Britain’s ‘medieval’ health inequality is devastating NHS, experts say

Exclusive: Health service estimated to be spending £50bn a year on effects of deprivation and child poverty

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Britain’s “medieval” levels of health inequality are having a “devastating” effect on the NHS, experts have warned, with the health service estimated to be spending as much as £50bn a year on the effects of deprivation.

Rising rates of child poverty have led to a growing burden on hospitals, with the knock-on cost to the NHS comparable to the annual defence budget.