NHS in Crisis

"Today" Radio 4 - 12.10.15

Sir Thomas Hughes-Hallet says “the NHS is close to bankruptcy” and therefore there “isn’t a chance” that the government’s plan for 24/7 care will happen. The government says it fundamentally disagrees. Hughes-Hallett wrote a long article for the Mail on Sunday about the NHS, (see link below), saying “morale is low and a culture of fear stalks its wards”. He has put his concerns in letters to the Government and to others in the Health Service.
Sir Thomas Hughes-Hallet is Chairman of the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-3267950/RIP-free-NHS-care-Health-service-supremo-warns-Cameron-patient-charges-inevitable-won-t-inject-billions-sinking-hospitals.html

Sir Thomas thinks that we retirees could free up hospital beds by volunteering to help. I'm sure we could & many do. It's a sticking plaster though. What we really need is an honest discussion about what our taxes can & should realistically buy in the NHS.

Why are taxes paying for free meals in hospital for everyone? We all feed ourselves at home. Why do taxes pay for people who make lifestyle choices, playing sport, for example, & are then injured as a result? Why don't we insist that they take out insurance? If people are injured as a result of getting paralytically drunk, why can't we deduct a contribution to the cost of their healthcare at source from their wages like tax? Just because we can prolong life, should we? Isn't quality of life just as important as actually living? There is nothing wrong with "do not resuscitate" so long as the patient makes the decision. Why are health professionals the state has trained at great expense allowed to leave the NHS whenever they like with no penalty? If they want to leave to go to better paid private companies or abroad within say 5 years, why don't they have to repay the cost of that training before leaving?

We are just bobbing along a tired old road going every whichway, without any proper consultation, communication or thought. Huge amounts of money pours in without cost effective outcomes. Tired vested interests & hierarchies defend their territories. It really has to stop. It won't get better until rational thought & discussion takes place without politics getting a look in.