Save the NHS

[stourbridgefox]

Think about anyone you know who has needed treatment on the NHS and then imagine the agony of having to find the money to pay for it, or worse...not having the money to pay for it.

The Tories have opposed the NHS since its inception in the 1940s and finally have their chance to return healthcare to the preserve of the rich. Excuses about debt and deficit are just that...excuses.

If you haven't needed the NHS yet then it is only a matter of time until you do. Let's hope it is there well into everyone's old age.

Sometimes you don't miss something until it is gone...

To sign the petition go to... http://www.avaaz.org/en/last_chance_to_save_the_nhs/

It takes 30 seconds and doesn't cost anything. What have you got to lose?

[21st Century Fox]

Signed with pleasure.

I also don't fancy my private medical records being freely accessed by pharmaceutical companies.

[Gold Coast Fox]

Being a British citizen and of voting age now, i actually voted for the first time last election (conservative) But if they keep trying to reform the NHS i wont be voting for them again.

Also signed.

[acooling08]

I'll be honest.

I do not know anything about the reforms to the NHS, so I can't comment.

In response to the OP, I VERY much doubt that people will have to pay for NHS treatment.

If the Conservatives put it forward then it's probably a good thing though.

[Guest]

If the Conservatives put it forward then it's probably a good thing though.

What sort of logic is that? To blindly assume that something put forward by a particular political party is okay without any questioning of it?

[21st Century Fox]

I'll be honest.

I do not know anything about the reforms to the NHS, so I can't comment.

In response to the OP, I VERY much doubt that people will have to pay for NHS treatment.

If the Conservatives put it forward then it's probably a good thing though.

[z-layrex]

I'll be honest.

I do not know anything about the reforms to the NHS, so I can't comment.

In response to the OP, I VERY much doubt that people will have to pay for NHS treatment.

If the Conservatives put it forward then it's probably a good thing though.

You don't get it.

Because trusts will have 'foundation trust' status, which previously was reserved for a few specialist hospitals such as burns centres, hospitals will be allowed to go for as many as 50% of their patients as private. This means people who can't afford to go private will have to go to hospitals that may be further away, offer a poorer standard of treatment, and it puts more strain on these hospitals to take up the extra load of nhs patients.

Also, because they are taking away primary care trusts, gp's now have to delegte services in their area, a job they do not want and will not do well.

I am an nhs nurse, i want to look after anyone who needs my help, not just those who can afford it.

[The Doctor]

I'll be honest.

I do not know anything about the reforms to the NHS, so I can't comment.

In response to the OP, I VERY much doubt that people will have to pay for NHS treatment.

If the Conservatives put it forward then it's probably a good thing though.

wha?... I... huh?

I'm lost for words to describe just how stupid that conclusion is.

[Rincewind]

signed tweeted tumbrled and facebooked

[Jon the Hat]

The only thing the NHS needs saving from is vested interests (insert endless list of unions looking out for their members not for patients or the tax payer), pointless layers of management and bureaucracy and a political environment where any constructive criticism is met with mind numbing Patricia Hewitt style "well I think that is offensive to all the hard working doctors and nurses who...."

Reasoned debate seems futile, but lets be clear - everyone is trying to make the NHS, and healthcare better, not worse. We are facing massive increases in cost if we don't do anything as increased costs of drugs, an ageing population and rising expectations of state healthcare provision all put pressure on a healthcare sector which is not functioning well enough. The problem here is vested interests who care more about their little part of the NHS than the big picture. Not unusual, but unusually powerful.

[Mark 'expert' Lawrenson]

Governments have been running the NHS down for years, its so sad what has become of such a wonderful institution, I can see us going down the medical insurance route like in the USA. What really annoys me is I am rarely ill but on the rare occasion I am I have to somehow predict I am going to be ill and book in advance at the docs.

What the NHS needs is less managers and more staff actually treating the ill.

[accessory]

If the Conservatives put it forward then it's probably a good thing though.

A statement to match your observation that Yann Kermorgant was decent..

[21st Century Fox]

The only thing the NHS needs saving from is vested interests (insert endless list of unions looking out for their members not for patients or the tax payer), pointless layers of management and bureaucracy and a political environment where any constructive criticism is met with mind numbing Patricia Hewitt style "well I think that is offensive to all the hard working doctors and nurses who...."

Reasoned debate seems futile, but lets be clear - everyone is trying to make the NHS, and healthcare better, not worse. We are facing massive increases in cost if we don't do anything as increased costs of drugs, an ageing population and rising expectations of state healthcare provision all put pressure on a healthcare sector which is not functioning well enough. The problem here is vested interests who care more about their little part of the NHS than the big picture. Not unusual, but unusually powerful.

The NHS does need restructuring but putting parts of it in the hands of profiteers isn't the solution. So far the job cuts have been handled disastrously. The education departments within the NHS have been ransacked and left almost untenable, paving the way for private nurses and agencies. It's an absolute joke.

[davieG]

The only thing the NHS needs saving from is vested interests (insert endless list of unions looking out for their members not for patients or the tax payer), pointless layers of management and bureaucracy and a political environment where any constructive criticism is met with mind numbing Patricia Hewitt style "well I think that is offensive to all the hard working doctors and nurses who...."

Reasoned debate seems futile, but lets be clear - everyone is trying to make the NHS, and healthcare better, not worse. We are facing massive increases in cost if we don't do anything as increased costs of drugs, an ageing population and rising expectations of state healthcare provision all put pressure on a healthcare sector which is not functioning well enough. The problem here is vested interests who care more about their little part of the NHS than the big picture. Not unusual, but unusually powerful.

...and the Tories don't have vested interests in it becoming more privatised? All the constant political interference and changes both practical and philosophical seem to be causing far more trouble and cost without ever solving the problems, likewise with education.

[Jon the Hat]

...and the Tories don't have vested interests in it becoming more privatised? All the constant political interference and changes both practical and philosophical seem to be causing far more trouble and cost without ever solving the problems, likewise with education.

I doubt there is actually any vested interest in making it more privatised - i.e. personal benefit, but there is certainly a belief that a mix of public and private provision would be beneficial. It seems to me at the moment that NHS trained consultants go and make a lot of money n the private sector, using hospitals owned privately and employing their own staff, and that is a waste of money. I contrast Great Ormond Street hospital, where the private wing is owned by the trust, and makes a whole of money from people who either have insurance or can pay personally - and they come from all over the World. That seems to me a much better model, so I dont understand the controversy of allowing trusts to increase that part of their activities.

[davieG]

I doubt there is actually any vested interest in making it more privatised - i.e. personal benefit, but there is certainly a belief that a mix of public and private provision would be beneficial. It seems to me at the moment that NHS trained consultants go and make a lot of money n the private sector, using hospitals owned privately and employing their own staff, and that is a waste of money. I contrast Great Ormond Street hospital, where the private wing is owned by the trust, and makes a whole of money from people who either have insurance or can pay personally - and they come from all over the World. That seems to me a much better model, so I dont understand the controversy of allowing trusts to increase that part of their activities.

Introducing privatisation to is a vested interest for the Tories because that's where they get their funding from to exist and many of them, granted other parties also are on the boards of the privateers.

[DANGEROUS TIGER]

I have signed. My main concern is putting specialist matters, in the hands of GPs. I find this both dangerous and deplorable.

[Reynard Bleu]

The root of the problem with the NHS is that its expensive. Medicine and traetments costs big bucks. Governments today want it be run like a business and be efficient and lean. Can't be done. In a business you cut cost and take the hit on service delivery, just cut the cost in the NHS and you cut care at some point. It can be run better and costs can be more controlled but bottom line its an costly business keeping people alive and making people well. Medicine is not a precise science, you can't say this operation costs this much and this drug treatments costs that much so that's what we budget. It depends on who, when, how etc. The driving cost variable is people. We have prolonged average life expectancy but that means we are around much longer to draw on the service, there are increasing numbers of us so more of us call on the NHS for treatment. By all means get some good practice in and control the costs, cut the waste and focus on care for the sick. But you can't make a business out of a National Health Service, if we want it we pay for it.

But that's only my view.

[Jon the Hat]

I have signed. My main concern is putting specialist matters, in the hands of GPs. I find this both dangerous and deplorable.

Do you have a crap GP too? The thought of mine running anything at all is scary, but I am banking on the fact that they probably don't know this is happening yet, and so are unlikely to be involved in any actual decision making.

[Jon the Hat]

The root of the problem with the NHS is that its expensive. Medicine and traetments costs big bucks. Governments today want it be run like a business and be efficient and lean. Can't be done. In a business you cut cost and take the hit on service delivery, just cut the cost in the NHS and you cut care at some point. It can be run better and costs can be more controlled but bottom line its an costly business keeping people alive and making people well. Medicine is not a precise science, you can't say this operation costs this much and this drug treatments costs that much so that's what we budget. It depends on who, when, how etc. The driving cost variable is people. We have prolonged average life expectancy but that means we are around much longer to draw on the service, there are increasing numbers of us so more of us call on the NHS for treatment. By all means get some good practice in and control the costs, cut the waste and focus on care for the sick. But you can't make a business out of a National Health Service, if we want it we pay for it.

But that's only my view.

Yes, which is why the cost cutting Tories are in fact increasing NHS funding every year.

[Guest MattP]

The only thing the NHS needs saving from is vested interests (insert endless list of unions looking out for their members not for patients or the tax payer), pointless layers of management and bureaucracy and a political environment where any constructive criticism is met with mind numbing Patricia Hewitt style "well I think that is offensive to all the hard working doctors and nurses who...."

Reasoned debate seems futile, but lets be clear - everyone is trying to make the NHS, and healthcare better, not worse. We are facing massive increases in cost if we don't do anything as increased costs of drugs, an ageing population and rising expectations of state healthcare provision all put pressure on a healthcare sector which is not functioning well enough. The problem here is vested interests who care more about their little part of the NHS than the big picture. Not unusual, but unusually powerful.

Good post.

"SavetheNHS" what an absolutely misleading and silly thing to base the campaign on, if the Tories have really wanted to destroy the NHS like so many have claimed they would have done it years ago.

It's a health service, the way it has been used as a recruiting ground for the Labour party over the last ten years has been appalling.

[Daggers]

Yes, which is why the cost cutting Tories are in fact increasing NHS funding every year.

Lolz. Are you aware of the term 'inflation'? 'Increasing'? Bollocks. There was an £800,000,000 cut in spending in real terms during the first twelve months in office.

As for privatising public services - I refer the honourable gentlemen to the comprehensive debunking I delivered some threads ago.

The only wastage occurs when governments stick their oars in - the billions list in the recent IT farce being a case in point. To spend more on restructuring than is saved through job cuts is a joke, when the restructuring is a) not wanted by the NHS as a body or b) will not deliver improvements to the clients.

[Zingari]

Things haven't been the same with the NHS since Hattie Jaques stopped being Matron

[Jon the Hat]

Lolz. Are you aware of the term 'inflation'? 'Increasing'? Bollocks. There was an £800,000,000 cut in spending in real terms during the first twelve months in office.

As for privatising public services - I refer the honourable gentlemen to the comprehensive debunking I delivered some threads ago.

The only wastage occurs when governments stick their oars in - the billions list in the recent IT farce being a case in point. To spend more on restructuring than is saved through job cuts is a joke, when the restructuring is a) not wanted by the NHS as a body or b) will not deliver improvements to the clients.

Restructuring always costs more than you save in job cuts, especially when you are saddled with horrible Labour redundancy policies. The NHS as a body? Define please? Oh do you mean the list of unions who resist everything except pay rises? No shit they don't like it - for me that is a sure sign of a good plan!!

[Guest MattP]

The only wastage occurs when governments stick their oars in - the billions list in the recent IT farce being a case in point. To spend more on restructuring than is saved through job cuts is a joke, when the restructuring is a) not wanted by the NHS as a body or b) will not deliver improvements to the clients.

lolz.

You ever dealt with some of the management in the NHS?

I dread to think what role that they would be considered capable of doing in the Private Sector.