NHS at 75: Health secretary refuses to accept Conservative austerity cuts contributed to health service’s woes

16 comments

1. He can refuse to accept that gravity causes apples to fall as well.

   Unfortunately, reality does not require his acceptance and will carry on regardless.

   What a wankstain of a human.

2. > blaming an ageing population, rising costs and the pandemic instead

   It’s fair to say that those are contributing factors, but they cannot be “blamed” as these factors should be managed effectively by the government in power, and they’ve not been managed as well as they should have been in recent years.

3. I was admitted into hospital in the very early days of the pandemic – right as the country entered into lockdown. It was, put simply, fucking terrifying. But also astonishing to witness. A service already bucking under the strain of an aging population with ever more complex needs, and cuts to funding, rising to the challenge of an unprecedented medical emergency. I spoke to a nurse who told me she’d had to have a conversation with her partner about him and their child going to live with a relative – such was the worry she’d get infected and possibly infect them.

   95% of people would likely say “fuck that” to working under those conditions and would stay home. Stay safe. Yet they continued to come into work, not knowing quite literally if it would expose them to a disease we knew very little about – not knowing what infection would do to them. My issue was eventually patched up and I was able to go back home and continue on.

   Last week I spent a week in hospital following an emergency admission which resulted in surgery. I still can’t quite comprehend some of the things I witnessed. The decimation of the NHS is plain to see – the previous buckling has rapidly turning into a full-on collapse. I had another conversation, this time with a different nurse, about the state of things and she gave the service a maximum of 20 years before it becomes a “service of last resort”, with people mostly having routine / non-complex medical issues dealt with privately.

   Today the NHS turns 75. As a coin collector I know the Royal Mint recently released a commemorative 50p to mark the event. It’s adorned with phrases that “reflect our appreciation for the NHS”.

   Sadly, I very much doubt there’ll be one released to mark the centenary.

4. We spend more per capita than most yet we receive less in outcomes, why is that ?

5. Just because you call a square a circle doesnt mean it wasn’t always a square

6. Sticks fingers in ears – Lalala, not listening.

   Is the only response they have.

7. Let me guess, it was the previous government’s/covid’s/remainers’ fault.

8. NHS spending was protected in real terms. It hasn’t had austerity.

9. The nhs wouldn’t be in as much of a mess if we stopped allowing people to use that have never contributed towards it.

10. They really live in a different world. Why are we unable to hold these people to a better standard?

11. Said health secretary is a twat who doesn’t seem able to accept reality.

12. What’s that Blackadder quote? “If nothing else, a total pigheaded unwillingness to look facts in the face will see us through?”

13. Just because the government have cut funding for the nhs and overseen real term pay cuts for nhs staff while still looking for ways to sell stuff off and make their cronies profits at the expense of the rest of us, they should in no way face any consequences

14. Health outcomes have got worse under the Tories. Like it or not, whatever the Tories have done to the NHS has not helped it all. No one else is responsible for its management, no one has been for thirteen years. So if austerity was not the problem, what aspect of Tory governance was?

15. Get fucked cuuuuuunt!
    *Helps if read in an Australian accent*

16. If there is no correlation between funding and performance, then it’s time for economies in the political sector. I propose:

    50% reduction of number of MPs and Lords.

    No pay or expenses for Lords.

    MPs start their careers at Band 5 of the Agenda for Change scheme (£31163) and get yearly increments, ministers can have Band 6.

    MPs no longer get fully paid expenses – only tax relief.

    Since pay rises, adequate working conditions and resources aren’t necessary for the Health Service then of course MPs don’t need them either. Oh struggling to recruit enough qualified MPs are we? No worries, we’ll bang some pots and pans for you, that’ll sort you for a few years!