I do worry about the junior doctors' strike.
I don't worry that it is the right thing for them to do. It is.
And I don't worry that patient care will be compromised: I do not think it will be, although there will be massive inconvenience.
What worries me is that junior doctors are being provoked into action by a government intent on saying that the NHS is failing and that staff won't work for it and so market solutions that break up any notion of national pay grades must be introduced to ensure that healthcare can be provided by a broken and demoralised profession serving the interests of private capital and not patient need in the future.
And I worry because we know such a model - the US model that people like Jeremy Hunt are known to want - does not work.
How do I know this? The FT reports this morning that:
UnitedHealth, the largest US health insurer, on Thursday dealt a significant blow to President Barack Obama's signature policy by threatening to withdraw from insurance exchanges that have helped sharply reduce the number of Americans without healthcare cover.
Why did it do that?
UnitedHealth said it was struggling to make a profit on the plans it offered through the exchanges, prompting it to scale back marketing of the products and to start a review of whether it should abandon the scheme altogether.
Healthcare for all does not and cannot pay.
And remember, that's even when healthcare in the US is twice the cost of that in the UK.
So the junior doctors are striking for you, for the sake of healthcare for all, and for keeping healthcare costs in the UK under control. It would be great if the mainstream media recognised that fact. But I won't hold my breath.
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Expect lots of stories of individual impacts of the strike if it takes place in the pro-Tory press. It could be that the ‘precariat’ falls for it.
I totally agree with this post.
The privatisation agenda is supported by a conservative/neoliberal playbook which has been developed and refined since the first Thatcher/Reagan attempts in the 1970’s. It is a well trodden and very muddy path on which the captains of capitalism are marching yet again with a whole host of unpleasant weapons of mass destruction in their armory.
1. Under financing an essential public resource has been undertaken since 2010, leading to public dissatisfaction in the service delivered.
2. Creating crisis after crisis is clearly now in play by Hunt/Cameron, putting fear into the minds of the public so they just want a solution (eventually any solution the govt proposes).
3. Undermining the confidence that the public have in the professionals within the industry is all part of the plan.
4. Letting loose market forces into the NHS many years ago (which Blair/Brown stupidly went along with) is like driving a wooden wedge into a solid rock and then letting the winter ice do its dirty work.
Why do the public always seem to fall for it? Because that’s what the playbook is designed to achieve.
Of course health insurance companies American style can make profits with elected surgery, lots of ‘tests’ ,in other words, cherry picking.
Where does that leave the long term multiple health problem sick, I leave you to guess. Not free from worry about how to care for these loved ones that’s for sure, because the most comforting, caring, courageous safety net, there to help us, is unraveling before your very eyes. Don’t let them get away with it without a fight. They use smoke and mirrors and all the tools at there disposal to flannel and fool you.
Lowest costs, better outcomes, from the commonwealth fund report, of course that was before the Infamous Lansley changes took hold.
Someone said the changes were so big you could see them from space.
All healthcare is a quasi-monopoly because people scare easily and want to live forever. It’s consequently ripe for exploitation and corruption and the US healthcare system is one of the worst costing twice as much as the NHS and no better service outcomes in terms of quality of treatment, I’ve experienced both. The principal difference between the two systems is waiting times with much shorter times in the US. If UK governments weren’t monetary illiterate they could spend more on the NHS to reduce waiting times. Here’s one of the principle sources of corruption in the US:-
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2013/07/how-the-ama-engages-in-government-sanctioned-price-fixing.html
Nary a mention of the near 400,000 US deaths due to medical errors: each years
John,
“Nary a mention of the near 400,000 US deaths due to medical errors: each year”
Well, there’s your problem (in a broader sense) – and the issue relates to who will do the mentioning. The Tories are not going to do the opposition’s job for them.
Australia’s Medicare system is comparable to the NHS and it has long been something of a no-go zone for conservatives because it is popular, like the NHS, and the opposition (despite their faults) has done a fairly good job of protecting it.
The horrors, failings and expenses of the US system are well-known in Australia thanks to the efforts of progressive elements among the media, Australians that have lived in the US – and the doctors themselves. Every time the conservative elements make a cautious move toward dabbling with Medicare they are buried under an avalanche of accusations and comparisons with the American system. The US comparison is one the most, if not the most, effective memes that is used in defence of public medicine.
The recent announcement of a ‘review’ of Australian private health insurance has sparked a backlash – with the main reason being the indirect effects that it would have on Medicare. A one minute Google search reveals that responses in both the mainstream and progressive media will usually mention the US comparison. Some will focus on it.
http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/turnbull-government-announces-medicare-services-review-20150927-gjvzrx.html
http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/comment/australia-must-protect-the-foundations-of-its-healthcare-system-20151112-gkxmms.html
http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/oct/28/doctors-warn-against-us-style-system-as-changes-to-health-insurance-signalled
https://newmatilda.com/2015/11/12/while-no-one-pays-attention-turnbull-and-ley-are-gutting-public-health/
At any rate, the lesson here is that, to a some degree, you make your own luck. Some things are tricky for oppositions and civilian advocates. This one should be easy.