In today’s newsletter: Staff are leaving in droves, wait times have tripled and critics say it’s locked in a ‘death spiral’. But the situation might not be terminal, with some big changes

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Good morning, and a heartfelt happy birthday to the NHS, which was launched by Labour health minister Nye Bevan on this day in 1948. Don’t hold your breath for champagne and cake on your local hospital trust’s budget, though – you will be waiting almost as long as a typical queue at the nearest A&E.

The NHS may be profoundly cherished for its millions of dedicated staff and the still astonishing cradle-to-grave principle that underpins it, but there is no question that the UK’s healthcare system is very sick. More people are dying waiting for ambulances. Waiting times for treatment have almost tripled since 2020. GP surgeries and mental health services are at breaking point. Staff are leaving in droves, and nurses, junior doctors and even consultants are striking – once an unimaginable prospect – over pay and patient safety.

Climate | The government is drawing up plans to drop the UK’s flagship £11.6bn climate and nature funding pledge. A leaked briefing note to ministers seen by the Guardian, lays out reasons for dropping the UK’s contribution to the fund for developing countries. The Foreign Office initially refused to comment on the leak, before describing it as “false”.

Partygate | Scotland Yard is reopening its investigation into potential Covid breaches at a lockdown party at Conservative headquarters. The force will also scrutinise an event in parliament that the Tory MP Bernard Jenkin – a member of the privileges committee that produced a highly critical report into Boris Johnson – is said to have attended.

Jenin | Israeli forces have withdrawn from the Palestinian city of Jenin, military officials have said, after carrying out one of the biggest operations in the occupied West Bank in years. Twelve Palestinians and an Israeli soldier were killed in the operation.

UK news | Private bank Coutts has reportedly shut Nigel Farage’s bank account after he fell below the prestigious lender’s wealth requirements, raising questions over the Brexiter’s claims that the bank was targeting him over his political views.

Scotland | Mhairi Black, the SNP’s deputy Westminster leader, will step down at the next general election, blaming the “toxic” environment in Westminster. Black became the youngest MP in 350 years when she was elected in the SNP landslide of 2015 at the age of 20, described the Commons as “one of the most unhealthy workplaces that you could ever be in”.