The NHS reforms

Right, time to make a post about the reforms on the NHS and my views on them.

I will say at first, I am in favour of them.

But...

My concern is the funding that the government is to give the NHS.

A lot of people are concerned about the involvement of the private sector in the NHS.  Now, I am aware that the private sector are interested in one thing only.  Profits.  They are not interested in patient care, in providing a service, they are interested in profits.  Now, if those profits are dependent upon patient care and providing a service, then the company will work towards ensuring that patient care is adequate.  The last government used the private sector to cut waiting lists.  It was not a popular idea, and it took money out of the NHS, but it allowed patients to be cared for, and brought waiting lists down.

The sad things, is in 1997, Labour inherited a failing health service.  The conservatives, either intentionally, or not and run the NHS into the ground.  Waiting lists were high and the reforms that they had put into place had failed the NHS again and again.  Not everything failed, but a lot of what they did seemed to ignore the demands that the NHS needed.

Labour solved many (but not all) of the problems.  And they did so by doing something that the Conservatives had not dared to do, they got the private sector involved.  The Conservatives had attempted to bring in choice, Labour expanded on that.  A system called Choose and Book was brought in.  I will admit, I loved the initial idea, then the system seemed to become overly complicated.  Well, I have moved jobs to a different area, and I can see how it can work.  Where I work, it has resulted in patients being seen quicker.  I do not like the fact that the private sector has to be used, but I care about patient care more, and patients are benefitting from these changes in England.  In Wales, where the private sector is not being used, waiting lists are longer. So yes, I have seen how these reforms can work to help patients.

These reforms are not about the privatisation of the NHS.

But, my concerns are if the Conservatives can be trusted to fund the NHS.  They stated before the elections, that there would not be any top down re-organisation of the NHS and then they introduced the biggest re-organisation the NHS has seen.  And they said that funding would be protected.  Then went back on that, increasing spending but not enough to cover inflation with spending falling in real terms.  Then went back on that again, but although funding is to be protected, the NHS is to make £20,000,000,000 in savings.  

David Cameron said that if the NHS was more efficient, and worked in the manner that other European nations did, then we would have the outcomes that they have.  But many of them spend more on health than the UK does!  I agree that the UK can do better with healthoutcomes, but comparing the NHS to nations that spend more per person to get those healthcare outcomes, and then saying that the NHS has to save money just does not make sense!

So in summary, the reforms will make the NHS more efficient, but the NHS needs more money to deliver the healthcare that the people of the UK deserve, more money and reform.  And the Conservatives starved the NHS in the past.  Will they do so again.