The state of the NHS is the other huge crisis facing the incoming prime minister

Editorial: The energy crisis is only going to make the continuing weakness of the health service worse

The problems of the NHS have contributed to excess deaths that cannot be explained by Covid, excess heat or demographics (Getty)

There is no doubt that the energy price crisis is the most important issue facing the new prime minister, when he or she is appointed on 6 September. The scale of the economic shockwave that is just breaking over the country, and over much of the world, is only just beginning to be understood.

But it is not a simple or a single issue. It will exacerbate the other serious challenges which the new government will have to address. The parlous state of the National Health Service is the next most important issue, and the energy crisis is about to make it worse.

As we report, the cost of petrol and diesel is expected to force about 8 per cent of community NHS staff to leave their jobs in the next year. Nurses who rely on their cars to visit patients in their homes could find themselves paying a third of their pay on travel costs.