Health
Are patients going to A&E instead of GPs?
It was estimated in 2010 that between 10% and 30% of cases attending A&E were of a type that could be seen by a GP. Read
Fact checks
NHS performance and satisfaction
Fact checks about the reported quality of the NHS, waiting lists and quality of care
Health
How many hospital black alerts were there this week?
Media reports say that 23 hospital trusts in England have reached the highest level on the NHS’s system for saying whether they are under pressure, or are otherwise under serious strain. Read
Fact checks
Health
Four million on hospital waiting lists
At least 3.7 million patient referrals in England were waiting to receive non-emergency treatment as of November 2016. It may be as high as 3.9 million. Read
Fact checks
Health
A&E waiting times: better or worse?
More patients are being seen within four hours at A&E departments, but the percentage of visits processed within that time has been falling. Read
Fact checks
Health
How many patients die from thirst or starvation?
Roughly one patient every three or four days died as a direct result of malnutrition or dehydration in NHS and non-NHS hospitals in England and Wales across 2015. Read
Fact checks
Health
Public satisfaction with the NHS
Data from 2017 doesn’t necessarily tell us much about public perceptions of the NHS this winter, still less its actual performance. Read
Fact checks
Health
Is half of the NHS not clinically qualified?
51% of people working for the NHS are clinically qualified. Looking at it another way, that’s 53% of full-time equivalents. Read
Fact checks
Health
The level of dissatisfaction with the NHS is not the highest on record
There's been some confusion in media reports of health charity The King's Fund's analysis of survey data about public satisfaction with the NHS. Read
Fact checks
Health
Have NHS waiting times got better or worse? Pick your measure
Have NHS waiting times got better or worse in the last few years? It depends which measure you're looking at. Read
Fact checks
Health
NHS waiting times: one of three 18-week targets has been missed in 10 of 12 months
The NHS has missed one of its 18 week waiting time targets in 10 of the last 12 months - what's behind worsening performance on this measure? Read
Fact checks
