By Finian Cunningham
December 11, 2019 "Information Clearing House" - The heart-rending photograph of a little boy forced to sleep rough on a cold hospital floor because of bed shortages in Britain may cost Boris Johnson and his Tory party dearly.
As Britain heads to a general election this week, the forlorn image of a child suffering from pneumonia having to endure appalling discomfort in a major hospital seems to have galvanized voters on the issues that really matter – a national healthcare service in crisis caused by a decade of brutal economic austerity imposed by Conservative governments.
When confronted by a journalist, the British prime minister Boris Johnson repeatedly refused to look at the photograph of the boy (published earlier by the The Mirror newspaper). Instead Johnson rabbited on about how if his party is re-elected his government would throw lots of investment at the National Health Service (NHS).
Few people will buy Johnson’s promises. The Conservatives have been in power since 2010 and during the past 10 years, the crisis in the healthcare system has exploded. It is under-funded by austerity cuts, under-staffed and over-worked, with patients dying from growing waiting times for urgent treatment.
One study released this week by top doctors found that some 5,500 patients across Britain have died prematurely since 2016 because they weren’t given adequate treatment due to bed shortages in hospitals.
The case of four-year-old Jack Williment – the wee boy who had to sleep on a pile of coats on a hospital floor – is just one of thousands. Fortunately for Jack he eventually received treatment to relieve his pneumonia.
For the past three years, British politics have been dominated by the divisive issue of Brexit. Boris Johnson is hoping that his vow to “get Brexit done” will see his party being re-elected with a substantial parliamentary majority this week. He is claiming that as soon as Britain leaves the European Union then the nation will be free to control its finances and boost public services.
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