2013 - End of the NHS

[Kid Dynamite 7167]

http://www.bmj.com/content/346/bmj.f1848

 

I've a feeling Ill end up hating Cameron as much as my dad hates Thatcher.

[Monkeys Fist 43059]

You don't already?

 

Keep up young'un.

[Christmas Tree 4820]

The article blames Labour so not sure why you would hate Cameron?

[Rayvin 5294]

The article blames all of them. The thing I can't quite get is what anyone other than doctors stand to gain from this. I suppose you could make investments into private medical care providers as they begin cleaning up, but surely that's not enough for the country to head down that route. If Labour wanted this as well, what is the reason for it?

 

The interviewee is right, you won't get an efficient market because the consumer will not be in a position where they can know the value of what they're getting. You get told what you need and have to trust that the doctor has your best interests at heart. It's like dentists now - I have a few friends within the profession and the frequently tell me how recommendations for dental surgery are made simply so that they can win a bigger fee and not because the patient needs it.

 

With that said, it's disheartening to know that Sweden and Spain have given up already. I suppose the idea is that the state no longer wants to support this, and that it'll give an injection of life into the private sector somehow. Except that it won't I guess - what we'll get instead is a bunch of cheap foreign doctors being brought over and mass redundancies in the name of profit.

[ChezGiven 0]

http://www.toontastic.net/board/topic/19942-privatise-the-nhs/page__hl__%2Bprivatise+%2Bnhs

 

Whilst I share concerns with current policy, that BMJ interview is a load of polemic with little of no substance. These reforms are just another go at tweaking the purchaser-provider split, the NHS will still purchase your care, providers may be private. However, the commissioning groups retain the power and if providers sacrifice patient care for their own profit then the commissioning groups are still free to purchase services from providers who do not extract value from the system.

 

This is not really about patient choice, it's about resource allocation mechanisms that respond to efficiency incentives. There are huge risks on the proposed set up but with the right regulation there should be a way of ensuring patient outcomes are not sacrificed. The devil is in the detail which is just emerging.

 

Plenty of profit is made by private 'suppliers' to the NHS so the principle of a wholly public system is a myth anyway.

[Kid Dynamite 7167]

The current services have had 60 years to get to where they are. Johnny come latelys coming in and undercutting prices is not going to improve services, hiring randoms left, right and centre to provide a service.

 

I saw a presentation by the ambulance service recently looking at bidding for mental health crisis services, fuck me gently. All I can say is I hope I never become suicidal if they get the contract.