Panorama last night
in [UK Diabetes]
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From: DaveT on 8 Jul 2008 11:08 Did anyone see Panorama last night? They were on about the private run surgeries. I think my feelings on the subject were right this, could be the end for the NHS as we open the doors to have the American big 4 to run it. So I guess even the shareholders will not be British. It will be a waste of tax payers money. If you missed it, it is worth looking out for a repeat if they have one. -- DaveT T1 Basal Beef Lente Bolus Humalog as required.
From: Trinkwasser on 8 Jul 2008 12:39 On 8 Jul 2008 15:08:13 GMT, DaveT <justask(a)private.org> wrote: >Did anyone see Panorama last night? They were on about the private run >surgeries. I think my feelings on the subject were right this, could be >the end for the NHS as we open the doors to have the American big 4 to >run it. So I guess even the shareholders will not be British. It will be >a waste of tax payers money. >If you missed it, it is worth looking out for a repeat if they have one. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/panorama/7487267.stm Yes saw it, scary eh? What I would have liked to know is, back when there were cottage hospitals which served the local population, they (and many mental hospitals where we used to live) were closed down and sold off for luxury executive housing (where did the money go???) and hospitals became hyper-massive places miles apart, what exactly has changed between then and now where they are talking about opening Polyclinics - which surely are cottage hospitals in all but name? You can kiss your test strips goodbye (yes even you Type 1s) when the Yank HMOs move in and dissect the remains of the NHS. Remember Guy, each time he needs a 911 run it costs him a grand. You have a heart attack and putting in a stent costs �30 000. You have a Personal Budget. When it is exceeded what happens, goodbye insulin? No however hard I try I can see no good coming from this, it'll be the worst of the NHS and the worst of Private Medicine combined.
From: Andy Hall on 8 Jul 2008 16:57 On 2008-07-08 16:08:13 +0100, DaveT <justask(a)private.org> said: > Did anyone see Panorama last night? They were on about the private run > surgeries. I think my feelings on the subject were right this, could be > the end for the NHS as we open the doors to have the American big 4 to > run it. So I guess even the shareholders will not be British. It will be > a waste of tax payers money. > If you missed it, it is worth looking out for a repeat if they have one. No I didn't see this. However, I do think that the NHS in its current form or in any form on the scale and modus operandi that it has is untenable in the medium to long term. Governments should only be in the distribution of funds to ensure that healthcare to a minimum standard is available for all who are entitled to it. They don't need to be involved in delivery of services. In terms of shareholders, it's largely irrelevant. Unless one chooses to invest in specific stocks or markets, many personal investments in terms of pension schemes and the like have U.S. stocks in their portfolios anyway. The actual wasters of the taxpayers funds are the large number of non productive public sector employees in NHS management and administration. Unfortunately, many are probably unemployable in the real world so would otherwise be consuming tax payers money even less productively.
From: Andy Hall on 8 Jul 2008 17:14 On 2008-07-08 17:39:28 +0100, Trinkwasser <spam(a)devnull.com.invalid> said: > On 8 Jul 2008 15:08:13 GMT, DaveT <justask(a)private.org> wrote: > >> Did anyone see Panorama last night? They were on about the private run >> surgeries. I think my feelings on the subject were right this, could be >> the end for the NHS as we open the doors to have the American big 4 to >> run it. So I guess even the shareholders will not be British. It will be >> a waste of tax payers money. >> If you missed it, it is worth looking out for a repeat if they have one. > > http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/panorama/7487267.stm > > Yes saw it, scary eh? > > What I would have liked to know is, back when there were cottage > hospitals which served the local population, they (and many mental > hospitals where we used to live) were closed down and sold off for > luxury executive housing (where did the money go???) and hospitals > became hyper-massive places miles apart, what exactly has changed > between then and now where they are talking about opening Polyclinics > - which surely are cottage hospitals in all but name? > > You can kiss your test strips goodbye (yes even you Type 1s) when the > Yank HMOs move in and dissect the remains of the NHS. Remember Guy, > each time he needs a 911 run it costs him a grand. You have a heart > attack and putting in a stent costs �30 000. You have a Personal > Budget. When it is exceeded what happens, goodbye insulin? > > No however hard I try I can see no good coming from this, it'll be the > worst of the NHS and the worst of Private Medicine combined. Hopefully the NHS will diminish in terms of actual delivery of services, because governments are not good at this - it is way too administratively heavy. All that is required is a means of distribution of funds from central taxation to ensure that everyone who is entitled to government paid healthcare can get it. This doesn't mean going to a U.S. system where there are sections of the population without cover, or who choose to spend their money otherwise. Earmarked funding is important so that a basic level of care is available to all. Unfortunately the NHS has created a culture where many patients say to the state, in the form of the GP, "What are you going to do to fix my illness" as though it's their God given right. This coupled with an expectation of getting a little white pill to pop every day and not altering lifestyle. This is not a good trend and the NHS is not really doing much other than to tell people to be grateful for anything they get. It's a very bad downside to an arrangement where the government takes money though general taxation and doles it out for healthcare via a very nebulous route such that people don't connect the financial cost with the personal behaviour. I think that a personal budget and individual responsibility in healthcare would be two very good things. This does not mean that essential treatments cease to be available but should be part of a principle that says that the state will provide essential needs and a good standard of basic healthcare, but also allows individuals to supplement it should they wish to spend their money on healthcare rather than other things. Certainly the patient should be empowered to be more involved in decision making around personal treatment. In that respect, QALYs and other systems run by clueless public sector bureaucrats should be superceded.
From: DaveT on 8 Jul 2008 20:16
On Tue, 08 Jul 2008 21:57:54 +0100, Andy Hall wrote: > On 2008-07-08 16:08:13 +0100, DaveT <justask(a)private.org> said: > snip > > The actual wasters of the taxpayers funds are the large number of non > productive public sector employees in NHS management and administration. > Unfortunately, many are probably unemployable in the real world so > would otherwise be consuming tax payers money even less productively. The proper job title they have is the PCTs. The NHS has no management now, in the way you are talking about. Wait till these 4 major companies get their feet under the table. They already are involved in advising how the contracts should be awarded and it was admitted they could give the contracts to themselves. One of the four companies is due in court in America and has already lost a case or two. These are not claims about neglect or dodgy services to patient but are cases brought by different states about their behaviour with funds and insurance lapses. Rip off Britain again! Should have said England because only we are to be honoured with this setup. It will be nothing like what I understand you are expecting. -- DaveT T1 Basal Beef Lente Bolus Humalog as required. |