I agree that most staff in the NHS do a wonderful job in spite of the constant mud-slinging from the right-wing media, the disruptive and costly top-down reorganisations, and the ridiculous behaviour of some of our private contractors. By "vandalism of the NHS", I mostly mean the backdoor privatisation of services, which, contrary to market-based dogma, actually costs much more money than public services. This, and the absolution of the Secretary of State of his duty to provide a comprehensive health service, were the true reasons for the Health and Social Care Act. The other reforms did not require an act of parliament to enact.70% of NHS contracts in the last quarter of last year went to private contractors - enough to satisfy the WHO definition of a private healthcare system. "NHS" is now a brand. The internal market is estimated to cost the taxpayer between 1 and 10 billion a year, depending on your source. Introduction of the private sector has necessitated an enormous amount of bureaucracy. There is a wealth of information available if you do a google search.On the ground, I can tell you many stories about the damage private contractors are doing. Here is an example: I recently saw a lady in clinic who had been undergoing NHS-funded IVF treatment at a private hospital. They had neglected to tell her after the first cycle that such an approach would be unsuccessful using her own eggs. Instead, they made her undergo two more cycles of useless, taxpayer-funded IVF. Presumably this was to maximise profits. It is negligent not to debrief a patient following each cycle of IVF and explain the reasons for failure. The patient is taking legal action, but it is likely that such practice will continue as long as it is profitable. Meanwhile, her chances of ever falling pregnant with a donor egg are significantly reduced, due to the period of time wasted on pointless, invasive treatment.The NHS is not perfect, but pandering to the health lobby by privatising services is undoubtedly making it worse. The big three parties (not UKIP!) are all guilty. Abolition of the internal market and renationalisation of services would save money that could be spent on badly needed front-line staff.
Adam Gyulai ● 4484d