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Originally Posted by cashman
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Cashy if things are still free at the point of service does it really matter if there is some commercial enterprise in provision of care?
And of course you are going to say 'YES' there is.
Many hospitals struggle to provide adequate service/ levels of care because of targets brought in by governments...targets which have absolutely nothing to do with clinical care......the kind of care delivered on a 'need' basis.
All governments of every persuasion have meddled with the NHS.....mainly to the detriment of care services.
Circle Health took over the running of Hinchinbrooke Hospital. (and before someone tells me Circle health returned this hospital to NHS status...but not before they had turned around a failing hospital) This was a small run down hospital. The management and the running of this hospital were turned over to people who had medical knowledge...the doctors and nurses.
They were involved in the administration of the hospital and the morale of the nurses improved, the care standards improved, sickness levels went down because the staff were involved in making this a success...and they wanted the best for their community.
The CQC slated this hospital and said it was performing very poorly...this was all a political ploy and the CQC had to back track and gave the hospital good ratings.
Now, I don't know about you,but I want a well run hospital if ever I am in need of medical care...and
I don't care who provides this effectively...if the great leviathan that is the NHS cannot do it safely, but private enterprise can then that is how it has to be.
Over the last two years I have seen a lot of the inside of various hospitals and I can tell you things have not got better. This is not because money has not been spent on the NHS, it is because money is spent on the wrong things...the priorities are wrong.
Until they stop tinkering around at the edges and take real decisive action then things will not change