How would you fix the NHS?

[PinkFruitbat]

The Government is asking for ideas on how to fix the NHS.

https://change.nhs.uk/en-GB/

What would you do to fix it?

That is endemic throughout the public sector... a new fire door plus fitting and disposal of the old door will be very expensive, so its patched because the budget doesn't allow for a new door.

Same with chucking a shovel full of tarmac into a pothole, they know it will wash out again but they don't have the 1000s required to resurface the area for a permanent fix.

To cost save, they buy cheaper quality tarmac, so they can do more temp pot hole repairs......

Er, why does paying a sub-contracting private company (or even a doctor who practises in the private sector, as do many have always done) to do the work privatise anything? It’s all still owned by the NHS.

I’m not sure that you understand the meaning of ‘privatise’.

No, because these were services provided solely by the NHS, then moved across into a private company, taking the former NHS staff across too, in order to keep the service running.

Thats the very definition of "privatisation" and you know it too.

& Livewell is not owned by the NHS.

No it isn’t. Privatisation is ownership of the service or asset. It’s not being a contractor.

When Labour nationalises the railways it’s not going to make the trains itself; the tracks will be made by private steel mills; there will still be catering suppliers; and so on. Will rail still be in private ownership? If so, you’d better tell the government.

There are very very few people alive who have living memory of pre-war Britain, they are not who benefited from the property boom. We all know those born '45-65 have absolutely had blessed lives, born at the inception of the NHS, affordable housing, stable employment, consitently improving standard of living.

I get really riled up when people talk about the war generation as if the old soldiers are alive now. They're not! If you were born in 1939 you would be 85 now. There is no (pre)war generation left anymore.

Yeah, rationing, rickets, polio, national service, post-war prefabs, the joys abound.

The standard of living has improved for every generation against the last. Financially, the assets held by the ‘blessed’ boomers will pass down. Then the inheriting generation will be whinged at by their children and grandchildren.

Lost my DGM this year aged 96. She was average aged the care home. One is 104.

The last veterans of WW1 died 93 years after WW1 finished. With the life expectancy increasing, it would not surprise me that someone who fought in WW2 lives until 100 years after the war finished - ie 2045, another 21 years. This is probably someone who turned 18 in 1945 (born 1927) and saw a couple of months of fighting.

You re in the wrong and you know it, making yourself look foolish by digging in.

Services previously owned and provided by the NHS, "sold off" into a private company, is privatisation.

Caring on arguing with yourself.

No, I’m in the right. You’re just spouting slogans.

The NHS should stop being worshipped. We should keep universality but adopt a more European social insurance model.

Rickets in those born post war ? Polio was vaccinated against from 1955 in 1961 there were only 161 cases worldwide. Yes if you were born at the beging of this period and v. unlucky you might have caught it, but most were vaccinated at school. Again rationing ceased in 1954 when the oldest of this age group were 8 or 9.

Living standards in the UK are falling and have been since 2008.

Wouldn't that just be another "tax" ? with another layer of administration on top...

European countries spend more per head of population on health than we do, having done so for decades, so until that fundamental difference is addressed, healthcare in the UK will continue to lag.

Okey dokey. How about measles, mumps, rubella and whooping cough? AIDS?

It’s not true that living standards have fallen since 2008. More to the point, every major indicator has been improving over time since 1945, the time you chose as a starting point.

Vets and Private hospitals buy the equipment and have service plans but NHS hospitals rent equipment and upgrade when new are available

DH is one of 4 people employed to cover the UK by an overseas worldwide company who do this for the NHS.

He says he would rather be operated on in the NHS because the equipment is always latest model and stay at private because they are cleaner and more hygienic.

He also said ideally it would all happen at a private Vet because they score highest for equipment and cleanliness

I am humbled by all of your wonderful comments, insights, and ideas.

These systems are more efficient. Some competition and choice is good. And people should be made to pay out of pocket for certain bits of healthcare.

By all means spend more.

It's been like that since the inception of the NHS. Most GPs have always been "private" businesses. Likewise most opticians and dentists offering NHS services. And pharmacies.

If you build a new hospital, you don't expect the builders to be employed directly by the NHS do you??

No more than Blair/Browns "extra" percentage on NIC to "save the NHS". It doesn't have to need a completely new set of rules. Just add a percentage point or two to income tax rates, or council tax, or VAT, or whatever, but ring-fence the amount generated to go straight to the NHS. (If that's the answer which I highly doubt!). After all, Brown/Blairs extra NIC didn't "save" the NHS it all - the money was just wasted on poor decision making.

Real household incomes have been falling for everyone
Household incomes have been flat since the 2008 financial crisis, growing by less than 0.5% per year between 2007/08 and 2022/23.

From this:
https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/how-have-living-standards-changed-since-2020/#:~:text=Real%20household%20incomes%20have%20been,%2F08%20and%202022%2F23.

Of course the one group whose living standards and income have continued to rise in real terms over this periods over the over 65s.

The NHS operates on a commissioning model, it buys in services through the use of very rigid contracts.

Which means if the average has been flat some people's income has been reducing.

Is this helpful to anyone ? NHS has been under funded for 14 years, both in capital spending and wages.

Another source

https://ifs.org.uk/news/past-15-years-have-been-worst-income-growth-generations

Not sure what you mean about measles, I had measles aged 1 in 1977, children still get measles now ( Andrew Wakefield, remember him?). AIDS- well pandemics happen (as we know) 1919, 'flu ? SARS , COVID not sure this was very unique to the post war generation.