Lesson plan; Britain’S National Health Service Is Exhausted

Activities in class

Start by asking the class if they know anything about this issue. Read the facts below.

• On Dec. 15, nurses walked out and began the largest nurses’ strike in the history of Britain’s National Health Service. They were protesting working conditions that have left them burned out and stretched thin — and compromised patient safety — and wages that fell in the last decade in real terms. New York Times¹.
• The government has been undermining the NHS by outsourcing services to private companies and reducing public funding. This has led to a loss of accountability, transparency, and quality of care.
• The NHS faces a shortage of about 100,000 staff members, including doctors, nurses, paramedics and other health workers. This has resulted in long waiting times, canceled operations and increased mortality rates¹.
• The NHS is also struggling to cope with the Covid-19 pandemic, which has infected over 10 million people and killed over 200,000 in Britain. Many health workers have contracted the virus themselves or suffered from mental health issues due to stress and trauma.

Relations to Brexit

Brexit is related to the NHS in several ways. One is that Brexit has worsened the shortage of NHS doctors and nurses from the EU. According to an analysis by The Guardian¹, the number of doctors who trained in the EU and registered to work in Britain fell by 29% between 2015-16 and 2020-21. The number of nurses and midwives who trained in the EU and came to work in Britain also dropped by 87% in the same period¹The Guardian. This has contributed to the staffing crisis that the NHS is facing.

Another way that Brexit is related to the NHS is that Brexit has forced NHS trusts to recruit more staff from low-income “red list” countries, which are subject to travel bans due to Covid-19. According to another report by The Guardian², NHS trusts have increased recruitment from countries such as India, Pakistan, Nigeria and Ghana to make up for the post-Brexit loss of EU staff. However, this raises ethical concerns about draining health workers from countries that need them more².

A third way that Brexit is related to the NHS is that Brexit has affected some aspects of healthcare cooperation between the UK and EU. For example, according to the NHS Confederation³, some areas that have been impacted by Brexit include data sharing, medicines regulation, clinical trials, public health security, reciprocal health care arrangements, and professional qualifications recognition³. Some of these issues have been addressed by a trade and cooperation agreement that was concluded between the UK and EU on Christmas Eve 2022³, but some challenges and uncertainties remain.

Questions

In groups of 3, answer these questions;

• How many doctors who trained in the EU and registered to work in Britain left between 2015-16 and 2020-21?
• What percentage did the number of nurses and midwives who trained in the EU and came to work in Britain drop by in the same period?
• Which countries are some of the low-income “red list” countries that NHS trusts have increased recruitment from?
• What are some of the ethical concerns about recruiting health workers from these countries?
• What are some of the areas of healthcare cooperation that have been affected by Brexit?
• What is the name of the agreement that was concluded between the UK and EU on Christmas Eve 2022?

Give the students Britain’s National Health Service to check if they got it right

Look at the graph from The Guardian below and explain the numbers

Taking notes

Watch the video below and take notes. The video is 26,25 minutes, so consider if the class can see this by dividing it into 2 or 3 parts. Discuss in between.

Here are some points on taking notes:

• Write down the main points that the doctor makes, such as the causes, effects and solutions of the NHS crisis. Use bullet points, keywords, abbreviations and symbols to save time and space.
• Organize your notes into categories or sections, such as introduction, background, problem statement, evidence, analysis and conclusion. Use headings, subheadings, numbers or letters to separate them.
• Highlight or underline the important information that you want to remember or review later. Use different colors or symbols to indicate different levels of importance or relevance.
• Ask questions or clarify any doubts that you have during or after the talk. Write down the answers or explanations that the doctor gives you.

After taking notes, work in pairs to compare your notes according to the list above. Try to help each other to see if you have most of the facts.

Answer these questions:

• Write down the main points that the doctor makes, such as the causes, effects and solutions of the NHS crisis. Use bullet points, keywords, abbreviations and symbols to save time and space.
• Organize your notes into categories or sections, such as introduction, background, problem statement, evidence, analysis and conclusion. Use headings, subheadings, numbers or letters to separate them.
• Highlight or underline the important information that you want to remember or review later. Use different colors or symbols to indicate different levels of importance or relevance.
• Ask questions or clarify any doubts that you have during or after the talk. Write down the answers or explanations that the doctor gives you.
• What was the name of the pro-Brexit campaign group that featured Boris Johnson and Michael Gove in their video?
• How did they portray the impact of immigration on the NHS?
• What did they say would happen if Britain remained in the EU?
• How did Brexit affect the supply of medicines and medical equipment in the UK?
• How did Covid-19 affect the funding and staffing of the NHS?
• What are some of the solutions that have been proposed or implemented to address the NHS crisis?