NHA policy adviser John Lister has written an excellent article about how politicians consistently ignore the popular and evidence-based policies that can fix our NHS. Instead they prefer to “think the unthinkable” and pursue policies that abandon basic values and principles about the NHS. You can read the full version of his article on the Open Democracy website: https://opendemocracy.net/ournhs/john-lister/should-politicians-summer-reading-lists-include-unthinkable-ideas-for-nhs. But here’s an extract where he outlines the ideas that he says should NOT be unthinkable: There are options currently regarded as ‘unthinkable’ which are much more appealing to those who wish to uphold the values and principles of the NHS. Why, for example is it unthinkable to get the big-time scroungers, the bankers and the big multinational corporations and the wealthy to pay the tax they owe? The tax gap is estimated at £120 billion per year. Why is it unthinkable to scrap the costly and wasteful bureaucracy of the competitive market in health care created by the 2012 Health & Social Care Act? Why is it unthinkable to stop putting thousands of contracts out to tender, given that tendering creates a field day for health companies, consultants like McKinsey and PWC, accountants and lawyers – but there’s no evidence it improves services, as even NHS England admits? Why is it unthinkable to force a renegotiation of PFI contracts on the basis of fair value and reclaim some of the money that has been wasted on unaffordable schemes? Why is it unthinkable for Britain to implement a financial transaction tax, as supported by the Germans and French, that even at low levels could raise billions towards public services? Why is it unthinkable to reject the alien political priorities that have gained an unthinking political acceptance and instead defend universality and social solidarity.
Posted on: Tue, 22 Jul 2014 13:37:51 +0000
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