Keir Starmer says UK’s NHS needs to ‘reform or die’

Source: Red_Franklin

36 Comments

  1. I hope their “reform” doesn’t involve more “partnerships” with the private sector. Profits don’t belong anywhere near healthcare.

  2. It’s the same issue as most of the developed world; cuts to healthcare are political suicide but this has been a known time bomb for 30 years in the making.

  3. TheMightyBoagrius on

    I agree with him that it needs change but it needs to pay employees appropriately and invest in training within the organisation instead of paying private contractors. Same goes for the civil service

  4. It needs reforming, but good reforming. Actually being a beneficial service to the public and staff

  5. ModePsychological362 on

    Vote me in and I’ll cut it all. Less welfare from gov, more taxes for gov. I’m a real man of the people(affluent ofc)

  6. If someone lurking here has a more concrete knowledge about NHS could send me a DM, I would really appreciate it.

  7. Thinly veiled attempt to disguise privatisation of UK’s health service. Brits don’t agree on a lot of things, but they do all take pride in the NHS. Let’s see how this government tries to dismantle a national treasure.

  8. British people are just weird about the NHS. In our minds there’s either all public sector or the USA mess. No other healthcare systems exist that we could model ourselves after. Nope. None.

  9. You COULD decrease the huge amount of people coming in every year. Or ya know, you could just keep doing mental gymnastics trying to find another reason why it’s failing.

  10. The Darzi report says we need to invest more in digital services, embrace new technology, put more capital investment on infrastructure and more people need to be treated in the community rather than hospitals. People also need to live healthier lives, to keep them out of hospital (because hospital treatment is very expensive).

  11. I like their idea, it’s tough to reform but moving stuff into the digital age is essential. Using AI to monitor standard tests and spotting trends in health data will release lots of human work hours. Supporting people In the community to better look after themselves, through better diets, exercise and mental health support will reduce the burden on the services. Problem will be the scale of investment to do anything meaningful will be huge, it’ll be like someone using wooden oars to propel a cruise liner. They will have to ditch their fiscal rules and borrow to invest, or raise additional tax revenues, reform alone won’t cut it. Personally I’d say borrowing to properly invest in health service would be best and creating a healthier society will bring growth, just not immediately!

  12. As someone who’s recently broken an ankle and couldn’t get any assistance at the fracture clinic on after care , I agree. The doctor told me to speak to the nurse. She told me to speak to the boot technician. He told me to speak to the physio. And he told me to call my gp. My gp told me to call the clinic 🤣

  13. He could free up the system easily by just stopping the native English people from having free access. Be much easier for those women and children who arive on those boats from France to get the help they so desperately need.

  14. As a percentage of GDP, we spend far less on health than countries with comparable systems. Why don’t we actually fund it adequately?

  15. Want to increase general health of citizens. Stop alcohol, gambling, drugs, fast-food (and their drive-through), sugar and industrial pollution. Without these the health of citizens will increase and be less of a burden on the system and taxes. Boom

  16. Whipit-Whipitgood on

    Does he think reform hasn’t been tried before? Does he think that the same parasites have gone away? Think again, the same shower of snake oil reformists are queueing up.

  17. It needs reform and it needs funding. Demands have increased and treatment options have increased without funding keeping step. But, you DO NOT want American healthcare providers anywhere near the NHS. Some practices followed in US clinics could be adopted to make the primary care process run more smoothly for example but the US system is incredibly wasteful and those costs passed directly onto the consumer.

  18. The change needs to be massive, sweeping and fundamental.

    * There needs to be a complete audit of anyone on band 8 or above, we need to know what they do, and how it benefits the NHS. If their job amounts to nothing, for example if they’re a manager of managers, get rid of them. If their job is arse covering, or arse kissing government, get rid of them, if they have conflicts of interest in the supply chain, contracted companies, estates management etc, get rid of them. If they’re hiring their friends and family, get rid of them.
    * Get rid of all equality and diversity departments and staff, all they do is run training sessions nobody attends because everyone is too busy doing their actual jobs. The NHS is pretty much the most diverse workforce in the UK already, and HR deal with any actual complaints regarding discrimination.
    * Full reform of the tender legislation, we should not be forced to buy from whoever meets the brief at the cheapest price, we should have a say in what equipment/software we buy and what companies we want to deal with. I’m looking at you Cerner and that fucking American shovelware you call an EPR.
    * Complete audit of procurement, including internal ordering systems that charge us way, way over the odds for basic items, do this alongside the audit of management, we need to know who has fingers in these pies. Staff should be given the immediate right to buy consumables and claim expenses back if they can be found cheaper, as this will instantly save the NHS millions.
    * Complete audit of estates management, all those companies locking hospitals into contracts where they aren’t allowed to maintain their own buildings, charging hospitals thousands of pounds to paint a wall need to end.
    * There needs to be a standardized schedule for updating computer hardware, and a push to build a basic system for sharing information across the whole NHS. I shouldn’t have to ring around other labs to find out if they’ve seen a patient and get results over the phone.
    * Have a warning system for patients who blatantly take the piss, if you fail to attend appointments, and repeatedly waste staff time, if you’re threatening or abusive, you get warned and then fined. We have a patient we regularly crossmatch blood for, who skips appointments she doesn’t like then turns up in A&E for her blood knowing they can’t refuse her treatment.

  19. insufficientpatience on

    Sounds like someone is going to be getting some privatized healthcare soon. That someone is a whole country. Cue up Rammstein!

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