Hospitals and Healthcare

When he emerged from St. Thomas’ Hospital on Sunday, the first thing Prime Minister Boris Johnson did was thank the National Health Service for saving his life. He paid special tribute to his nurses, “Jenny from New Zealand” and “Luis from Portugal,” two of the thousands of immigrants who serve in the NHS.

“It’s hard to find the words to express my debt,” said the usually loquacious Johnson, pale and wan in a video clip, after days in the virus ward, where “it could have gone either way,” he said.

In Johnson’s short speech on life and death, the 55-year-old Tory praised the NHS as “powered by love.” His tribute underlines how Britain’s great socialist endeavor, a national health-care system, free for all, has emerged as the most trusted and vital of institutions.

EXCLUSIVE: The worrying stats come days after Chancellor Rishi Sunak was slammed for failing to give frontline NHS staff payrise - despite rewarding other key workers