Love alone is not enough!

Although I lack a learned and sophisticated understanding of the NHS’s unique operation, I know from using the service there is a lot of waste and in some instances there is also a lack of compassionate care while in others there is an attitude of ‘take it or leave it’. Yes, we all love the NHS, but sometimes love alone is not enough and that’s why something must be done – that’s why something needs to change!

The notion by the left and now some liberals – that the service is a sacred cow that should never be reformed or God forbid, touched by a Tory is nothing but scaremongering nonsense in Labour’s case – as for the LibDems it’s an identity and self assertion exercise. Both are designed solely to appease those whom for years have been deliberately ill informed by both sides.

However, as a user, I expect the NHS to be free at the point of use and it is – efficient and current, and in many areas it is not. Being current and efficient can be tricky, because for some people it means spending more money, and that’s precisely what Labour has done for over a decade. While for most people (efficient and current) means sourcing out the best possible service for the best possible price, even if it meant creating a little healthy competition between providers, and why not, the users deserve the best at the best possible price.

That’s exactly what Andrew Lansley set out to achieve. For over six years all he did is look at how best to bring this much treasured ageing service competently and compassionately into the twenty first century. Not dismantle it but improve and modernize it. However, when it became clear that not everyone has understood his vision and what he’s trying to achieve, he took a pause to further debate and help clarify his idea.

Talking with some doctors I came to discover there is a great deal of distrust amongst those who work in the NHS. Somehow there seems to be a culture of ‘us and them’ mainly between the GPs who refer patients and the specialists who treat those referrals – and its there where the privatization alarm stared.

GPs via their consortiums get to better manage theirs and their patients’ needs directly; part of this management is sourcing out and appointing how and where the best treatments are offered to their patients. The best, in quality, time and of course cost and this can in some occasions mean not provided locally and even done privately. Of courses that will have an adverse effect on some specialist – but instead of rocking the boat why don’t they step up to the plate and offer a competitive alternative!

Because from where I’m standing, we seem to be going around in circles – both the left and liberals might have a minor victory if Lansley’s current proposals get watered down – but in the long run patient care will suffer and sooner or later the HNS and the public will pay the price.