Amendment on sale of NHS to foreign powers voted down

growstuff

I doubt very much if it would be political suicide.

Conservative MP, John Penrose, sits on the advisory board of think tank "1828", which "calls for the NHS to be replaced by an insurance system. Penrose's wife, Dido Harding, was handed the contract for track and trace.

A company called Babylon Health is increasingly creaming off funds from GP practices - great for those who can afford it. An increasing number of private GP practices are being set up in the area and, I'm sure, others.

We're going to be left with a hollowed out NHS, which will be free at the point of delivery, but will deliver almost nothing.

Anybody who can't see what is already happening is wilfully blind.

Absolutely.

Why oh why are people so blind?

Perhaps they are provided for by private health?

Maizie Rather than concentrating on a single issue such as the PPE scandal (which people will refute), I think it's more productive to look at what's been happening over the last few years.

An increasing number of services are not offered by the NHS, but by private companies carrying the NHS logo. People don't even realise that they're not the NHS, but many of them don't offer NHS working conditions, are profit making and are not offering the same level of service as in the past. Many minor procedures, such as ear syringing and podiatry, are no longer provided by the NHS in some areas.

The ambulance service has been privatised and some areas will know what a disaster that's been. And, as I said above, GPs are so overstretched that people who can afford it, are choosing private GPs.

Yes Whitewave I suspect they are.

For example, I need a Vitamin D follow up test, but have had difficulty getting one. I could also do with a Vitamin B12 test. It's not just because of Covid 19 because I've had other blood tests. It's to do with economies.

Somebody I know, who is absolutely loaded, told me without thinking that I could have the tests done privately and cheerfully gave me the contact details of her private GP. They don't think.

Its 3 days now since I emailed my MP about the Amendment and I've not even received an acknowledgement.

And now I can't get a flu jab because the practice is booked up for the foreseeable future, despite sending me a text that it's essential! Gggrrr!

JE you forgot to mention the health tourists during your blaming of everyone but the Tories. Oh, and bogus asylum seekers. Tut tut

Doesn’t everyone agree though that the NHS does need a massive overhaul?

Successive governments have claimed to have put billions more into it than the previous one did yet we all know how much it is struggling with demand , which increases year after year.

We have an ageing population, a growing population due mainly to immigration, and pumping yet more billions in doesn’t seem to be the answer.

Are there too many at the top, too many very highly paid managers?
Who knows, but I think it is widely accepted that it can’t continue much longer in it’s current form.

Maizie Rather than concentrating on a single issue such as the PPE scandal (which people will refute), I think it's more productive to look at what's been happening over the last few years.

It was just an example of how inefficient privatisation can be; one that has had very serious consequences and which is current.

I agree that concentrating on just one aspect is not the whole story. What is interesting is that the creeping privatisation and withdrawal of services has been played on to great effect to blame 'foreigners' for overwhelming the NHS...

Oh, blimey, JE. Where to start?

I'm sure others can deal with all that effectively. I'm out shopping...

If there is just ONE thing worth finding properly it's health.

Isn’t it too early for the flu jab growstuff ?

I did read about plans this year to offer it to those of 55 and over.
That will mean a lot more will need to be produced.

Our surgery doesn’t offer the vaccine until late September at the earliest.

P.S JE. Have another look at my post about the 'economics' of it all. It's not something I'm making up off the top of my head. It's come from economists...

Don’t forget your mask MaizieD !

100% compliance in Waitrose this morning!

Who knows, but I think it is widely accepted that it can’t continue much longer in it’s current form I agree, JE, and changes need to be made, perhaps the administration is too top heavy, perhaps there are abuses, but these factors are not an excuse or reason to start the gradual, slow dismantling of available services. I think your comments about mental health support being available to anyone who thinks they have a problem is rather harsh, and also, as anyone in that position will tell you, myself included, untrue.

JenniferEccles

Isn’t it too early for the flu jab growstuff ?

I did read about plans this year to offer it to those of 55 and over.
That will mean a lot more will need to be produced.

Our surgery doesn’t offer the vaccine until late September at the earliest.

I received a text asking me to make an appointment for the 19 September, saying it was essential because I'm high risk and to take pressure off the NHS.

I phoned the day I received the text and was told the sessions are booked up for all the ones which have been organised.

What's the point of saying they're going to be available for so many people, if people (especially those at high risk) can't get them?

Actually I know the answer to my rhetorical question. It makes the government look good without actually having to do anything.

From the BBC website:

"It wants to ensure the highest risk patients are at the front of the queue when the immunisation programme starts in September."

Hmm!

www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-53515078

growstuff

From the BBC website:

"It wants to ensure the highest risk patients are at the front of the queue when the immunisation programme starts in September."

Hmm!

www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-53515078

I have my flu jab at Boots Chemists, I have had an email asking if I want to use them this year, have registered and awaiting appointment.

(No charge as I am on the vulnerable list)

Thanks for the info. I'll ask Boots. I've been having flu jabs ever since they were introduced at the GP practice. I don't know why they sent me a text with a date, if that session was booked up within hours, as was the next one. They must know how many flu jabs they've administered in the past and be able to plan enough sessions for the most vulnerable people, then calculate how many further sessions will be needed.

Tories sold off : British Aerospace, Cable & Wireless Jaguar, British, British Petroleum, British Airways, British Telecom, Britoil, Rolls Royce, Water & Electricity, British Coal, Powergen, National Rail, Royal Mail, Probation Services - although planning to renationalise at the end of 2020, as the privatisation has been deemed to have put members of the public at risk -Large sectors of Education and The NHS. Privatisation of Britains Police Service is already already underway selling to G4S - a company that is criticised worldwide. I've stopped looking now as it is making me sick to my stomach. All those with the mantra Brexit will make Britain great again, it can't be made GREAT AGAIN because the Tories SOLD IT, and will continue to sell it as long as there is anything left.

sorry the British on its own should have been followed by Steel and I missed British gas.

Wasn't it the distinguished old Tory Rab Butler who was so shocked at the beginning of privatisation under Thatcher that he called "selling off the family silver"?

Since then we have sold off all of the family silver, and the EPNS and the stainless steel cutlery so eventually all we'll have left are the plastic spoons.

varian those plastic spoons will eventually break and the tories will feel justified in calling the general populace 'savages' for eating what little food there is with their hands.

It was a real Grand Old Man of the tory party, varian. Harold Macmillan.

JenniferEccles I don't know if you watched any of the series of Hospital.

It showed how vital managers were within hospitals. They don't just sit at their desks bossing people about. They have to respond quickly to very difficult situations where resources are extremely tight. It is too easy to blame managers and administrative staff but these people are needed - otherwise professional health staff waste their time trying to do things that aren't their job and which take up their valuable time.