Nhs Almost Destroyed

[Canary42]

On the News just now. NHS worst week.

Tories have almost achieved one of their main objectives, next victim in their sights will be the Welfare State.

[Peter Pedant]

Umm no

The govt who pays for all this ( well we do ) wishes to divert health care into G P practices because it is so much cheaper

and we - if we feel ill -dont want to piddle around with GPs and are visiting A+E preferentially. so obviously the answer ispay A+Es more

Nope that is ineffficient and wasteful

Having lain on a trolley for nine ours the other week
at the country's busiest cas - North Manch
I didnt think I was getting my money's worth quite honestly

sent in by 111 - Sunday GP closed .....

honestly I dunno what the answer is ....

[mikey4444]

PP...voting Labour might be a good place to start PP, if you are looking for an answer ! My avatar worked his a r s e off getting the NHS established in 1948 and the Tories always make a mess of running it. The mis-management of the NHS was the main reason why Labour won such a huge landslide in 1997.

God knows, its not perfect these days, but the NHS is still safer in the hands of Labour than the Tories. I don't expect this will be popular on AB, but its the truth as I see it.

[tonyav]

Are you talking about this, Canary ?.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-30541135

[jim360]

The number of people seen at A&E within four hours of arrival dipped below 90%. "Almost destroyed" is, perhaps, a tad overstating it, no?

[Old_Geezer]

Always seemed to me to be a very low bar target. If I had to go to A&E I'd want to be seen as fast as possible, and certainly no longer than 20 minutes. 4 hours is like A&E giving up before they start. To find even that is being missed suggests something very wrong with the system.

[BlackadderV]

Who introduced prescription charges in 1951? Labour. Who abolished them in 1964? Labour. Who reintroduced them in 1966? Labour.

[Sqad]

\\\\\Tories have almost achieved one of their main objectives,\\\\

You mean with the help of Miss Hewitt in 2007..........a contract with the GP's giving them more money for "jettisoning " nights and weekend calls?

Where do the patients go for medical help?.......CASUALTY.

It is that simple.

[mikey4444]

Blackadder...who abolished prescription charges in Wales in 2007 ?

Labour of course !

[tonyav]

Yes, why not England as well though, mikey ?.

[Peter Pedant]

// Where do the patients for medical help?.......CASUALTY. //

I thought Jeremy Hunt was very brave saying his kid was ill so he went to a kids' casualty....

I tried the GP and the emergency service really wasnt interested in atrial fibrillation...

I still dont knnow what the answer is

[BlackadderV]

English patients need to pay for prescriptions in order to subsidise the Scottish and Welsh who get them for free, courtesy of the English taxpayer.

[Old_Geezer]

I recall who bumped them up 125% in 1979. Then bumped them up twice more in 1980 to raise the total increase to 400%.

[Svejk]

Shot yourself in the foot there, mikey. The Labour run Welsh NHS is in a worse shape than the Tory run English one.

[tonyav]

I know, ba. Don't they get free hospital parking as well ?.

[mikey4444]

Tony...I am not sure where you live but if its in England, perhaps you need to vote Labour as well as us in Wales !

By the way, they are free in Northern Ireland and Scotland as well. It seems that you in England are lagging behind the rest of the UK. Something to think about next May when you venture into the voting booth perhaps !

Only a suggestion !

[factor-fiction]

Do you have any data showing a reduction in expenditure, canary? I suspect the figures don't support even a cut, never mind a destruction of the service

[tonyav]

I live in England, mikey. Why didn't they (Labour) make our prescriptions free when they made Wales, Scotland and N.I prescriptions free though.

[BlackadderV]

In 2007 Labour ruled in England as well as Wales, so voting Labour is hardly the answer.

[mikey4444]

Blackadder ( 19:14 ) With respect, its up to us in Wales where and what we spend our money on. Labour gave us the opportunity to have control of our own affairs, as well as Scotland, by allowing the Welsh Assembly and the Scottish Parliament to come into being. The people have spoken Blackadder....its called democracy.

[New Judge]

A drastic re-think is needed with the NHS.

First and foremost it is a national health service, not an international health service. Those with no entitlement to free treatment should be charged. It's not difficult - other nations manage it perfectly well.

Secondly, GP services should be drastically reduced. For most patients all that is needed is a website with a list of specialists "Click here for knees" "Click here for gut problems" etc. That way patients can be directed immediately to somebody who knows what they are talking about instead of waiting for three weeks for an appointment to see somebody who in many cases is simply going to prescribe some pills (which will probably have no effect before the ailment cures itself) or to direct them to somebody else (for a modest £100k pa, natch).

Thirdly, proper business methods need to be applied in hospitals. I have seen an A&E department where a senior sister had the sole task of checking that people had not exceeded the four hour limit (and promptly checking them out and in again if they were about to). I have also seen a fracture clinic where a trained nurse did nothing but show patients in to the consultants' rooms and hand over their notes (a job that a sixteen year old school leaver could do).

Lack of money is not the problem with the NHS. Lack of organisation, business acumen and plain common sense are the items in deficit. It makes no difference which party is in power because providing them does not seem to be a consideration.