Oh my, Johnson must be getting desperate. His tactic for holding onto power now seems to be “talking up” his success in managing the pandemic.
Some things to bear in mind as the battle for the narrative continues…
While we can get distracted by the ‘with’ or ‘from’ Covid argument, here is the excess death data…one of the good overall measures for how a nation responded to the pandemic.
Ireland, Germany and France had about half as many excess deaths as the UK.
We averaged between 500 to 1000 extra deaths at home per week, throughout the pandemic.
Note, only a fraction were Covid.
We cancelled a huge number of surgeries.
[2020 data]
And waiting lists are now at an all time record of nearly 6m.
And note the steep increase as Omicron surges and displacing care for millions…and Johnson decided to “persevere”.
Given some so called patriots want a French healthcare system, let’s take a look at it.
🧵
Summary: social insurance with 95% of people taking private healthcare to cover copays. Costs £40bn per year more. Less equitable than NHS, but can turn a profit
1/10
Akin to some other European countries, France uses a social insurance based model predominantly - where employer and employee pay a means-tested insurance premium
but unlike most EU countries the French people pay a surcharge on pretty much everything they access or use
This has led to 95% of the population taking out private insurance.
This is an insurance premium (on top of the social insurance premium) that is in part based on likelihood of needing health care - older people paying more.
Some good policies but overall disappointing and a bit concerning.
A summary thread
1/x
1. There is the title: Build an NHS Fit for the Future
In one way, fair enough. Buildings are outdated and crumbling and IT is hopeless
But, Labour seems oblivious to the fact the NHS leads the world in medical and surgical care. The issue is merely access not tech upgrades.
2. "publicly owned and funded" is meaningless. Even the deranged health system of the U.S. has a publicly funded component - waiting lists are horrendous and access to treatment is very limited.
We want universal access to all available treatments - quite different!
Nuffield Trust reports this week on a massive increase in private provision
More worrying, a massive surge in people using their savings to access care
From the best health system to one of the worst in 14yrs!
Summary 🧵
The amount the NHS pays (this is our tax money) to the private sector has nearly doubled in five years…
From £1.66b to £3.1b
2/9
This is catastrophic for the future of our health system
It’s based on political targets superseding clinical ones - Managers wanting to please whoever the latest Health Sec is versus prioritising clinical needs
Urgent and primary care should be priorities not GE fodder!
3/9
My obligation is to my patients, whoever they are and wherever they live.
But I want to work in the NHS…
Selfishly speaking, I appreciate not having to say no to treatments because a patient can’t afford it..
But…
🧵 1/6
After 14 yrs of Tory rule and a cowed and complicit NHS Leadership, patients are being denied treatment due to lack of resources. It is hard to witness, day in and day out.
The very principal of the NHS - access for all - no longer exists!
2/6
So do I blame any doctor seeking work elsewhere? Absolutely not. Better to survive and help patients than to be broken by a system that makes treating patients harder and harder, in a country increasingly polarised. Staying in the NHS now can be very damaging for staff.
3/6