Typical tory scum at its worst: NHS Direct to be scrapped

Former Member

How does cutting the prison budget give more money to the bankers?

Former Member

Are they ditching the website or just the number?

Former Member

G wrote: »

How does cutting the prison budget give more money to the bankers?

The cuts are to pay the bankers?
Have you been off planet G?

Former Member

G wrote: »

If I phrase it a different way, if you HAD to cut this £100m+ from the budget, what would you sacrifice instead of NHS direct?

Well, given that the tories themselves told us repeteadly the NHS was wasting hundreds of millions if not billions on "managers, bureaucracy and red tape", how about that?

Unless of course the tories have been lying for years and the NHS has exactly the right number of managers and pen pushers.

Former Member

Aladdin wrote: »

There should not be any cuts on health spending. Certainly not on frontline services.

There aren't any cuts in NHS spending. The budget remains the same and we are told it will continue to do so.

That doesn't mean that we currently spend the entire £100bn+ budget effectively or efficiently. So we look at all budgets and say "can get deliver the same outcomes for less", if the answer if "yes" then we have a duty to the taxpayer to deliver that, don't we?

NHS Direct isn't efficiently funded. Many callers don't actually need clinical advice, from a clinician. That is evident from the calls they get.

As an aside (quite a big one), who do you think is running the 111 number?

Yep, NHS Direct.

Well, given that the tories themselves told us repeteadly the NHS was wasting hundreds of millions if not billions on "managers, bureaucracy and red tape", how about that?

They have already announced that Strategic Health Authorities and Primary Care Trusts are to be abolished over the next three years. Most of their responsibilities are going to GPs or to a new body called NHS Commissioning Board. Through that process there will be a [minimum] 48% management reduction.

So, they are hitting the managers.

And please, stop blaming the Tories. The NHS Direct policy was in place under Labour, we were planning this over a year ago (do you really think that they could have got the 111 pathfinder scheme running in two months??) and whilst the abolition of StHA and PCT is new, the 48% reduction was also Labour policy.

G wrote: »

Funding isnt going to get cut, but they need to use the money they have to safeguard against the ageing population.

^^^ this.

We are just reaching the stage where our over 65s population is going into a steep climb. They are the post-war baby boomers. Over 65s use more NHS resources than any other sector of the population, children being second.

In the next five years demand on the NHS is projected to increase by 20%. Or £20bn. Hence why there is this plan to reduce £20bn worth of costs from other areas of the NHS where it isn't being used to it's best advantage.

If I phrase it a different way, if you HAD to cut this £100m+ from the budget, what would you sacrifice instead of NHS direct?

Let me re-phrase the same question.

If you had to save £20bn, what would you sacrifice? In fact, let's start a thread....