Bankers' Bonus or Care for the Elderly?



We have just seen a report from the Institute for Fiscal Studies (full report here) which raised the issue of charging for NHS services and even for GP appointments - something that is roundly rejected by all those who wish to defend the NHS as a service available to all no matter what their background or income is. 

All this flows from the constant political dogma we hear that the NHS is 'unaffordable' and 'we can't continue like this'. The NHS has been told to 'save' £20bn - we have never been given robust evidence or reasons for this and they are seen by many as cuts. The £20bn 'efficiency savings' as they are called, were initially instigated under the New Labour government - a policy continued by the coalition. However the real reason for these austerity measures meted out on the NHS are now coming to light.

On the day we were told the country couldn't afford £2bn to care for our elderly when they are at their most vulnerable, we hear that the NHS had actually been in surplus last year. 

Now you would have thought this surplus would be ploughed back into improving patient care or even used to fund social care for our deserved elderly. But no! £1.4bn of the £1.7bn NHS underspend ('cuts') has been sent back to the Treasury to fund the banker induced economic collapse we see around us. So the NHS suffers while the bankers laugh all the way to the errrr.... bank!

This is a truly shocking story that deserves much wider coverage. Maybe it is a story the coalition would prefer not to elaborate on. After all they don't want to upset their friends in the city.

Comments

  1. An excellent piece. Thank you. I worked in the NHS for 40 years and have never been so depressed as now about it's future.
    Please keep writing and showing the people of the UK what's happening. TV news is sadly letting us down and most people get their news from the screen or tabloids, I understand.

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