This is a must watch by everyone in the U.K.

[Keith Tindell]

I think the NHS is dear to us all, indeed a large proportion of our membership here , would have been born before the NHS was formed, there is no doubt that all politicians have to be watched so that it remains what it was intended for, so i fully accept the worries that its not going to be developed into private hands. What really gets my goat, is that slime ball Osbourne, who cut millions of pounds from the budgets of all depts, police, fire ,ambulance,NHS etc etc, then having done that for years, he gives us all the two fingered salute, and disappears off to a nice high earning position that he had carefully nurtured while supposedly working for the country, i hope his balls fester, and his fingernails drop off so he cannot scratch them, kt

[Colin McClelland]

The NHS was started in JULY 1948 by the Labor party , Bevin pushed this through parliament.

[Keith at Tregenna]

Not being political but, we would like to keep it.

K.

[happy daze john in oz]

As a colonial now I can se from offshore many of the problems with the NHS.
We all paid into it in one form or another so should be entitled to reasonable care.

But over time and with the rules of EU much of what was there is being misused by many who have not paid a red cent in to it.
Add to this the age and condition of many hospitals, the lack of qualified medical practitioners, the lack of students entering the field of medicine and you have a cocktail for disaster in the NHS.

This has not come about over night, nor can it be fixed any time soon.
It will take money and years of reorganization to get it any where close to being what it should be.

One of the many problems is population and an aging one at that.
With some 70 million persons and about 30% over 60 it is no wonder there are problems.

[John Arton]

One of the biggest financial burdens on the NHS is the amounts it has to pay in the PFI contracts signed with private companies that built new hospitals and schools here in the U.K. PFI is actually a scheme first introduced in Australia and the conservative government of john major introduced it here. It was later enthusiastically championed by labour under Alan Millburn as health minister. Whilst we got a number of nice new shiny hospitals the PFI costs have to come out of those hospitals/schools annual budget. Both major political parties here endorsed PFI as a way forward but as to whether they built into its cost in the budget of those individual places I cannot say.
Rgds
J.A.

[Keith Tindell]

Agree with that John. we have the same problem here on the IOW with PFI and our roads, they had to recently renegotiate with the road contract, kt

[Graham Payne]

The new "Ravensbourne building" built at Lewisham hospital was PFI, built a couple of years ago.
The bloody thing is falling apart, faulty showers, doors hanging off, faulty wiring, broken lifts and big holes in the plasterboard bulkheads plus numerous other minor faults (telephones) etc.
A cheap build to turn a profit. Bad news for the taxpayers, US.

[Tony Taylor]

Graham,
repeat that scenario hundreds of times and you might start to grasp the scale of the problems.
In 2002 I was involved in supplying equipment for buried steam pipes to a new build hospital near me.
The site was a shambles in the scramble to get it built asap.
The pipes were all prepped above ground, but the process was abused by other trades who seemed determined to cause as much hassle as possible. I went to see the site foreman (universally known as the poison dwarf) and was told told to eff off, no discussion, nothing just eff off.
When the trench was ready I again complained about the methods of installation and got the same response.
Forward 12 years and I get a call from the chief architect complaining that our kit had failed and they were going to sue us for over £250k and that figure was rising daily due to the need to hire portable boiler equipment.
When it was pointed out about there was no warranty in place he would not back own and hired a "scientific" consultant who ended agreeing with us it was their own fault, so he shot his own foot off.
They are making so much money it is obscene.
There is another one in Durham, the fit out standards are pathetic, woodwork looks like it was done by 12 year olds, double glazing? I have never seen 6mm gap anywhere else. etc. etc.
It depresses me to see the standards reduced so much and dedicated professional staff having to cope regardless.

[happy daze john in oz]

Yes we have here in Oz the private/public contracts.
Most do work as they are part private and part public owned.
Hospitals we have no problem with building and all very good, unions are very keen to see them right.
On most contracts the unions will fight at times for more pay, better conditions etc.
But with hospitals no such problems.
The new children's hospital here in Melbourne was actually done in record time with no stoppages and well within budget, as was the new Cancer specialist one.

[Keith at Tregenna]

Our PM promised rather than possibly lied.
Waiting now for he evidence / proof.

K.