So Rachel Reeves has solved it all

[MrsRobinsonsHandprints]

Apparently, according to her, all funded, all recovered and public service funding all solved

'all done now' promised not to 'come back again' as everything is fully costed.

Problem is we know we can't trust them.

She hasn't actually though, has she? That's the OPs interpretation.

It will happen. The NHS plan is due for publication in the spring. We all know money alone isn’t enough, that’s why reform is on the table. And it’s why a portion of the money is ringfenced for capital investment.

Capital investment is a waste of money if you cannot staff it. IT is desperately needed after the last expensive fiasco. It’s an antiquated and outdated nhs. We need more than a bit of tweaking and paying union members.

The government agrees with you. The enhanced use of modern tech is part of its plans.

Yes and look what happened last time. Who actually believes the procurement will deliver what is needed? Hardly anyone.

What happened last time was that GP appointments were guaranteed within 48 hours, surgery was carried out a maximum of 18 weeks after diagnosis and most people could access an NHS dentist. There were 2.4 million patients on waiting lists in 2010 and there are over 7 million now. All those figures are from the IFS, incidentally.

https://ifs.org.uk/publications/past-and-future-nhs-waiting-lists-england

I mean with the procurement of IT. It was millions down the drain. A total disaster.

Im not sure I believe waiting lists either. They are politically motivated and manipulated. Probably the same people wanting multiple solutions. We don’t know. Who ever had a GP appt in 48 hours? Around 25 years ago maybe. Dentists have long pulled out from nhs . That’s a 25 year old issue too. Only my DC saw a NHS dentist.

The NHS in South London got hacked recently and it was a massive and prolonged fiasco of not getting blood tests back. Tech can help a bit, but it has to be hacker proof primarily. And data theft proof. In reality, there is no short cut to a doctor with tons of experience building a rapport with a patient and doing an actual examination. The rest is just short cuts. Having iPads and a history to hand and systems that work and communicate with each other as well as high tech scanners makes a difference. But if someone thinks AI will be diagnosing and treating patients any time soon, they are deluded. The whole point is that a doctor knows how to extract the relevant information from a patient. AI won’t be able to do that easily. There is a ton of inference and interpretation etc and a human element to getting a patient to disclose relevant information.

Given the CBI and IoD comments this week Reeves has had a bit of a wake up call

Plus PMI figure

Talk of betrayal and job losses

That can't have been their plan

GP appointments within 48 hours were mandatory, I frequently got one the same day. I also had an NHS dentist until 2013. Given that the waiting list figures come from multiple credible sources, there’s no sensible reason to doubt them. Here’s another credible independent source.

https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/insight-and-analysis/reports/high-performing-nhs-review-progress-1997-2010

You can make all sorts of things mandatory, but it doesn’t mean all comply. That’s fantasy land too!

I give up. You just don’t want to believe things were better 14 years ago, despite all the evidence so there’s absolutely no point in wasting any more time on you.

In fact data from patients showed only 75% saw a GP within 48 hours in 2005. GPs claimed 99% but the methodology made that data wholly unreliable. When these must do targets were in place, patient satisfaction actually fell. Mainly because patients saw any DR. They expected their GP. 20 years on and any GP will do. Any living doctor will probably do! The targets also meant consultation times were cut and many patients were not happy that a possible quicker appointment was not at a convenient time. There’s devil in the detail and GPs rarely offer a service convenient for anyone other than the retired.

The patient satisfaction rating for the NHS overall in 2010 was 70%. It is now 24%. Please stop wasting my time, not to mention yours.

It's pretty obvious that this budget would cause job losses. They have literally made it too expensive for businesses to employ staff. We will see a rise in unemployment and a rise in inflation which will disproportionately hit the least well off.

It's quite scary that neither the Chancellor or the PM could work that out beforehand. I'm surprised RR had the nerve to show her face at the CBI conference.

Now Luton Vauxhall is closing. No car/van manufacturer in the uk is meeting electric car sales targets. Only Chinese imports are. Our manufacturers are being fined for lack of sales so we have job losses. Electric car sales have stalled so manufacturers add to blame. The government has no idea about business. Has any minister ever worked in a senior role in a business?

Actually we have always had a GP appointment the same day until the last couple of years. I'm hopeful that we will again soon.

And we are clinging on to our NHS dentist who sees our whole family.

Gosh @Zonder it’s been dire here. DD in London has had the dreaded “no appointments left” when she rings at 8 in the morning and is 31st in the queue! Day after day. She wrote to her GP for an appointment in the end. Dr wanted to see her to monitor progress - it was impossible. GP got her an appointment though!

That's terrible @TizerorFizz - definitely been tougher the last couple of years here but given the underfunding we expected worse. Here's hoping for improvement in the coming 4 and a half years.

I've been taking a look...so far all lawyers or career politicians. I've not found anyone who has worked in science, engineering, manufacturing industry yet.

This is a problem that affects all political parties to a considerable extent but I'm afraid this government does seem particularly clueless.

I do not like the Tories as a bunch and particularly dislike Bojo and Truss, but Sunak was far more able as regards the economy. We were on an up this summer! We can blame him for calling the election early, but Starmer & Co were handed a good economy in the summer and all their doom and gloom blaming the Tories and their disastrous recent budget has cost us as much as Truss as a country. They are clueless -the economy thrives on positivity and stimulus and they destroyed whatever impetus we had for growth at the beginning of the summer. Their age old blame the Tories cheap mantra took over what is in the best interests of the country and the economy as a whole.

@ErrolTheDragon Your statistic doesn’t surprise me. We had a big bonus in the Blair days in that, although they were not business people, they did understand that business pays tax and employs people.

We have punitive fines per vehicle for lack of sales. Van sales are a huge issue regarding electric vehicles as so many smaller companies cannot afford them. I live in the countryside and never see one! I feel dreadfully sorry for a productive plant like Luton. It seems we have a mantra from the government and fines. No stimulation of the market for our own producers. I thought the Brexit gurus said we would be free from EU rules on support for business? We have little idea how to make evs attractive and currently buyers mostly want Tesla and Chinese cars. What fools are we? Labour will bring 100% ev vehicle sales in by 2030 and what will people be able to buy that they can afford and charge? Not much made here.

Someone on the radio today actually thought we exported batteries!

In the EV issue I just think it's just another example of Labour being unable to think through the secondary impacts of its policies.

Yes you can mandate that x % of car sales must be EV but if people don't want to buy them at a price that is economic to produce them then there is not a lot that the manufacturers can do.

It’s just so elementary. The market for them has dropped considerably due to the actual expense plus lack of infrastructure to actually charge them. We are woefully unprepared with charging points it’s almost comical. We would need vast charging points everywhere. Where are these going to be built?

Plus the government also currently gains from fuel duty.

I was on a conferance call on Monday with senior HR people from large employers in the low-mid skill areas. They will be cutting salary increase budgets and hiring fewer people. Not exactly a win for growth...