Patrick Benham-Crosswell has a useful TCW piece on the perennial inadequacy of the NHS.
The Tories’ NHS delusion
I SUSPECT that many readers will have received an email from Steve Barclay (or, more likely, one of his moronic political scribblers) telling us of the government’s plans to restore the NHS to full health following the pandemic. He claims that the government will be ‘investing’ an extra £14.1billion pounds. (Don’t you just love the point one, implying an accuracy of 0.1 per cent in a government forecast?) I for one am underwhelmed.
The whole piece is worth reading as a reminder that the Tories don't have an NHS delusion. They are cynical enough to adopt the politics of delusion, as they are for other issues.
Here’s the reality – the NHS has failed. It may well have been failing before, but it’s definitely failing now on any measure and at every level. Before spending exorbitant sums on rebuilding it, any sensible person would have a look at what went wrong and why. He or she might also ask whether the monolithic organisation created in 1946, more than three-quarters of a century ago, is the right way to deliver healthcare now. Life expectancy, demographics and technologies and treatments have all changed dramatically. While there have been multiple reviews, including one by the current Chancellor during his six years as Health Secretary, none have delivered a viable, successful or affordable model. There’s a reason no other country does public health the way the UK does: they all have more sense. The current generation of politicians are as incapable of bringing the NHS under control as they are of protecting our borders or defending the Realm. Health Secretary Steve Barclay worked as a lawyer in the financial sector having read history at Cambridge and done a five-month gap year Army commission. That’s not a background for getting a grip of an organisation, or even for interrogating a permanent secretary.
I SUSPECT that many readers will have received an email from Steve Barclay (or, more likely, one of his moronic political scribblers) telling us of the government’s plans to restore the NHS to full health following the pandemic. He claims that the government will be ‘investing’ an extra £14.1billion pounds. (Don’t you just love the point one, implying an accuracy of 0.1 per cent in a government forecast?) I for one am underwhelmed.
The whole piece is worth reading as a reminder that the Tories don't have an NHS delusion. They are cynical enough to adopt the politics of delusion, as they are for other issues.
Here’s the reality – the NHS has failed. It may well have been failing before, but it’s definitely failing now on any measure and at every level. Before spending exorbitant sums on rebuilding it, any sensible person would have a look at what went wrong and why. He or she might also ask whether the monolithic organisation created in 1946, more than three-quarters of a century ago, is the right way to deliver healthcare now. Life expectancy, demographics and technologies and treatments have all changed dramatically. While there have been multiple reviews, including one by the current Chancellor during his six years as Health Secretary, none have delivered a viable, successful or affordable model. There’s a reason no other country does public health the way the UK does: they all have more sense. The current generation of politicians are as incapable of bringing the NHS under control as they are of protecting our borders or defending the Realm. Health Secretary Steve Barclay worked as a lawyer in the financial sector having read history at Cambridge and done a five-month gap year Army commission. That’s not a background for getting a grip of an organisation, or even for interrogating a permanent secretary.
6 comments:
I wonder what background would be needed for understanding and then constructively reforming the NHS or other big public sector organisaton. Having worked in one would definitely be an asset, but would also massively increase the risk of the person being so sympathetic that they would simply "go native" and not make the necessary changes.
I remember reading back in the 1970s that the benefits system had become so complicated, there was no one person who knew everything about it. It worked by means of a knowledge-base dispersed among different departments and agencies. I'm sure the NHS is in that category. It's more likely to die and be replaced than it is to be reformed.
Sam - I'm sure you are right, the NHS is more likely to die and be replaced than it is to be reformed. Bits of it seem to be dying such as dentistry and various other bits seem to be drifting towards the private sector. Maybe it will evolve, but it seems very slow.
Dentistry: I remember that the fierce decline started under Blair. But I never understood what the purpose was. Why did Blair hate the dentists (if he did) but lavish absurd amounts on the GPs?
Maybe an adequate answer is "frivolous incompetence".
dearieme - "frivolous incompetence" seems about right for Blair. I read somewhere that he was genuinely surprised when absurd wads of money didn't improve GP services.
Know we know all about the avarice of Blair it is perhaps no surprise that he assumed that others would work all hours to maximise earnings.
That anyone would stop when they had enough for a comfortable life probably completely baffled him. And paying them handsomely would just mean that they reach that comfortable state all the sooner and relax.
That and the fact that everyone doing useful stuff (there is a multitude of the other type at all levels ) finds that working for the NHS is a pain in the coccyx, wading through chest high treacle.
Doonhamer - "they reach that comfortable state all the sooner and relax."
That's it isn't it? They can work part time or work reduced hours and still have a comfortable lifestyle.
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