David Oliver: Covid shows the need for transparency in prioritising acute care

As the covid-19 pandemic has exceeded last spring’s peak, many NHS leaders are warning that the NHS is overwhelmed. What we really mean is that hospitals are overwhelmed—that people who could benefit fromadmissionor treatmentmaybedenied it because there’s no room. In extremis, that may mean battlefield-type triage: deciding who gets to live or die,with intensive care units already running at twice their normal bed base, on borrowed staff and borrowed beds, and with capacity for surgery compromised.