NHS

Is there any doubt that the NHS has gradually got worse since the Tories came to office and since 2010.

So my conclusion is that’s without sufficient funding and strong support of the core principles the NHS will never survive.

The question is whether this is deliberate on the Tories part.

www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2018/01/03/the-threat-to-the-nhs/

A very long article to read, showing why we are in the situation we are in.

I used to work in hospitals as a SW and the whole issue of hospital discharges is fraught - I in fact ran a research project on the subject.

The authority I worked for actually set up a joint authority between health and SS precisely in order to try and stop the "competition" situation that arose at the interface between the two services. It did not last long and soon disintegrated, because the whole system is so fragmented in the way it is funded.

The reality is that you cannot set targets for discharges (especially of elderly people) if decent alternatives are not available. The provision of social care is a total mess: private homes poorly monitored; care at home with 15 minute slots - I help my OH to dress and undress - there is no way it could be done in a dignified respectful way in 15 minutes.

Iam64 I totally agree with regard to the lack of funding from Local Authorities and people being kept in hospital through lack of social care,my neighbour has been in hospital for the last 7 weeks whilst her family have tried to get her placed as she cannot return home without support,her daughter is in a full time job and can't help as much as she would like to so for 7 weeks she has been kept on a ward along with others in the same situation,I worry if anything seriously wrong happens to either me or hubby would we get the correct care in the correct amount of time at the present time I somehow doubt it.

skwawkbox.org/2018/01/03/no-nhs-crisis-but-trust-sending-children-home-so-adults-can-have-their-beds/

A trust in Surrey, Hunt's patch, is sending children home so adults can have their beds.

There's a 38 degrees petition which already has 35,000+ signatures to stop the crisis by giving the NHS the money they asked for.

bit.ly/2Ckblmo

I think the time is going to come that the NHS and all it offers, will either have to be slimmed down or it cannot be totally free at the point of demand.

The NHS will have to face changes, it cannot continue as it is with so many demands put upon it.We have all agreed this before, it is getting ever worse, though some areas are better than others ( for varying reasons).
Hunt apologised to anyone who didn’t manage to get their ( non emergency) surgery, never known a Health Minister to do that, something at least. Every Winter puts extra strain on hospitals and always has.

It is clear that, apart from the current shameful debacle with the NHS - all health systems in the world, even in the richest countries - are already or heading, for big trouble. It will require huge discussion and debate in all those countries and societies - with an ageing population, and hugely expensive treatments and drugs available for most conditions, and the huge rise in neonatal care, etc- no system will be able to cope- and choices will have to be made.

How can we go forwards - and again, not 'just' talking about NHS - I just do not know- It is a hugely complicated issue, with no easy choices either.

Well for a start the politicians must stop lying. Every time those working on the ground say it is in chaos, we get TM completely denying this.

"........his [Hunt's] thanks [to NHS workers] were echoed by Prime Minister Theresa May, who also denied the health service was in crisis.

"The NHS has been better prepared for this winter than ever before," she added."

It makes you despair. How can they bash blindly on refusing to believe the evidence of everyone else's eyes? It is true of education as well.

What also exasperated me was that Hunt generously offered to suspend fines to hospitals for having mixed sex wards for the next 2 weeks - fines!!! - how does that help? How does that improve the availability of funds for patient care? And the same happens on the railway.

Outsource and fragment = lose accountability and loyalty. This in turn leads to services crumbling.

I am beyond angry about all this.

does anyone know the numbers of people in A and E who waited longer than 4 hours...in England and Wales .I have the Scottish ones

Agree totally- and repeat:

"That’s the standard technique of privatization: defund, make sure things don’t work, people get angry, you hand it over to private capital."

Noam Chomsky,

the technique is very simple, and it works, every time.

Apologies, I do realise there have been a number of discussions about the NHS recently but the discussions on social media/news/ today make me believe this government has to be held to account. I'd be interested to hear if others disagree