You cant say like its a reason to treat them so bad.
you are confusing one minute you are sayings they are good then you put something like that
I'm not saying it's a reason to treat them bad..... what I'm saying is that is what makes our NHS so great.
It's made up by a majority of hard working men and women that could earn more money, they could work in better conditions, but they keep on going day in and day out giving their best. If the NHS is so bad, why would they stay? Because it's not that bad. Yes it could be better, but it could be much worse.
I very possibly will go back in to help with the current crisis, but there are other health services around Europe, that you wouldn't get me to set foot in for all the money in the world, because I know at this current time, I'd probably be safer in Syria!
It's all well and good talking about the waste.....but we all know to get a really good health service, even if the wastage was completely stopped, and to pay all the staff what they deserve, would cost massively more than what is currently being spent, and where will that money come from?
I believe the current figures are something like the government receives 130 billion/year from NI contributions, and NHS budget is around the same 134 billion.
In an ideal world, the budget really needs to be 500+ billion, if not more.
There is no political party in this country that could spend enough money.
The only way it could happen is if taxes were increased massively. I personally would have no issue paying more in tax to help fund it, but could I afford my NI to go up by 4-5x? No....like the majority of people in this country.
Until someone comes up with a way to inject hundreds of billions of pounds into the economy each year, then nothing will change. If it were to happen, then it would still be split amongst health/education/social care/defense. The answer to that is either increased tax, or extra borrowing, neither of which is sustainable.
It's come to the fore now because of Coronavirus. But I can guarantee that in 90+ percent of the countries in the world, they're having exactly the same struggles, if not worse.
The lack of PPE is not just affecting the NHS. It makes big headlines on the news, but what do we expect?
In this country, there was a panic buy of toilet rolls. What happened? The shelves were empty. Even now supermarkets have limited supplies.
The same with PPE and ventilators. The whole world (no hyperbole intended) all at once started buying them....so all the stocks disappeared....and everyone is still struggling to supply them.
Some may say that we should have bought them earlier....but we're then back to the toilet roll example. Someone starts buying loads, someone else sees them and also starts buying loads...and it escalates.
Neither can we stockpile equipment just in case, especially medical equipment which would be destroyed once gone past its expiry date.
Of course it would be great to have brand new equipment in every single ward, in every single ambulance. However, if they can keep using older equipment that does the job perfectly well, and that saves them a couple of billion which they can spend on recruiting more staff, great.
I completely agree about the mismanagement and lack of funding....but to be honest, it's not going to change, regardless of who's in power....noone can magically make the money appear....and whoever's in power.....they'll be a politician....so screwed either way.
At the end of the day, I'm proud to say we have the NHS, I'm grateful we have it, because I can't afford to go private, and after seeing health services first hand around the world from the worst in places like Congo, to the best such as in Canada, I can say hand on heart we should be grateful for what we have, because we have a GOOD health service....not the BEST, but a damn good one. And we should be especially proud of the people in the NHS.... because they are there for more than the money....like the ones who are self isolating....they WANT to get back and help...not to get paid, but to HELP.
We are privileged to have a health service with people like that, and they have my utmost respect.
Anyway, I'll sign off from this thread now....I think I've said everything I can and got other stuff to do. Got a clutch to change on the Panda tomorrow, then back with my old ambulance authority next week. I've been furloughed for....who knows how long....so may as well make the most of it.
Stay safe everyone....and look forward to when we can get out and drive our Fiats again. ?