Bit more on the NHS (following knitter's recent post on ACOs)

[O2Trees]

Hi all, in case you didn't read that post - healthunlocked.com/blf/post... - ACOs are a major part of NHSEngland's reorganisation of the NHS, known as the Sustainable Transformation Plan (STPs) which aim to save £20-30 billion by 2021 from the already cash-strapped NHS.

I forgot to mention an important part of this highly complex jigsaw, which is the background of the man who heads up the NHSE reorganisation, Simon Stevens. His employment history puts the move towards a U.S. style insurance funded NHS in context as Stevens used to be a manager in the largest health insurance company in the U.S., United Health - this is the experience he is bringing to the STP reorganisation of the NHS.

While this top-down reorganisation is steaming ahead, beds are being cut, doctors and consultants and nurses are leaving the NHS in droves. In addition to already cancelled elective surgery, today there are reports of urgent operations being cancelled - cancer, heart, aneurisms etc - something they said they would never do. theguardian.com/society/201... . Something has to give and if it's not a huge injection of cash into the NHS, then privatisation is likely to be the only option. Unless there is an uprising.

Simon Stevens, his privatisation plan (5 Year Forward view) and STPs need to be everyday conversations. People need to know that there is this guy, not elected, with no mandate, who loves private healthcare, is calling the shots... without their knowledge or consent! And he is supported by Jeremy Hunt who is obviously much better known. The changes are so incremental that we are sleepwalking into a new situation and the NHS as we know it will not be available for our children.

[knitter]

Thanks for the post O2 Trees, I did try to read our local STP online when it came out......a very long, wordy document.

But the introduction of ACO s I only noticed by chance. I am going to contact my MP to see if he can explain matters and why my local hospital trust has been included.

[O2Trees in reply to knitter]

Let us know what you learn knitter - if your STP document was anything like ours, its full of obscure bureaucratic language, designed I think to make it hard to challenge. If your MP is conservative he will no doubt support your area's STP and the reorganisation in general.

[skischool]

It's a frightening scenario O2 and one that you explain with such clarity that only a fool would ignore what's happening,i am officially electing you to sit in on the next 'question time' programme or better still the tonight programme to put it across to a wider audience.........respect from skis and an informed cat xx

[O2Trees in reply to skischool]

Funny you should say that Skis - Rita my partner was on question time and made an intervention on taxation which Russell Brand shared and it's been viewed I think now over a million times. I'll try and find it to post here. She is much more informed than me having had a career in the Dept of Health, Macmillan (she was the person tasked with incorporating their nurses within the NHS in the 80s) and later HIV service planning. I ride on her coat tails and always read anything about the NHS which I write here to her first

facebook.com/RussellBrand/v...

[cofdrop-UK in reply to O2Trees]

I remember when Rita was on Question Time - brilliant.

As an aside Mark Little was on The Wright Stuff this morning. He was on the march and said there were a lot of people there but it wasn’t reported.

Back to Rita. We have a lot to learn from her and we appreciate very much you educating us.

Did you see the ambulance ‘First Responders’ last week. Apparently they are voluntary and have about five weeks training. They were complaining that on occasions they have been expected to discharge patients they attend. Scary.

The normally fit and well, unless they have a special interest in these things will have no idea of the backdoor privatissation which has been and is going on.

I wish I have a way with words as you do, but I am just as angry and concerned.

Thank you 02 for keeping us informed.

Cx

[Carnival567]

One council has already run out of money, how long before every public service is the same. Current politicians try to cut taxes and reduce expenditure, but we as people need to be prepared to pay for our public services. The Government has no money except ours, are we as a nation prepared for higher taxation to pay for it? Sweden has fantastic services, but high taxation, do we want to go down that route? What we need, imo, is a national discussion, perhaps a Royal Commission, to make recommendations. Btw, I have just had my cataract op postponed because the anaesthetist wants to make sure that a change in medication will not make it dangerous for me and so is waiting for the blood test results. I pray we can continue to have an NHS which puts patients before fees.

[andyrrc]

Sorry off the COPD topic but ...... One of the reasons I have been away from the UK for the last 9 years is governments seeming reluctance to support the UK services such as health, schooling, prisons etc.. the UK seems to put more store in supporting other countries than it does in supporting its own people. I recently read we are going to increase overseas aid for schooling - surely we should look to our own before spending money on other people. I feel sorry for those people but when British health etc. Is falling appear due to a lack of money we should fix that first.

Andrew

[O2Trees in reply to andyrrc]

Well you could look at it that way Andy, or you could think about the 1%, the bankers, CEOs, and others with ridiculously inflated salaries and bonuses, and all those who use tax havens, cheating the country of billions. There would be plenty for everyone if that didn't happen. I actually want us to help other countries who are less economically privileged than we are, especially as historically we plundered their countries in the name of colonialism.

[andyrrc in reply to O2Trees]

Totally agree with your thoughts as well. I really want to make everybody in those positions pay what they should, i hope the governments latest clamp downs have an effect. However, my latest reading on the BBC is about a further change from NI to a new tax for the health service and that is going hit the decent working man without changing the things you mention. I have no problem with helping the foreign countries and now that i am in the position to help directly i do as much as i am able, but if you look at the government's of the countries we help or at least the main leaders they are living in the lap of luxury grabbing as much as they can with little thought for the poor of their countries. Very few of the governments take responsibility for their people. Yes I know these are the people right at the top of the tree. Living in Saudi and travelling a lot in underdeveloped countries i get to see the disparity between those that have and those that have not. When these people start giving things will be a lot better for the world as a whole. But in the meantime until we can solve the issues of the 1% and the corruption in a lot of the world surely we should fix that needs fixing in our country.

Sorry for the rant and being outside the forum scope.

[O2Trees in reply to andyrrc]

Well there may be ways to improve where foreign aid ends up - I don't know enough about that and wouldn't argue with you. There certainly is corruption in many countries but I think the tax dodging and back handers that happen here also count as corruption, so we can't afford to feel superior! And the recent World Economic Forum seems designed purely to benefit the rich.

All these things link up so I don't think you are outside the scope of this post.

[andyrrc in reply to O2Trees]

Totally agree with you - the more you have the easier it is to keep most of it. Pity governments cannot close the loopholes. Seeing the way some people live I certainly do not feel superior in a lot of ways because I know I would not survive but they manage with next to nothing.

[Headof]

Seems you know what's happening in the NHS. Nobody else does. Bit of a negative and political post. Poor show.

[Hidden in reply to Headof]

O2Trees is very well informed on the nhs and I respect her opinion. However, this post is 2yrs old. As for politics, we can’t pretend the nhs is separate from political influence or ideology, since it’s the government of the day which decides on funding

[O2Trees in reply to Headof]

I do know what's happening policy wise in the NHS - its no secret either, far greater minds than mine have been campaigning to protect the NHS from damage. And why I was posting it was precisely because most people dont have access to what is being planned because there's very little in the mainstream media.

Not quite sure though why you've unearthed this old post to make an attack on me now. Why would you be angry that Im trying to give info, just because you dont know it? I was not knocking the NHS - which by the way I really love, and which has saved my life more than once - but those who want to privatise and fragment it for their own gain. And it hasn't stopped - but trying both to support it and survive in this current situation where the government has been criminally negligent (see Sunday Times report today) is the main issue right now.