I find the debate on energy tariffs today really interesting, for two reasons.
First, Cameron's suggestion that every energy company should offer their lowest tariff to everyone is fascinating It's a realistic realisation that people don't want choice because they haven't got the time to make choices and very often don't have the information on which to decide, or at least the time to find that information, meaning that most decisions are sub-optimal. In which case the only realistic option is to mandate best options, not choice.
Despite this we have David Miliband still banging on about the New Labour perennial of choice in the Guardian saying:
In a more educated society, people want more power to help themselves.Yet the government's lead clinician for NHS quality and productivity says that we are behind Tonga when it comes to self-management of care by asthma patients!
Actually, people don't want to manage their own asthma care. They want someone to tell them what the best possible asthma care for them is - that's why they go and see experts, precisely because very often they don't and can't know the answers themselves and will make bad choices of they decide without help. In that case, giving direct clear advice is what people want.
I think David Miliband is massively behind the times here. And for once, David Cameron is on the ball.
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Turns out Cam was not on the ball. No surprises there, then. I think he has been told that self-regulation is the rule and govt is not allowed to mandate change by large companies if it might affect the bottom line!
6/10 for effort
0 for delivery
1. Reducing the range of choices so that choice becomes practicable is not the same as getting rid of choice entirely or saying that choosing is a bad idea. The current situation with energy pricing is like Goldilocks and the Thousand Bears, the proposal nearer to Goldilocks and the Three Bears, not Goldilocks and the Bear.
Having the option of porridge that is hot, cold or warm means that pretty much everyone in Goldilocks’ position will find one that is just right. But we’re not all Goldilocks so mandating warm porridge for all is not better.
2. I assume you’re not an asthma sufferer – managing asthma care is about being guided by your GP to the best set of treatments for you. This varies from person to person depending on their lifestyle and the severity of the symptoms. There’s no single right answer for all but the most chronic cases and the best answer can’t be reached without the patient being involved in the decision-making process. If your GP just prescribes you the inhaler she thinks best you’ll probably not get the one that best suits you given the variety of treatments available.
Expert advice is always cooperative working
It’s the sufferers body – and the GP has to listen and respond
But that’s not the asthmatic treating themselves
I want the money to be available so they can listen and respond
Very different from self management – which never happens – as you need prescriptions
Richard: with respect, given your family association with healthcare.
All asthma patients “regulate” their own treatment within the limits of advice and medication given to them.
I have both asthma and copd.
My previous healthcare practitioner (!) reluctantly admitted me to a pulmonary rehabilitation course.
Within the first two weeks the specialists very carefully explained to me that I may like to return to my GP and inform him what the correct medication should be for my long-known conditions.
So, after meeting considerable reluctance to change my “care routine”, I changed GP.
The best “medical” decision I have made.
Not that the previous GP was bad, just under-informed.
This is patient self-help in the extreme, but is not rare with respect to respiratory ailments.
I understand (recently) that the previous GP has himself attended the same PR course and is better for it.
When politicians talk about “self-help” they mean cheaper treatment !!
I know this happens
It is why I want more spent so people get the right advice, not choice of the wrong advice
What people want and need is someone, expert if required, with the right knowledge (to para phrase) at the right time and in the right place. If this means an interior decorator, a teacher or an interested physician then that is who we will choose. Our choice is to be guided by them. A plethora of ‘choices’ just confuses the issue.
I agree
Vast amounts of research now supports that
I don’t know about the asthma example but I certainly want more choice in my treatment. I don’t want to be told I have to see a GP within 0.5 mile of my house and that I can’t go an see a consultant that offer new treatment options because it is out of my area. I have had enough experiences of being told one thing by one doctor and then finding out how wrong they are when I have seen another doctor (unfortunately that has usually been when I have coughed up to go private). For example a mole check on the NHS recently where the first consultant said “I am not very good at this, you will have to come back and see the senior consultant, and then the senior consultant had a 2 second look at the mole that was bothering me and a 1 min glance at my other moles. I then went to a private consultant who spent 30 mins examining every mole under a special scope. The point is that I know the service that I got privately is available on the NHS as I know people who have been to those hospitals, however my GP says he can’t refer me there despite it being 5 miles away. That is the choice I want.
You do want a GP within 0.5 miles of your house
When you’re really ill you might want a visit and the NHS would fail if they all had to travel miles to see anyone and everyone
If you want choices and want taxes that remain reasonable you can have them – you’ve found out how
What I want is first rate for everyone
Choice may not always be an option in that