Tony Blair thinks we should pay to go Private, doesn’t he know we already pay tax for NHS

[SparklingDrink]

My title says it all really.
Tony Blair thinks we should pay extra to get Private NHS medical treatment.

Doesn't he know that the majority of people already pay tax through Income Tax, PAYE Tax, and tax on every darn thing we buy already in this country, to pay for the NHS?

You would think he would know that, wouldn’t you

Where did he say that? Seems unlikely…

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/jul/05/tony-blair-urges-expanded-role-for-private-sector-as-nhs-turns-75

This is what he actually said and it's hard to disagree that the NHS need large reform. Otherwise it will cease to exist.

The Blair administration was the largest introducer of elements of privatisation into the NHS

So I'm not surprised he's advocating a return to his policies

It is paying to jump the queue which is in effect what we used to do to get treated quicker thus lining the pockets of the consultants no ?

Nowhere in that interview is he saying we have to pay for private healthcare. He says the NHS should use private providers..which it's doing already.
I have a gynae appointment next month and it's with some private company, booked through my GP.

He’s not saying individuals should pay for private health he’s saying the NHS should utilise private providers to treat patients. Personally, I loathe Anthony Blair, but he’s not wrong in that the NHS needs radical reforms rather than just cash. I can’t see any government ever actually doing it though, highly unpopular with the electorate. He’s also not wrong about the need for implementation of better tech, but this is the NHS, it’s a behemoth, Lord knows how much that would cost - and more importantly - if there are actually any IT providers capable of actually running that particular project, irregardless of the cost.

There are so many problems with the NHS, but a big one is that it is expected to do so much more now than it was ever designed to do, with a population that is older, fatter and sicker than it was in 1948. Costs associated with the NHS are spiralling out of control, it eats up a huge proportion of overall taxation and if we want it to exist in some form or other in the future it must be reformed. I never liked or voted for Tony Blair, but he is a professional politician who knows the issues facing this country better than most, and I don't disagree with a lot of what he says. The NHS isn't working properly in its current form, so changes will need to be made.

Someone else who can’t read or listen properly

He didn’t say that at all

plus the vast majority of the British population never pay in more than they take out of the NHS via general taxation. Unless you earn over £40,000 a year for your entire working life by the time you die you’ll have been a drain, so you don’t pay in enough

He's not saying that but the majority don't pay enough tax to balance out the healthcare they recieve anyway.

The scandal is that billions were put aside by the government to do this very thing, some trusts used the slack in the private sector, others decided it was against their principles, so chose not to. Same with IT. The money is there. Some trusts have updated, some refuse, or are so individualistic, that they refuse to buy off-shelf, and insist they are special and require bespoke solutions. DH has, after 30 years of IT consultancy in the NHS, walked away.

@SparklingDrink

please provide the link to where he says people should pay to go private. Because I can’t see that anywhere in the published article

Now I don’t agree with him on lots of things, but in this case he is right radical reform is needed (such a pity he didn’t have the balls to do it when he was PM and he allowed the decline to continue)

re the health account, it’s called the NHS app, it’s already in place, is full of your information, test results, it just needs expanding on if fitbits etc are to be counted as well. Access to the details held should be automatically be given to all medical staff wherever you are seeking treatment in the country

There is so much waste and inefficiency, procurement contracts which not well negotiated, not value for money, systems and processes ( lack of) add to huge waste md mismanagement so yes we should look at provider providers.

we should also be looking to reduce the snout if ‘free’ things provided- eg paracetamol something like 30p in tescos, yet costs nhs ££ to provide.

snd we need to sort out the obesity crisis which is biggest drain on nhs resiurxe

priple also need to realise that if they earn less than something like 25k ( might be 30k ?) or so then yes they pay but are overall net beneficiaries of the system ( public services) rather than a net contributor

The NHS spent 44% of all state expenditure in the last year (21/22) for which figures are available, up from 27% in 2010. It's not the funding that's the problem. And KnittedCardi's husband has had similar experience of dealing with NHS Trusts as my DH, although in a different sector. Every single Trust's administration feels the need to reinvent the wheel and then gold plates it to secure their fiefdoms.

Tony Blair is right: we have to make choices about what the NHS can be expected to deliver free at the point of care, and what it can't. I don't pretend to have the answers either clinically or management-wise, but I have seen healthcare in other countries and it's much more efficient than it is in the UK. There are a range of models that are neither the USA nor the UK.

The private sector was already embedded within the NHS from the start in the form of GP practices. Then you have dentists and opticians.

Tony Blair thinks….

Let’s see what Tony Blair did. Destroyed this country’s economy by pretending to generate economic growth by orchestrating low skilled mass migration. More people means higher GDP but less GDP per capita and lower standards of living. Created a tax credit dependency culture by subsidizing employers who didn’t want to pay market rate wages. Brought in PFIs destroying the NHS in one fell swoop.

All that before we even mention the war crimes.

@millymollymoomoo to sort out the obesity crisis and reduce the costs to the NHS the government needs to be willing to enforce public health measures. This includes threatening food manufacturers and retailers with legislation to curb the amount of salt in products, stopping 2 for 1 offers on food etc. Also allowing councils to turn down applications from takeaways near schools.

The government is unwilling to do this for various reasons.

The NHS could start sorting out the obesity crisis by looking at the fast food chains operating inside hospitals....

I think we should get primary care insurance and pay for GP appointments. Then referrals to secondary care are paid for by taxation. Also we should just not pay for some things on the NHS - puberty blockers and opposite sex hormones are a hard line for me.

I also think that if we get housing and food a bit more under control so people live in warm dry houses and eat food they cook from scratch, pressure on the NHS will abate somewhat. Although of course the issues of aging population will remain.

I don't think private insurance - it needs to be not for profit insurance and it should be possible for everyone to afford it