Darren McGarvey: The State We’re In

Episode
Episode 3 - Health
Broadcast Info
2024 (59 mins)
Description
The news is dominated by stories about the NHS: waiting times, doctors’ strikes, funding. It seems like it lurches from one crisis to another, with the founding principles increasingly out of reach. To find out how the beloved NHS got into this state and to see how it might pull itself out, writer and rapper Darren McGarvey is travelling across the UK to meet the staff on the front lines of the battle for Britain’s health. Beginning his journey in a Belfast A&E, Darren meets patients waiting days to be seen and spends time with the nurses struggling to find beds as the patients continue to flow in. Faced with a chronic shortage of social care workers, the hospital struggles to discharge patients. Darren spends a day in Dunoon with two social care workers to find out what the job is really like and chats with the patients reliant on their care and attention. But where does the problem start? GPs face increasing patient numbers whilst doctors abandon the profession due to stress and low morale. Heading to Nairn, Darren sits in as GP Dr Baker tackles what seems like a never-ending queue of patients. With lots of people turning to private healthcare, what exactly do you get for your money? Darren gets a full private health MOT in Liverpool and finds out from the doctor what it’s like to turn to ‘the dark side’. As the UK’s population becomes older, the country must work out how to deal with the resulting problems. First Darren travels to Denmark, to visit a unique multigenerational accommodation space where the elderly live amongst families and young people. And back in the UK, Darren’s final stops take him to Doncaster and Glenrothes to get a glimpse of what healthcare could be like in the future.
Genre
Social Science

How to cite this record

The Open University, "Darren McGarvey: The State We’re In". https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/ou/search/index.php/prog/248601 (Accessed 09 Jan 2025)