political commentator * author * publisher * bookseller * radio presenter * blogger * Conservative candidate * former lobbyist * Jack Russell owner * West Ham United fanatic * Email iain AT iaindale DOT com
Wednesday, June 04, 2008
Labour to Privatise Failing Hospitals
Ben Bradshaw will be remembered for many things, but today the Tory Party should be very grateful to him. Never again will Labour be able to accuse the Tories of wanting to privatise the NHS. Instead, the Tories can now throw the accusation back at Labour. Why? Because Labour has announced that it is going to let the private sector run failing hospitals in order to turn them around. Well done to Health Minister Ben Bradshaw. Just the sort of sensible policy the Tories should be promoting. Good on you.
Is this the same labour party led by the same Gordon Brown who when Chancellor frustrated and watered down Blair's plans for foundation hospitals?
ReplyDeleteThe Conservatives understand that when public services fail, the private sector is much better at digging them out of a hole. Education and the NHS are no different in that respect.
ReplyDeleteGlad to see that the government are finally waking up to this. I can't wait until the socialists in the Labour Party get hold of this!!
All very well, now. But it's taken them 11 years and shed loads, but shed loads of our money to find this out. The stupid wasteful incompetent gits that they are.
ReplyDeleteBrilliant! What it does of course is end up with a situation where failing hospitals will become the benchmark to aspire to.....
ReplyDeletebecause the private sector have done such a sterling job with
ReplyDelete1) the NHS IT system
2) instrument decontamination
3) private ward cleaning
...
Sensible voters should run a mile from the idea!
Even Network Rail is being threatened due to its bad performance. Not for profit seems to mean don't really care.
ReplyDeleteWhat makes me laugh is that the private sector won't have the staff to run the hospitals and will just recruit the idiots from the public sector who managed to screw everything up in the first place. Actually when I say laugh I mean cry and slash my wrists. Once again something else you wouldn't want to make up.
ReplyDeleteLabour doesn't seem to know whether to go left or right - this policy will anger the trade unions who will provide the money for the next general election - so expect an eventual u-turn on this policy. At least the Tories would actually deliver on such a policy...
ReplyDeleteIain, I enjoy your posts and usually agree, but unless I've misunderstood I can't go with you on this one.
ReplyDeletePlease don't promote the privatisation of NHS hospitals. Give the doctors a say in how they are managed and take away the target and tick box culture so that the money is spent properly on saving lives rather than meeting obscure targets. If you privatise, much needed money will inevitably be taken out for dividends and profit.
We have already suffered badly from privatisation of power and water. Dentistry has already been pretty much privatised by the back door to the extent that if you are poor you may no longer be able to find an NHS dentist which means going without dental care. We haven't been there since before the war.
It's still not too late to save our health care from going the way of America's, although we are close to the point of no return. Privatisation would be a mistake.
Max
http://theerrorlog.blogspot.com
Bradshaw remembered by me for his bad hairstyle and letting the factory farmed poultry industry walk all over him. Oh, and being discreetly absent when it came to votes on recreational drug use, so as to avoid charges of hypocrisy.
ReplyDeleteMy old mum tells a story about her training at Bart's during the war. Bart's at the time was independent and a lot of endowments and was rich. It was run by a bursar and three helpers (according to my mum). So two questions. 1. Why do we need all these bureaucrats and 2. where has all the money from the endowments gone?
ReplyDeleteYou've mis-understood.
ReplyDeleteThe private sector already runs public-funded services.
The staff and managers will still be paid out of tax-payer monies, the assets will not be sold.
In other words, private management, paid for by public funds, preserving the "free at the point of delivery" idea and protecting us from the asset strippers and voucher-lovers that you seem to be exciting.
About time to.
ReplyDeleteIt should have happened years ago. Labour would not entertain the idea when in opposition. Now they realise that having tried everything else it is the only way forward. Pity the Tories did not do it.
Sensible policy indeed, but you dont include Lansley's response for some reason?
ReplyDeletePerhaps because Lansley criticised the move and said the skills were already in the NHS?
We have become the anti-reform party on the NHS.
Of course, if Nye Bevan hadn't insisted on nationalising all hospitals in first case - totally unnecessary to the principle of a universal, 'free' health service - this wouldn't have been needed now.
ReplyDeleteIt seems that that some are more concerned with preserving a state-run monopoly provider than ensuring that the best healthcare outcomes are the standard that we can all avail ourselves of.
Geoff H - Quite.
ReplyDeleteIt has always been a social engineering tool of the Labourites.
Its a sad sad world in the westminster village when Iain Dale can present huge coverage for a story about Labour doing whatever it takes to crack down on failing hospitals, opposed by the tories, as a good day for the Conservative Party
ReplyDeleteOnly in the weird world of political positioning is this good Iain. In the real world this makes lansley and cameron look rather pathetic in my view.
But ill admit im not an expert like you.