But the Guardian’s front page is more foreboding, with NHS England’s former boss describing the “truly frightening” backlog of care caused by the pandemic. Sir David Nicholson has told the paper that growing delays in getting treatment in England will become a political problem for the PM. “The whole issue of access [to care] is a greater threat to the NHS than privatisation because poor access undermines confidence amongst those people who fund the service – taxpayers ,” Sir David said.