The blame game
So now it is GPs who earn too much who are at fault for the problems faced by the NHS. Or so we are told after the recent attacks on consultants.
The government said it never anticipated doctors would make so much, with critics arguing the pay rise has contributed to health service deficits.
Really? I am sure that I can find evidence to the contrary. Not that Richard Smith is well placed to act as spokesperson.
And speaking of the quality of information, NHS Choices has featured here before.
The Times has a fairly good compilation of items from the professional press with coverage of MRSA in care homes, RFID tracking of surgical instruments, better working environments in the charity sector, a few home truths, the regulation of private prison healthcare facilities and the lack of information about the NHS Supply Chain as well as the new GP patient experience survey.
There are a few accurate comments too on the state of CfH i.e.
“The Government’s National Programme for IT (NPfIT) is, to date, overblown, ill-considered and hinders rather than helps progress. “
and on that security scare
“Bearing in mind the Home Office’s recent bungling track record, it’s easy to see how this could turn into a bureaucratic nightmare,†says a senior figure from the BMA. “We must remember that overseas doctors have been a vital factor in the successful running of the NHS.”
And having been intimately involved with transplants & consent for donation, I am not sure that this proposal will lead to any measurable benefit.
Sir Liam said the wishes of the deceased donor should outweigh those of their relatives but admitted that where the family expressed strong objections it would be difficult to go ahead and harvest the organs.
I would hope that this is effectively what happens anyway & the negative publicity involved from a population that has difficulty understanding the retention of pathology specimens is hardly likely to greatly increase donor numbers.
Is there a case for keeping healthcare out of the purview of local government?
Nicholas Timmins in the FT seems to think so.
This is bizarre. For two decades now both Conservative and Labour ministers have demonstrated that none of them trusts local government an inch. Local authorities have seen their powers in education, planning and much else removed, cribbed or constrained. They have been inspected, performance-managed and capped close to death. And administration after administration has failed to address the issue that really poisons the relationship between central and local government - namely local government finance and its massive over-reliance on central government funding.
Yet ministers who even now believe that local authorities cannot be trusted with big planning decisions somehow seem to believe they could do a good job of commissioning £90bn worth of NHS care.
Hmmm, I will concede his point but the argument that the reform agenda should be pushed forward slightly undermines his appeal. But this is the FT after all.