A quotation from Allyson Pocock in the Sunday Herald. Allyson Pocock is Professor of Public Health Research and Policy at Queen Mary University of London. Although people find this extraordinary and cant believe it, the Health and Social Care Act of 2012 has abolished the NHS in England as a universal service. The NHS is reduced to a funding stream and a logo; increasingly all the services are going to be contracted in the marketplace. It abolished the duty on the Secretary of State for Health to secure and provide comprehensive healthcare; that is a duty that still holds in Scotland, but doesnt hold in England. If the basis for a national health service has changed so markedly in England - if there is no duty to secure and provide universal healthcare - then what will happen is (public) funding can be withdrawn, and private funding will take its place. If you are closing services and reducing them, people only have two choices - to go without care or pay privately. Pollock criticised politicians in Scotland for not taking more of a stance in opposing the act when it was going through Westminster. She added: Scotland is very vulnerable because of what is happening in England - and any reductions in funding for England will translate through the Barnett formula to Scotland.
Posted on: Sun, 31 Aug 2014 12:35:40 +0000
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