From reading this article from the Guardian it appears that the current Tory government is still slyly trying to push through it's NHS cuts and prove it is a system that needs to be privatised. Investment is what is needed and only big business can save us.
I think that is a crock of shit. I think that for all the thoughts you or I may have on Brexit, one of the promises of the leave campaign was more money to the NHS (I know that the figure was debunked almost immediately but still it was part of the reason many people wanted to leave).
People in the UK value the NHS and the services it provides, but free health care comes at a cost. Personally I would rather pay more tax to have a great service that all people can have access to whatever their condition than one where insurance premiums dictate who can get help.
I was informed about the situation from America, so went looking and then found this page from the BBC that highlighted for an American mum to have a baby the cost could be anywhere from $8000 to $100,000. Insurance did cover those bills, but what happens if you can't afford insurance and you start trying to deliver at home with no medical help (I'm not talking about a planned home birth). I have no figures for how often this happens in the US and what mortality rates for parent or child may be and I know I can then be written of as an ill-informed scaremonger but I think playing it down is not the answer either. There is a reason the process evolved from the Victorian state of giving birth to the modern world of hospitals and healthcare. Research into what is good for mother and child has come some way since the start of the "modern" hospital.
While my first child has luckily been in mostly good health other than the odd bout of sickness or a runny nose my second child has been in and out of hospital for a recurring eye infection. We have had MRI's and blood tests and while no answer for the problem has yet been found (obvious relief that there is not some major health issue) it is infuriating that there is no simple answer as to why this is going on.
For me the NHS has had its infuriating waiting times and red tape to try to get people to talk to each other, but the more it happens the more I see that the teams do communicate. They are working together but under conditions where there is not enough staff in place to coordinate a cohesive health plan for my son. It's not that no one cares, every health care professional has been amazing for our family but you start to see first hand how these budget cuts and problems are put on the NHS and it makes it hard for them to actually do their job effectively. For those others who miss this point and just rant and shout about it in an hospital waiting room, you are shouting at the wrong people. I get frustrated waiting, I am not a patient man, but I know it's not me they are targeting it's the fact they are understaffed and doing the best they can to prioritise and see hundreds of children with more severe health problems than my son.
The NHS used to be revered around the world as a shining light of healthcare for the masses, but my in laws who now live in France are in awe of the French system (which is part private, part NHS style system. Where at times they pay but get the money back later) and the speed at which they are seen and treated for the recent health issues they have had. They are convinced the French system is better than where they spent their entire professional career helping people and trying to work to make the NHS as good as everyone expects.
This is not a review of a CD or film. It's a "I guessed I missed that" - The government is trying to remove healthcare for all by cutting provisions to many services and some world renowned names in their field (Great Ormond Street Hospital). This is a call to arms but I don't know how to suggest it change. With no government elected on a strong mandate, and if another election is called where the Conservatives do get the majority May was after, the NHS is on a precipice and dangerously close to falling into oblivion. There will be something that is built out of the ashes, but it won't be what you think it will be, and it sure as heck won't be free.
No comments:
Post a Comment