@wesstreeting Hi Wes! You forgot a big part of the team - your advisors! I’m sure that was inadvertent, so let me fill it in for you! First, there’s Paul Corrigan, who advocated private companies taking over NHS hospitals…
@wesstreeting Then there’s Alan Milburn, a long time believe in private companies competing with more “businesslike” NHS units, & negotiated the big private sector “concordat” to facilitate that, & has since made a fair bit from consultancy in this arena…
@wesstreeting Not forgetting Lord Darzi, who fronted your previous scheme to turn much GP work over to privately-run “polyclinics”
@wesstreeting Sigh
@wesstreeting “And this time, there’s no Gordon Brown to stop them”, says the Telegraph, appreciatively….
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Starmer’s NHS “enforcer” to be Alan Milburn? Late of Bridgepoint Capital / Care UK, and of privatisers-in-chief PWC? Architect of Blair’s worst, most corporate-friendly, most money-wasting and frankly dangerous NHS ideas? That Alan Milburn? Oh God. opendemocracy.net/en/ournhs/milb…
(V good more recent article by @SolHughesWriter here… I forgot his connection with (US privatising health conglomerate) Centene’s parent company ))morningstaronline.co.uk/article/f/alan…
There *is* a case for individual pharmacists having a bit more freedom to prescribe but it's no replacement for an adequately staffed NHS GP service - & given how corporate the Pharmacist sector now is, & how much NHS cash they already get for flu jabs etc, I do worry.
Fortunately I ignored the Superdrug Pharmacist and went to the local minor injuries and illness unit - it being a weekend - who diagnosed me quickly and easily ("classic shingles", they said) & prescribed the antivirals (that only help if taken early enough). BUT now that MIIU/..
Even the more innocuous-sounding ones. Eg, pushing Fitbit type tracker / wearable devices etc - which don’t help the unfit, in fact evidence shows discouragement, not to mention eating disorder exacerbation - but they do create a lot of “worried well” work for GPs.
Then there’s the suggestion that directing people to the private sector more can somehow help the NHS. Anyone who is witnessing the total collapse of NHS dentistry can tell you where this one ends up going. Funnily enough, a two tier service just means the bottom tier rots.