NHS

Rationing essential treatments and refusing non essential ones has been practised in the NHS for some time. It is becoming increasingly difficult to access hip and knee, cataract surgery etc. and GPs have very little say in referrals these days. All referrals, unless urgent are scrutinised by a third party to decide if they meet the ever strict criteria. I suppose it's ok to philosophise about deserving/undeserving patients unless it is you or those close to you affected.

Labour Party has a massive presence on the Save our NHS march.

Expect to see no coverage on the bbc.

www.itv.com/news/2018-02-03/thousands-set-to-join-fix-the-nhs-rally-demanding-government-action-to-deal-with-crisis/

It's on ITV news.

What a brilliant turnout, wish I could have been there. Pity the Government of the day hasn't a good record of taking notice of demos.

Same here, Lazigirl. However, I did my best by donating some money so someone could represent me.

"And finally, the JR4NHS team has won a fantastic concession from NHS England and the Department of Health in the form of a full national consultation on the introduction of ACOs. They have also been given the go-ahead from the judge to proceed with the JR. However, the judge has not awarded cost-capping for the JR on the grounds that JR4NHS have shown that they are able to crowdfund. It is shocking that the judge has not agreed to cap the costs. So, it is possible that the JR will not proceed on cost grounds which would be a gross miscarriage of justice in itself. We would urge anyone who has not yet contributed to do so."

This is disgraceful. A judge could have capped the costs for the group taking Hunt to court to try and save the NHS, but has decided not to, because the group has shown it can crowdfund.
Justice relies on crowdfunding.
The case wouldn't have got so far if it wasn't for crowdfunding, but they have to beg for even more money to try and stop the NHS being privatised.

www.crowdjustice.com/case/jr4nhs-round3/

On 1 April 2018 the first Accountable Care Organisations will be introduced into England’s NHS. The NHS and Local Authorities take care of people when they are at their most vulnerable. Changes to the services they need should be the subject of careful scrutiny by parliament and other statutory bodies.
The government is considering bringing forward secondary legislation to make the changes possible. The Chair of the Health Select Committee has called for a pause in implementation subject to her committee reporting on developments to date.
An Early Day Motion 660 has also been laid before the House of Commons requesting full scrutiny and debate of these very important issues.
Carillion’s collapse tragically underlines the serious consequences that can arise from outsourced contracts for public services.
The history of the development of Accountable Care in England and the documents issued by the Department of Health and NHS England are extensive and complex. We offer this paper as a guide to decision-makers and other
interested parties to make sense both of this complexity
and of the real challenges that have arisen from the implementation of these changes.

From the government's paper on ACOs. It makes it sound like a fait accompli, a bit like Brexit.

Apart from the fact there's going to be a judicial review, I don't understand how the first ACO can start in April when the inquiry isn't hearing oral submissions until February and March. Baffled.

Why haven't Sarah Wollaston and the rest of the Health Committee signed the EDM?

Some have. The only Labour members who haven't are Ben Bradshaw and Diana Johnson, so anyone in their constituencies needs to ask them.
One SNP, Lisa Cameron, hasn't.
No Tories have.

In fact, when you think about it, fewer than half the Labour MPs have, so how about asking them again, nicely.

www.parliament.uk/edm/2017-19/660

149 signatures.

I see trump's been trying to get in on the act again, tweeting about the NHS march at the weekend.
Corbyn put him right.

twitter.com/jeremycorbyn

The NHS report sounds like a move in the right direction with a hypothecated tax.

Tories have tried to kick in the long grass though.

You would have thought that if they wanted more money for the NHS, that would have been the way to go, to tax more people for it rather than their rich friends.
I think it isn't necessary as there is enough money hidden in tax havens to pay for the NHS for decades, but they don't want to do that, either, do they?

Well it's no surprise that our old friend Farage turned up on Fox News with his particular take on why our NHS is in trouble, prior to Trump's tweet. I am definitely no fan of Hunt but at least he replied quite robustly in defence of NHS - bit hypocritical tho

The trouble is that people use the NHS for any minor thing so that they can get free treatment. ie, drinking so much that they collapse in the street, knowing full well that they will be picked up and taken to hospital. Or taking drugs to get high knowing that if anything bad happens the NHS will deal with it. The NHS was not meant for that purpose. The doctor is the first port of call for non-emergency cases. When you call out an ambulance it costs the NHS £300! Just think of that before you call for one. If people were billed they would stop using them for minor illnesses. Also there is a lot of waste in the NHS. Pills oversubscribed for example. Nurses going sick for a couple of days so they can work as an agency nurse and get twice as much from the private sector...yes it does happen. I am not getting at nurses. They are not paid nearly enough for what they do. It is a dirty, smelly, messy, stressful job and I think they should get a pay rise, which imo is long overdue. Mrs May could find the money to give to the N.Ireland woman so she would prop up the government, at a drop of a hat. There is money in the pot but it seems that the Government (whoever is in) thinks it is their money to spend on whatever they like. I hate being described as a 'bed blocker' in the press. It is pensioners who have supported the NHS from day one. When we need help for knees, hips or anything else that comes with old age they say they cannot afford it.

I think a hypothecated tax is the best way to fund the NHS too. Then it's simple to administer, easy to see what you pay for and you know where your money is going. I don't see why politicians are against it. I'd rather the funding was made simple and transparent.

Get the tax we are owed by tax fraudsters. Then we will have enough money without having to pay more.
What is wrong with asking people to pay what they owe?

Or on the other hand

www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2018/03/07/tax-does-not-pay-for-the-nhs/

If the Government forced big businesses to pay the tax that they owe then they could give it to the NHS. Why should they avoid tax when the rest of us get clobbered if we owe them 5p?

Are there any historical precedents of countries printing excessive amounts of money to pay for things they don't have the money to buy Jen?

The government does force big business to pay the tax they owe. Who are the tax fraudsters who don't pay what they owe? Why have you not reported them to HMRC?

Don't be childish, primrose, pretending you don't know about tax havens.

But that's not tax fraud Jen. Two different things altogether, as I'm sure you know. I'll stop being childish if you'll stop being wrong

What's an excessive amount of money?
Who decides how much needs printing and what we need to buy?