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Big Questions

Theme 4 of 8

Health & care

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Big questions for the UK: The NHS, social care, and public health

Healthcare
United Kingdom
Started April 17, 2026

Waiting lists, funding models, workforce retention, and whether the NHS can be restored to sustainability.

Source Articles

How to read these statements

Vote on your current views first. Linked articles above are optional timely context; the references in this box are further optional background — not a test. We surface more perspectives and analysis after you participate (consensus map and journey recap).

References aim for institutional variety (for example official data, legislatures, international bodies, and independent research). Inclusion is not endorsement; external sites set their own editorial standards.

Your vote records what you think today — you are not expected to read the optional references below first. They explain how we frame statements. After you vote, use Consensus analysis (when it unlocks) and your journey recap for follow-up reading.

Focus on NHS structure, funding, access, and social care.

Optional references: NHS England — statistics · Nuffield Trust · The King's Fund · Health Foundation

Care Quality Commission NICE — guidance UK Parliament — Health & Social Care Committee WHO — European Region health systems

What Happened Next

This section is a short news-style timeline from organisers (decisions, hearings, what changed in the real world). It is separate from voting on the fixed statement list above.

Want to propose a new statement for this theme? Use Suggest a statement. Your text is reviewed in the moderation queue before it can appear for others to vote on.

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Statement — of 7

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Consensus map. It unlocks after 5 votes in this theme (you’re at 0). The map is for this topic only — not a single left–right score across the whole journey.
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CLAIM Posted by will • Apr 18, 2026
Expanded use of independent sector providers, paid at NHS tariff rates, can meaningfully reduce waiting times without compromising NHS principles.
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CLAIM Posted by will • Apr 18, 2026
NHS digital records should be expanded so patients have full access to their own data and can share it seamlessly across different providers.
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CLAIM Posted by will • Apr 18, 2026
NHS staff pay has declined significantly in real terms since 2010 and requires urgent restoration to recruit and retain the workforce needed.
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CLAIM Posted by will • Apr 18, 2026
NHS waiting lists, which exceeded seven million in 2024, cannot be cleared without a significant and sustained real-terms funding increase.
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CLAIM Posted by will • Apr 18, 2026
The NHS must remain free at the point of use for all, funded through general taxation — user charges would deter those who need care most.
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CLAIM Posted by will • Apr 18, 2026
Prevention — addressing obesity, smoking, and alcohol consumption — would reduce future NHS demand more effectively than efficiency measures alone.
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CLAIM Posted by will • Apr 18, 2026
Social care for older and disabled people should be fully state-funded, ending the system under which individuals must deplete assets to pay for care.
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