The nasty flu bug seems to have affected a great many people this year despite a vigorous campaign promoting vaccinations. Of course it is not just the UK that is affected but many other countries too, the epidemic may have even originated in Australia. However, influenza outbreaks are hardly uncommon in January and yet once again, it appears to have completely knocked the NHS out of its stride, even after meticulous planning.
We all have a great admiration for those working in the NHS particularly now, under the additional stress and overload, but how can this keep happening?
Over the last 10-15 years, the NHS has been forced to make "efficiency savings". This has resulted in an enormous number of bed closures, so that now beds have occupancy levels of 90%. This may be "efficient", but it means that there is no margin for normal "peaks" such as Winter flu, let alone for emergencies.
Efficiency savings should have been directed at administration not front line services. We clearly need a sensible margin for peak demands, then perhaps during periods of "low demand" resources could be used to reduce operations waiting lists.
It is not just the NHS that has suffered under "efficiency savings" regimes. Devon and Cornwall police have also been subjected to this accountancy exercise, so that we now have fewer police on the beat and a crisis every time something out-of-the-ordinary takes place.
This could be two murders simultaneously being investigated, or an eclipse of the sun. No margin is now available for any unforeseen or unplanned event.
Further, we can look to the effect "efficiency savings" have had on our Armed Forces. The mutterings of equipment failure in Kosovo are merely the tip of the iceberg. Who would genuinely believe that we could fight another Falklands War in an emergency? Devonport Dockyard has been savagely cut back, along with the Defence budget in general.
There is now no margin for emergency and yet, by their very nature, defence capabilities are usually required for largely unexpected events.
We simply have to move the accountants aside and look at our policies and resources together. It is becoming painfully clear that our policy demands cannot be met by our expenditure on resources, whether it is in the NHS, the police or the armed forces.