To worry the new health minister Sajid Javid will privatise the NHS…

[Ijustknowitstimetogo]

But not before running it into the ground?

He’s reassigning from his position at US bank JP Morgan where he earns £150k as an advisor.

JP Morgan say they "see the opportunities that lie ahead" for private healthcare.

He’s already making promises that we will never return to Coronavirus rules. Shouldn’t that be decided by any future epidemiology and health service data? Not just an empty promise based on finance only.

Not looking good, is it?

I’ve got a very bad feeling about this appointment :(

His whole brand is extremely pro-business, he’s obsessed with it and doesn’t understand the NHS at all.

Also, I watched his performance on TV when he was debating the other leadership candidates and he was painful to watch, looked like a teenager had wandered in.

He shouldn’t be in charge of the NHS.

Who do you think it was who introduced PFI to the NHS - some dastardly Tory Minister - no it was war criminal Blair.

If you seriously think the Tories are going to sell off the NHS they've been in power long enough so why haven't they already done it?

What the NHS needs is a major overhaul due to the massive waste of money that occurs on a daily basis.

I don’t disagree, he will

But, these Tory cunts have been doing since 2010, and even Blair and Brown started on the road to privatisation

The nhs in England has been ran into the ground

The nhs in England has been ran into the ground

I agree we should follow the Nordic/EU model.

@Crankley

Yes it hasn’t been completely sold off, but in England especially it is being gradually privatised.

In many hospitals domestics/cleaners and porters are no longer nhs employees. Many services are outsourced, equipment, mattresses, beds etc all provided by for profit organisations. In England so many community services have been outsourced - sexual health, district nursing to name a few. Walk in / urgent care centres / prison healthcare. You only have to look to Scotland where these are nhs provided services to see how far the privatisation has crept.

I’m a nurse, I’ve worked in England and recently moved to Scotland

Who do you think it was who introduced PFI to the NHS - some dastardly Tory Minister - no it was war criminal Blair.

It was Major actually. There’s more fiction on this thread than in a library.

@Justanotherlurker

I actually work with nurses from Norway, as well as Finland and Sweden. (They are excellent)

It’s very interesting to hear them speak of their home nations healthcare system, they do say that it may not be a cure all.

Healthcare systems are very organic and have developed over time, and whilst I do think other countries manage very well and have things we can learn from, the nhs, in its true form still has a place in my heart, and I hope we can get it back. Probably delusional I know 😆

Scotland, although not perfect, is a kinder place to work as a band 5 nurse, and is far less privatised. It gives me hope

It was Major actually. There’s more fiction on this thread than in a library.

Major introduced, Blair ramped it up, the blame lies across parties, treating the NHS as some sacred cow is why the age old '24 hours to save the NHS' has been a thing labour run since the mid 80's and some who lack critical thinking still repost facebook memes.

The real fiction on this thread is the OP and those who agree.

@Skysblue

I’ve got a very bad feeling about this appointment :(

His whole brand is extremely pro-business, he’s obsessed with it and doesn’t understand the NHS at all.

Also, I watched his performance on TV when he was debating the other leadership candidates and he was painful to watch, looked like a teenager had wandered in.

He shouldn’t be in charge of the NHS.

Actually, he isn't in charge of the NHS. Simon Stevens is.

Responsibilities. The Secretary of State is responsible for the work of the Department of Health and Social Care, including: overall financial control and oversight of NHS delivery and performance. oversight of social care policy.

In Wales the private sector was appropriated by the NHS at the start of covid. They didn't utilise it well staff twiddling their thumbs for a year bar cancer treatment.

There's room for both. When health board has come unstuck here they've paid the private sector to do routine surgery.

I read his Wiki page and was quite impressed by him - he certainly has achieved a lot through his own hard work, his background was quite humble compared to most other tories. I was also amazed at the fact that all of his brothers were also very successful in their chosen fields - they are obviously a very bright, driven family (a phrase which seems apt, as their father was a bus driver).

I think it would be a mistake to write him off as being a wealthy banker type who has no soul - he seems to have much more about him than that. Maybe he does have plans to privatise the NHS, but perhaps that is the way to streamline it and bring it into the 21st century? The idea of a hybrid NHS seems a reasonable one, but I don't know enough about the finance side to judge that. SJ is very hot on finances, so hopefully he has more idea than most about the way this could work.

People always fear that the Tories will privatise the NHS

But it's Labour who bring it in the measures that fling it wide open.

Personally, I would like us to move towards a system like the French system.

In particular, I dislike our current system of the GP being the gatekeeper to healthcare. Women in particular would benefit from a system where they can go directly to an OBGYN for all their reproductive healthcare needs.

It always amuses me when people say we should have the Nordic model.

In Norway you pay to see a GP. Can you imagine the outrage if that was introduced here?

PFI PRIVATE finance initiatives- masses under the Labour government.

The NHS is something like the 5th biggest employer In The WORLD.

Does it really need to be that big?

It's been under threat from privatisation for decades... I and everyone else are still waiting. The NHS as it stands is institutionalised mediocrity, some degree of privatisation is going to be needed sooner rather than later, but anytime anyone even mentions it, people wank themselves into a frenzy about it instantly turning into a US insurance based system, as if there is no in between that currently operates elsewhere in the world.

I’m yet to meet a doctor, or even anyone else with a good knowledge of healthcare, opposed to privatisation.

This weird fetishisation of the nhs amongst people who don’t know what they’re talking about has massively set British healthcare back.

I think the NHS needs to be privatised to a degree, if we want to keep the same facilities, services etc

The problem is overpopulation and an out of control number of people needing to access the service.

It doesn't need to be privatised if well managed and funded

The NHS needs major reform, copying one of the European models is the way to go. I find this weird adoration for a shabby health service pathetic. It’s such a clinging on to the past, British is best attitude. The fact that the public is constantly being told they need to protect the NHS instead of the other way round, the continual moaning about the terrible pressures it’s under, well change it then ffs!

This weird fetishisation of the nhs amongst people who don’t know what they’re talking about has massively set British healthcare back

Do you know how it works in the US, where a mere blood test can cost in excess of 200 usd? We don't need that

We need more people employed, paying taxes and in a position to fund a good service. Less overpopulation

@Theluggage15

The NHS needs major reform, copying one of the European models is the way to go. I find this weird adoration for a shabby health service pathetic. It’s such a clinging on to the past, British is best attitude. The fact that the public is constantly being told they need to protect the NHS instead of the other way round, the continual moaning about the terrible pressures it’s under, well change it then ffs!

And why does it need reform? Does it really?

Or does it just need to be funded properly.
I used to work in a local authority which had been starved of funds and quelle surprise, staff was were exhausted, run ragged after over ten years of being asked to make savings every few months.
Funnily enough; it didn’t make things more efficient.

Give the right level of funding and actually listen to the staff who work there to make the right changes. I bet things would improve no end.

Instead, people think we need reform - it costs money to make changes.

a shabby health service pathetic

It's not shabby

We need more people employed, paying taxes and in a position to fund a good service. Less overpopulation

I disagree.

The biggest problems for the nhs are: ageing population living longer with chronic expensive to treat conditions and obesity which triggers terrible health conditions.

This is made worse by an economy where the wealth sits in the hands of a minority. You can only tax them so far, when they hold funds offshore.

If you distributed wealth more fairly, there would be enough money for everyone to spend; more spend = tax revenues.

People work and work hard. That isn’t the issue. The issue is they don’t get paid enough.

We know there isn’t a magic money tree. The supply of money is finite. That’s why it’s a problem when you have a few individuals sitting on piles of billions - it’s less for everyone else.

The problem is businesses are not about caring for the vulnerable
@Winkywonkydonkey neither is the public sector.

@DdraigGoch

The problem is businesses are not about caring for the vulnerable *@Winkywonkydonkey* neither is the public sector.

That’s not my experience.

@BraveBraveMouse

Personally, I would like us to move towards a system like the French system.

In particular, I dislike our current system of the GP being the gatekeeper to healthcare. Women in particular would benefit from a system where they can go directly to an OBGYN for all their reproductive healthcare needs.

I agree. Children would also benefit from easier access to paediatricians.