NHS fragmentation

It is so tragic indeed the NHS was the very best health care system in the world- and I knew so many who were totally and absolutely dedicated to it- and are now so 'glad' they are retired now.

I still think that it is the best in the world when one needs a blue light ambulance to A&E followed by emergency surgery. After that, one is on one's own- I can vouch for that.

There was an article in The I today by a Canadian whose son needed treatment in A&E. She was completely bowled over by how quickly they were dealt with, compared with the horror stories she had read and the fact that, although she kept offering to pay, no one wanted any money from her!

Since Jeremy Hunt passed his bill - headlined as giving control of "commissioning" to GPs, billions of pounds of contracts have been given out to the private sector. Hunt slipped in the legislation at the last minute, after the main period of debate. I fear this means that for those living in England (the bill only applies there) their NHS is being contracted out bit by bit, and very rapidly.
My guess is that in some areas it will work well and you won't know or care that Virgin Healthcare or Serco are running a service you use. On other occasions you will notice that your local hospital is no longer providing the tests you need and you have to travel some distance to the centre that has the contract to do them, and wait for them to be sent back to your consultant. Imagine lots of private clinics offering X-rays or ECGs or orthopaedic services. Could it work well? Hmm the speed at which this has been done is frightening. Outsourcing can work well if the Service Level Agreements are nailed down properly (making the specification of what the taxpayers and patients can expect very clear) but that depends on having an army of clever people working on behalf of the NHS, to ensure the contracts are good ones, and that they are adhered to. Outsourcing is also judged to be "successful" in some quarters when it is a way of undermining unionised conditions and employing cheap labour. e.g. it is cheaper for Serco to employ non-unionised bin men who do not have all the pay, pension, sick pay etc that a bin man working for the council would receive.

I quite agree about all the silly name and stupid slogans attached to health services - and everything else these days.

I think being continuously upbeat is used as a very good way of ignoring the realities of situations and sloughing off responsibilities for people. I have a nephew with learning difficulties (another stupid euphemism). Social Sevices insisted that all his care options and choice decissions should be made by him even though he doen't really undertand what people are saying. Fortunately his mother managed to sit at the back of the room during the dicussions. The Social Services people solemnly sat there and explained everything and then asked him what he would like to do (meaning his preferred living option). He smiled happily at them and said decisively. 'I would like to play foot ball'.

After that they spoke to his parents. What they had been hoping for was that he would opt for the living option that gave him most freedom (and put him at most risk) and cost them least. With his parents involved Social Services had to focussed on his safety and welfare, which, of course, cost more.

My mental health team are called the Recovery/Psychological intervention unit. Basically that means that you either get better within 26 weeks or you go into a sort of limbo because you've failed to let them tick their target boxes. Guess where I am .

Their website slogan is 'Growing the seeds of recovery' over the top of a picture of a sunflower...yes Gransnet we definitely need a finger down the throat icon.

Here is a rallying call:

999callfornhs.org.uk/

Jess - the need for good staff in the NHS to ensure robust SLAs is essential - but we have that team commissioning in the NHS and then a team of managers in the chosen agency - 2 lots of people! What is the point?

nhap.us7.list-manage.com/track/click?u=937c3e62bc24fa37708920cc9&id=4700dbc450&e=716bee6853
I put this on another thread, but it can just as easily go here.
Look at the NHA website to see how many GPs are fighting back against privatisation.

The Jarrow march for the NHS has started.
It is probably in Durham today. It was in Chester-le-Street yesterday. 100 people marching, with another hundred to cheer them on.
Look out for it in your area.

The link is on Grannyknot's post above.

pulsetoday.msgfocus.com/c/1571djB0xh5vbnrQqaH8eEc

I find this very worrying. How's your GP practice?

Good post FlicketyB and I can really relate to that situation!In spite of the tragedy of it all, it made me laugh.

It seems that too often, local government depts.opt for a catchy [and yukky] slogan instead of doing their jobs.

www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/aug/17/scottish-independence-poll-yes-gains-ground

Interesting that more women will vote yes to independence if Salmond concentrates on the NHS.

I guess Mr Salmond knows just how big the bill will be if he ends up running the country. Given what we know about health in Scotland.
Still - once they have independence, why would anyone vote for him?

Sorry, this is not relevant to the thread, but once again, JessM, Alex Salmond is not running for anything at the moment. He is First Minister until the general election here in 2016, at which point his party can be voted out or not. Only those who have a vote in his constituency can vote for him (or not).

The NHS is very popular here too, and there are a lot of people worried about the knock-on effect of the creeping privatisation which is happening in England. Good luck to the Jarrow marchers!

Well I think jess's was a fair question Wheniwasyourage, since DH and I were discussing it only yesterday.
If you accept that people have voted SNP because of their pro-independence policy, once independence is gained, what will differentiate the SNP from Labour? Is it not possible that voters will go back to Labour?
I'm just wondering and would like your opinion.

Yes, you're right, it is a fair question, it's just that I get so fed up with everything about the referendum being said to be about Alex Salmond, who is really irrelevant to the matter. However, I shouldn't take it out on JessM, who will, I hope, accept my apology if I have upset her.

In my opinion (which should not be relied on, as I am rarely right about these things) the SNP is a left-of-centre party with many good and popular policies, and if there is a No vote, I think that they would be re-elected in 2016. If there is a Yes vote, the glue which holds the party together, ie the wish for independence, will disappear and as a party which includes left-and right-wing members, it will reorganise in ways I cannot predict. I would expect the 2016 election would then produce more MSPs from Labour, the Greens, possibly the Lib Dems and yes, even the Tories. Who would form the government, I have no idea!

That's my opinion, for what it's worth.

Thank you When - whatever happens it will be an interesting scenario!

It would be interesting to see what Scottish Tories think in 20016 if there is a yes vote. They presumably would have to be completely different from English Tories about privatisation, having just been beaten in a poll about English values.

Mum - who is 96 - can remember the first march and declared today that if she was young and fit enough she would join the women's march from Jarrow

I forgot to add that unlike most of us she can remember what it was like to live without an NHS.

My mother became a nurse before the NHS, after her father died because they could not afford his medication.
Fortunately she died in 2006, before the coalition destroyed it again, although it was obviously in the planning.