the Labour government came in in 1997, they injected considerably more money into the NHS. It enabled us to appoint an adequate number of staff and get on top of our waiting lists,” Neville told CNN.

But this level of investment did not last. In response to the 2007-2008 financial crisis, the Conservatives elected in the coalition government in 2010 embarked on a program of austerity. Budgets were cut and staff salaries frozen. For Neville, the ensuing decade saw a gradual “erosion” of the system: “Slow, subtle, but nonetheless happening.”

According to analysis by health charity the Health Foundation, average day-to-day health spending in the UK between 2010 and 2019 was £3,005 ($3,715) per person per year – 18% below the EU14 [countries that joined the EU before 2004] average of £3,655 ($4,518).

During this period, capital expenditure – the amount spent on buildings and equipment – was especially low, according to the Health Foundation analysis. The UK has far fewer MRI and CT scanners per person than the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) average, meaning staff often have to wait for equipment to become available.

Hospital beds are particularly scarce. Over the past 30 years the number of beds in England has more than halved, from around 299,000 in 1987 to 141,000 in 2019, according to analysis by the King’s Fund, an independent think tank.

Siva Anandiciva, chief analyst at the King’s Fund, told CNN this decrease was partly attributable to the “changing model of care.” As technology and treatments improved, people spent less time in hospital, reducing the need for beds. The last Labour government, in power from 1997 to 2010, also cut bed numbers, despite increasing investment elsewhere.

“You can keep reducing how long patients stay in hospital,” said Anandaciva, but eventually “you approach a minimum. If you then keep cutting bed numbers … that’s when you start to get into problems like performance.”

During the austerity years, bed numbers continued to be cut, leaving the UK with fewer beds per capita than almost any developed nation, according to OECD data.

“For a long time we knew we just didn’t have the bed capacity,” Anandaciva said. But cuts continued in the name of “efficiency,” he added.

While low bed numbers were seen as a marker of “success” indicating that the NHS was running efficiently, it left the UK woefully underprepared for a shock like Covid-19. The same factors that made the NHS “efficient” in one context made it grossly inefficient when that context changed, in his analysis.

The bed shortage has been made even more acute by the fact that many of those in hospital no longer need to be there – there is simply nowhere else for them to go.

“The longest I had a patient that was physically and medically ready to go home, but was sitting around waiting for discharge, was four weeks,” said Angus Livingstone, a doctor working in the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford.

The problem is caused by a crisis in another sector: Social care. Patients that could leave the hospital end up staying there because they cannot access more modest care in a home setting and so cannot be safely discharged.

Health and social care are separate sectors in the UK system. Healthcare is provided by the NHS, whereas social care is provided by local councils. Unlike the NHS, social care is not free at the point of use: It is rationed and means-tested.

There have long been calls to integrate the two systems, since a crisis in one system feeds through into the other.

“If you allow us to regain the enormous number of beds that are currently occupied by people awaiting social care, then I would be very confident that the immediate snarl-up in A&E and ambulances waiting outside would pretty much disappear overnight,” Neville said.

“When people ask me, ‘where do you want the money in the NHS?’ My answer is ‘I don’t want it in the NHS. I want it in social care.’”

With an increasingly aging population – the latest census data show nearly 19% of the population of England and Wales is now 65 or older – demand for social care is increasing. But the sector is struggling to provide it in the face of staffing shortages, rising costs and funding pressures.

Care work can be grueling and underpaid. Most supermarkets offer a better hourly wage, analysis from the King’s Fund found. So, it is perhaps unsurprising that the sector reported 165,000 vacancies in August.

The NHS is also reporting an alarming number of vacancies, with about 133,000 open positions as of September.

This points to a deeper crisis: Morale.

Jatinder Hayre, a doctor completing the foundation program at a hospital in East London, told CNN that morale is “at an all time low.” Staff are “stressed, fatigued, tired,” he said. “There doesn’t seem to be an end to this.”

“When you walk into the hospital in the morning, you’re met with this cacophony of grief and dismay and dissatisfaction from patients, who are lined up in the corridor,” Hayre said.

“You feel awful, but there’s nothing you can do. You’re fighting against a system that’s collapsing.”

Hayre said that most days there are “around 40 to 50 patients lined up in the corridors” as there is no space left in the wards. “It’s not appropriate. It’s not a safe or dignified environment.”

Unable to deliver an acceptable standard of care, many staff are demoralized – and considering their options. At Hayre’s hospital, “the day-to-day workplace talk is, ‘are we going to leave?’”

A junior doctor at a hospital in Manchester, who wished to remain anonymous, told CNN that she had made the decision to join the growing number of NHS doctors who are moving abroad. She plans to move abroad in the summer, to work in a country that offers doctors better pay and working conditions.

Of the eight doctors she lived with at university, six have already left. “They’ve all gone to Australia. They love it,” she said. Only one is planning to stay in the UK.

Medical students are watching in alarm as their future workplace deteriorates.

“For everyone I know, it’s almost a given that at some point they’re going to go to Australia or New Zealand,” said Eilidh Garrett, who studies medicine at Newcastle University. She is considering taking exams to work as a doctor in Canada.

This is a hugely painful decision for many young doctors. “I think about my closest friends. If I go to another country and treat other people’s closest friends, while my friends struggle to see a doctor in the UK – that is really heartbreaking,” Garrett told CNN.

Meanwhile, Britain’s vote to leave the European Union in 2016 has likely not helped the situation. Research by the Nuffield Trust health think tank, published in November, finds that long-standing staff shortages in nursing and social care “have been exacerbated by Brexit.”

The picture is “more complex” for doctors working in the NHS, the researchers found. While overall “EU numbers have remained relatively stable,” the report says, the data suggest a slowdown in the registration of specialists from the EU and European Free Trade Association countries since Brexit, particularly in certain specialties such as anesthetics.

The concern is that these issues get worse the longer they go untreated.

When patients finally get seen, their treatments take more time, forcing those after them to wait even longer as they get sicker.

“In terms of the system performance, it feels like we’re past the tipping point,” Zaranko said. “The NHS has been gradually deteriorating in its performance for some time. But we’ve gone off a cliff in recent months.”

It is unclear how the NHS regains its footing. Some compare this crisis to a period in the 1990s when services were rapidly deteriorating. The NHS was in bad shape, but restored its levels of service after a decade of historically high investment while Labour was in power.

Injections of cash on this scale are unlikely to be replicated. The most recent budget announced by the government in November will see NHS England spending rise by only 2% in real terms on average over the next two years.

“We recognize the pressures the NHS is facing so announced up to £250 million [$309 million] of additional funding to immediately help reduce hospital bed occupancy, alleviate pressures on A&E and unlock much-needed ambulance handovers,” a spokesperson from the Department of Health and Social Care told CNN in a statement.

“This is on top of the £500 million [$618 million] Discharge Fund to speed up the safe discharge of patients and rolling out virtual wards to free up hospital beds and cut waiting cuts,” the statement continued.

Pay negotiations between the government and nursing unions have so far been unsuccessful. British media outlets have reported that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak may be considering offering a one-off hardship payment of £1,000 ($1,236) to attempt to resolve the dispute, but many feel this underestimates the true nature of the crisis.

“All I hear about is sticking plasters,” Neville said. “It depresses us all.”