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This thread explores the crisis the NHS is facing, how the crisis came about, why it has not been fixed and what we should do to fix it.
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There is no question that the NHS is in crisis – the record waiting lists alone are enough to show that.
Now almost 8 million of us are waiting to see a consultant.
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Even Sunak admits it is an issue, which is why he pledged in January 2023 to reduce them…
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… though it is noteworthy that he has since increased them.
(And that most of his other pledges have fared similarly)
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How did this come about?
First note that it was not always this way…
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… and the problem started well before COVID.
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The problem is sustained underfunding.
Whether you look at funding as a % of GDP, in comparison with other countries, or …
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… in terms of the workload the NHS is expected to bear, it is underfunded.
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The government tries to deny this by pointing out that, in cash terms, the NHS now receives a “record amount of money”.
A comment which ignores inflation, the growth in the economy, the ageing of the population and the increasing rates of ill-health in the population.
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If my salary rose at £50 per year from the age of 20, then by now:
a) I would be receiving a “record amount of money”
b) I would be living in poverty.
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They also deny that they have been privatising the NHS claiming that “the NHS is not and never will be for sale.”
But that ignores the three ways they HAVE been busily privatising it – and the damage that has done.
99-percent.org/four-ways-to-p…
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Rather than fix the NHS, the far-right are calling for it to be replaced with a private system and even suggesting some form of insurance-based funding. That would generate far more profit …
westcountryvoices.co.uk/saving-the-uks…
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… but would be ruinous for many UK citizens.
And many would die.
“This is the list of what Laura Marston has sacrificed to keep herself alive: Her car, her furniture, her apartment, her retirement fund, her dog….”
99-percent.org/the-reality-of…
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So what SHOULD we do?
Fix it.
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In July, we launched the Rational Policy-maker’s Guide to the NHS in Parliament …
99-percent.org/parliamentary-…
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The report pointed out that the Conservatives inherited the best healthcare system in the world…
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… and that NHS performance rose steadily from 2001-2010.
The problems came after 2010.
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It debunked the notion that the most cost-effective system in the developed world had mysteriously become unaffordable…
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… and it showed that without a healthy workforce, the UK economy is doomed to fail.
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This sparked a debate in Parliament
22.com/GerryMitchell2…
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And there will soon be an Early Day Motion to encourage policy-makers to act rationally to safeguard the NHS for the generations to come.
edm.parliament.uk/early-day-moti…
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Please write to your MP asking him/her to support the Early Day Motion. All you need to know is your own post-code!
writetothem.com
PS. If you think this is important, please share the thread widely, and take a look at The 99% Organisation and join us.
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