NHS Year-Round Crisis: Record Summer Pressures Expose a System Running on Empty

7,268,445 — that's the number of A&E attendances across England this summer, officially the highest ever recorded for June through August. The BMJ reports a 3.4% jump over last year's figures, with five heatwaves between May and August piling yet more strain onto an already buckling system. NHS England says it managed to treat, admit, or discharge 5,462,182 patients within four hours — also a summer record — but the sheer volume has pushed clinicians toward what experts...