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[url= http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/22670 ]Please sign this E Petition[/url] and let your MP know you oppose the Government's Health & Social Care Bill.
In case you don't know, the coalition Goverment want to change the way the NHS is organized so that all the responsibility for planning and commissioning NHS services (hospitals, out-patient & community services etc) is placed upon GPs. GPs don't want this responsibility because it's not their area if expertise and it would detract from their ability to see and treat their patients - we already have organizations (Primary Care Trusts) who are suprisingly pretty good at this sort of thing; the government plans to abolish these, thus losing expertise in commisioning and planning from the NHS. Brilliant.
The real aim of the government's plans though is to privatise the NHS by attracting private companies (whose aim is to make money for them & their shareholders) to take over those parts of the NHS that they feel they can make a profit from. The government knows full well that GPs are unable and lack the expertise to commision services; they are deliberately setting them up to fail so that they can then bring in private health companies to pick the bones of the NHS clean. Health Minister Andrew Lansley claims that the NHS is becoming increasingly unproductive.[url= http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/9074733/Falling-productivity-in-the-NHS-is-a-myth.html ]It's not[/url]. And that's from the Telegraph, not a conspicuously left wing radical paper.
Despite the government's anti-NHS spin, despite inefficiencies and problems that are obvious to anyone who works in it or depends upon it, the NHS is orders of magnitude better than anything you'll be left with once the Government is finished. Compared with the USA, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, the Netherlands, Germany, we come 2nd overall (only Holland is better). The NHS is rated 1st for efficiency, cost and efficacy of care. The USA comes last. Make no mistake, it is an American style system that the Government is aiming for.
[url= http://http://bengoldacre.posterous.com/what-will-happen-with-the-nhs-bill-in-5-tweet ]This is a pretty good summary of what will happen if the bill goes through.[/url] Supporting a petition, [url= http://www.theyworkforyou.com/ ]writing to your MP[/url] (particularly if they're a Tory in a marginal seat) is [b]not[/b] futile. Many in the Tory party realize this is political suicide for them - the more pressure that the people bring to bear, the greater the chances of defeating the bill.
You'll miss it when it's gone.
< / hobby horse >
Declaration of interest: I'm a hospital doctor (Consultant) working exclusively in the NHS, my family & I have all been patients of the NHS at one time or another, and I have no party/political affiliation. I don't ride a rigid singlespeed or have a beard.
Signed!
miss it when its gone, i bloody doubt that.
i recommend total avoidance of the NHS, from the very bottom to the very top its running like a bag of rusty spanners thrown into a jet engine.
whatever is done to it, it cant possibly be worse.
Now there's an informed opinion! 🙄
It's that sort of thinking that voted Cameron and his ****s into power in the first place!
Already signed, but another bump.
it cant possibly be worse
Utter pish. It can get a lot worse.
Id like to opt out but don't have the option so instead I pay for private and pay for the ****less & workshy.
whatever is done to it, it cant possibly be worse.
Yep. You're bang on! They're going to privatise it. And thats has been a rip-roaring success in every area of the public sector its been applied to. The Railways? Energy generators? BT?
All, I'm sure you'll agree, the envy of the world!
I'm liking the opt out version!
Good luck opting out of A&E and ITU.
Id like to opt out but don't have the option so instead I pay for private and pay for the ****less & workshy.
Poor troll. 2/10
EDIT: You can opt out if you want. Emigrate.
We can sign many petitions, but plans are already afoot to privatise the NHS, the start was made with so called care homes , supplying nursing care, followed by mental handicap nad mental illness, lots of bits can easily be split off and sold cheaply,like physio, OT,Audiology,xray and cat scan, along with Gp surgeries.
Laundry, catering grounds maintance, payroll have already gone private and work, for the private comapnies, producing a nice little earner.
Then we have PFI hospitals etc.
Is it true the NHS are the worlds 3rd largest employer after the Chinese army and the Indian railways?
Signed ,other half is a Headof Midwifery and Gynogology and no one she works with wants these changes!
Rich
The NHS is already privatised, you just haven't realised it yet!
The NHS is already privatised
NuLav did indeed lay the foundations for all this - which is why the likes of Circle & McKinsey are salivating, and [url= http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/feb/08/nhs-professional-service-ripe-reengineering?INTCMP=SRCH ]Ali Parsa[/url] writes dribble about how healthcare can be just like the telecomms industry.
It's a yardsale.
Signed. I'd like to support the right wingers right to opt out, as long as they opt out of every thing, ambulances, intensive care, rare disease treatment etc. should whittle their numbers down nicely and improve this country a whole lot.
Signed.
Signed. I'd like to support the right wingers right to opt out, as long as they opt out of every thing, ambulances, intensive care, rare disease treatment etc. should whittle their numbers down nicely and improve this country a whole lot.
+100,000.
While I'm certainly central with a right hand leaning, I have to say privatisation of these key public features (like rail etc) really isn't the bright option. Public services are things that are generally best done by someone with no vested interest in profit, but with a bent towards efficiency.
other half is a Headof Midwifery
ahhh, you married a girl from the Valleys
[i]no vested interest in profit, but with a bent towards efficiency[/i]
[Conservative market delusion]but the drive for profit is the only way to derive efficiency![/Conservative market delusion]
Signed. I'd like to support the right wingers right to opt out, as long as they opt out of every thing, ambulances, intensive care, rare disease treatment etc. should whittle their numbers down nicely and improve this country a whole lot.
Some of them seem to have started by opting out of education
Haha, I love this 'opt-out' nonsense - lets see how much it costs your precious private care when you're properly ill, or it means you have to sell your Audi to pay for cancer treatment for your loved one. Just take a look at America to see how private health care only works for the well off.
Grow up - and realise our NHS is the envy of many countries around the world.
GPs don't want this responsibility because it's not their area if expertise and it would detract from their ability to see and treat their patients.The government knows full well that GPs are unable and lack the expertise to commision services; they are deliberately setting them up to fail so that they can then bring in private health companies to pick the bones of the NHS clean.
I think you'll find that right from the start the private firms will provide the actual administrative expertise for GPs who have studied medicine rather than business, and lack both the skill and the desire to get involved.
And we the taxpayers will of course pay these private firms to provide administrative and clinical functions to GPs.
I'm sure private healthcare provider Care UK feels that the thousands of pounds which it has donated personally to Health Minister Andrew Lansley was money well spent.
Haha, I love this 'opt-out' nonsense - lets see how much it costs your precious private care when you're properly ill, or it means you have to sell your Audi to pay for cancer treatment for your loved one. Just take a look at America to see how private health care only works for the well off.
I absolutely agree, I can afford to opt out and hopefully this reduces the queueing time for other. It would be stupid to think that any of us are getting any younger and I'd hate to think that anything serious happens to be, but it would be hell of a lot worse if I thought there wouldn't be an NHS.
Signed. I'd like to support the right wingers right to opt out, as long as they opt out of every thing, ambulances, intensive care, rare disease treatment etc. should whittle their numbers down nicely and improve this country a whole lot.
LOL, without the taxes from these right wingers you'd struggle to get your methadone prescription.
Just take a look at America to see how private health care only works for the well off.
I'm not so sure that it always works for the relatively well off, I guess it depends on the medical condition and how long the costs persist.
[url= http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090604095123.htm ]Over 60 Percent Of All US Bankruptcies Attributable To Medical Problems[/url]
[i]"According to the study, a number of circumstances propelled many middle-class, insured Americans into bankruptcy. For 92% of the medically bankrupt, high medical bills directly contributed to their bankruptcy."[/i]
I suspect that included in the bankruptcies are people who would be considered to be pretty well off.
The NHS is the envy of the world - lol
thats why the rest of the world flies here to be treated for free.
were very good at delivering foreign babies, and treating the sick and dying from all over the world at the same time giving them translators and then we cant afford to fix the hip of an old war served veteran.
Sorry unless the NHS is massively reformed and ring fenced then its a cash black hole that we cant afford despite its efficiencies. etc
I happened to be in the reception of a Bupa hospital a few weeks ago
an elderly gent had passed out so the staff called an ambulance to come and attend to him
wrecker - MemberLOL, without the taxes from these right wingers you'd struggle to get your methadone prescription.
Bazz is a heroine addict wrecker ?
Should you be discussing someone personal medical conditions on a public forum ?
Sancho - You are Paul Dacre and I claim my [s]£5[/s] five [i]English[/i] pounds!
Sancho - MemberThe NHS is the envy of the world - lol
thats why the rest of the world flies here to be treated for free.
Really? they are not entitled to free treatment under those circumstances
Sorry unless the NHS is massively reformed and ring fenced then its a cash black hole that we cant afford despite its efficiencies. etc
Yeah, money is better spent bailing out banks, isn't it.
Sorry unless the NHS is massively reformed and ring fenced then its a cash black hole that we cant afford despite its efficiencies. etc
So we cannot afford a healthcare system that is one of the cheapest and most efficient in the world?
The money needs to be spent not on more NHS but on defining better what it is for and the stopping the spread of treatment to people who are not privvy to that treatment. we cant afford to just keep handing out free treatment to people not eligible,
and TJ youre right they are not entitled but they are treated and then the money they owe is written off in 98% of cases so effectively they are all getting away with it.
Who is Paul Dacre?
Really? they are not entitled to free treatment under those circumstances
Steady on there TJ, surely you know that knowing nothing about a subject is no reason for soem people not to inflict their poorly conceived opinions on the rest of us and try and pretend they're facts. Sorry FACTS.
no we cant afford it TJ, thats why all parties are trying to reform it.
or am I missing something, its also why we cant afford the benefits we are paying out, and the army etc, we are not as rich as we would like to be.
I absolutely agree, I can afford to opt out and hopefully this reduces the queueing time for other.
Opted out are you? hmmm. So it would be a private ambulance that comes to pick you up should you have an MI/CVA/RTC/Fall of your MTB, that would of course take you to a private hospital, to be assessed by private Doctors and Nurses, then be tranferd to a private ITU should you need it? Oh, and of course you'd pay the going rate for any gucci drugs that you may need for the rest of your life, rather than get a NHS subsidised prescription I imagine.
No?
Get real. Paying 'to go private' in this country is tantamount to bribing your way to the front of the queue for treatments. Quite often provided at NHS facilities, almost ALWAYS treated and cared for by NHS trained staff.
The money needs to be spent not on more NHS but on defining better what it is for
yeah, more focus groups and management consultants that's what the NHS needs, and unfortunately is likely to get.
were very good at delivering foreign babies, and treating the sick and dying from all over the world at the same time giving them translators and then we cant afford to fix the hip of an old war served veteran.
I have nothing to add. That is so perfect, I thought it should be posted twice.
I couldn't have thought of that little beauty if I'd tried. 10/10
an elderly gent had passed out so the staff called an ambulance to come and attend to him
A private ambulance, surely? 😉
no not more focus groups but a step back from where we are and a clear definition of what the NHS is for, and to then put in place the processes to keep the NHS reserved for those who qualify foreign nationals taking the piss will only get worse and its already costing millions and taking up time, but its a debate that never gets a clear answer as hysteria takes over every time.
Ernie - I've studied Sancho's statement and run it through the Daily Mail-o-meter. It says it can only be improved thus:
were very good at delivering foreign babies [i]to single mothers[/i], and treating the sick and dying [i]gypsy benefit scroungers[/i] from all over the world at the same time giving them [i]lesbian lefty[/i] translators and then we cant afford to fix the hip of an old war served veteran.
and its already costing millions
go on then, let's see your maths on this
Sancho - Memberno we cant afford it TJ, thats why all parties are trying to reform it.
So what are you going to do. bear in mind the NHS is cheaper that almost every other comparable system and more efficient.