Tories Have Given Huge Swathes Of Nhs Data To Us Company Amazon. For Free.

[Chinajan]

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/amazon-nhs-data-access-uk-government-contract-a9237901.html

If you think this is not the latest move towards the privatisation of OUR National Health Service then you are naive in the extreme.

What other possible motive could there be for this?

[Theland]

I'm convinced.

[chrissa1]

How is this privatising the NHS? As long as we don’t have to pay for our medical treatment like the US does. I’m fine with it.

[ummmm]

We need to listen to users like Wolf and Rowan.

[wolf63]

The page wouldn't load properly for me but from what I read has Amazon not just purchased a medical database - like a medical dictionary?

[Chinajan]

Please educate yourself. Paying for your medical treatment is exactly the aim here. Don't sleepwalk into this.

[jourdain2]

Sadly, it seems convincing. Thing is - I'm not opposed to a change in our system, having lived in and understood the system in France. Being UK we'll probably do it all wrong and it will be the worst of all worlds.
I would like to see a variant of the French system, where your N.I. pays all but a small percentage of your treatment and you take out a 'top-up' for the remaining 20%. (There is a list of serious diseases such as cancer, heart etc., which are covered 100% for all.)
It is a numbers game for the insurance companies and they cannot cherry-pick - you apply and pay and they must accept you. Where I take issue is the way that the price soars as you get past retirement age and your income decreases - of course I was on UK pension and French pensions are massively bigger. There is also an emergency system for those who cannot pay of course (but it is means tested).
Parents take out 'top-ups' for the children too.

You don't have to do this of course, and OH didn't so he just paid the extra bits as they arose.
Being us, it'll all go wrong. :(

[Chinajan]

First, it wasn't purchased. It was handed to Bezos for free.

It is NHS data. Information about the health of people in the UK from UK health records. Don't you realise how valuable that information is to insurers when deciding what to charge you?

And woe betide the very ill. Start saving.

[ToraToraTora]

[New Judge]

It's anonymised data being provided so that Amazon can develop health related assistance tools. Like, for example, how many people suffered from piles in Scunthorpe last year.

Things move on. The days are gone when crusty GPs scrawled illegible notes on bits of cardboard and shoved them in a drawer. The NHS in its current form has had its day. It needs to be reformed as a matter of urgency and commercial firms such as Amazon will play a part in that reform. Paying for some medical treatment is the only way that people in the UK will get an improved health service. There needs to be far less hysteria every time a something new comes to light that seemingly threatens "the envy of the world" (which the NHS isn't, never has been and never will be). People need to get a grip.

[Chinajan]

// so that Amazon can develop health related assistance tools. //

= Make money out of our illnesses

Thanks at least for the honesty NJ

[ToraToraTora]

the suppliers of meals and laundry services make money from the NHS, have they "bought huge swathes" too? You've been listening too much to leftist rags and agent Cob me old china!

[Chinajan]

// The suppliers of meals and laundry services make money from the NHS, have they "bought huge swathes" too? You've been listening too much to leftist rags and agent Cob me old china! //

Juvenile name calling from the likes of you doesn't bother me, so carry on with that if you wish.

If that's the best defence you can come up with - that it's already happening - then it's not much of a defence. It reinforces my argument if anything.

HTH

[ToraToraTora]

where is the name calling?

[naomi24]

As long as you're not paying for treatment what's the problem? The private sector has been involved with the NHS for years. As NJ says, get a grip.

[Chinajan]

You will be paying. That's what it's about.

Can you suggest any other possible reason for this information to be gifted to this US company?

TTT, disingenuity serves only to illustrate a lack of intelligent argument. Do try to come up with at least a semblance of a coherent rebuttal.

[naomi24]

NJ told you why. The political party that destroys the NHS destroys itself. Get a grip.

[Old_Geezer]

It clearly has nothing to do with privatisation.
That doesn't mean that the anonymous data belongs to the NHS, nor the government, to give access to without our permission. It belongs overall to the patients.

[ummmm]

The NHS outsources loads of things. Always have done.

[Chinajan]

NJ, if you read his post naomi, said [among other things] 'Paying for some medical treatment is the only way that people in the UK will get an improved health service'. [Sorry to be selective NJ but people should read your full post for themselves.]

What part of that do you not understand? The aim of the Tories is to make money from illness.

Have a look at the American system if you care to. That's where you die if you're poor. And that's where Boris and his billionaire mates are heading.

I am in possession of a grip thank you.

[naomi24]

But it’s true that paying for some medical treatment is the only way to get an improved health service, isn’t it? We already pay for dental care, for example, and anyone who isn’t either young, elderly, or on benefits pays for their medication, so what are you talking about?


//The aim of the Tories is to make money from illness.//

Who are these ‘Tories’ you’re talking about? The vast majority of Tory voters work damned hard for their money and value the NHS as much as anyone else. You have an outdated attitude, Chinajan. You need to move with the times.