We have not been making those investments.
Chris Packham has warned that the NHS could "buckle" under the coronavirus crisis after a decade of underfunding from the government, despite the efforts of its staff.
The popular television presenter and champion of animals attacked the government for "squandering" money on military equipment and other "insane foibles" while starving public services.
Ventilators
He said doctors and other health workers had not been paid enough, and also referred to the fact that with Brexit health workers from the European Union.
Packham ridiculed the government issuing a plea for people to make ventilators. "I wish I could go into my garage and, in Blue Peter style, get some toilet roles and sticky back plastic and come up with a ventilator to keep someone, a vulnerable person, alive. We should have been investing in ventilators for years and years."
In a video with Double Down News (DDN) said: "My and millions of others peoples' hearts will go out to those people who are going to be doing every thing they can to keep our nation healthy - but sadly they are going to be struggling with a lack of resources."
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This Author
Brendan Montague is editor of The Ecologist.