This was such a phenomenon in the seventies that by the time Yes Minister was broadcast the joke was a running ironic theme that met with deflated apathy: http

This was such a phenomenon in the seventies that by the time Yes Minister was broadcast the joke was a running ironic theme that met with deflated apathy: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=yes+minister+hospital+no+patients&ia=web https://duckduckgo.com/?q=yes+minister+hospital+no+patients&... (Search link because the results are fascinating, looking at Washington hospitals copying British innovation...)