So, Keir Starmer has decided to abolish NHS England and bring the health service “back to the heart of government.” Funny how this massive structural overhaul didn’t warrant even a footnote in Labour’s manifesto.
But here we are, watching another government perform emergency surgery on our ailing health service.
This bold move leaves us with two possibilities: either it’s a panicked response to the spiraling waiting lists and the bottomless money pit the NHS has become, or it’s genuinely the prescription our healthcare system needed all along. The diagnosis remains unclear.
Let’s not kid ourselves though – somewhere in the fine print, this will inevitably mean more public money funneled into private healthcare while politicians continue to parrot the sacred mantra of “free at the point of use.” They’re hoping we’ll be so grateful to see the same doctor (just a bit quicker) that we won’t notice they could have seen us sooner if they weren’t moonlighting in the private sector.
The plan will axe over 9,000 jobs and supposedly save “hundreds of millions” annually to cut waiting times by eliminating red tape and duplication. Even former Tory health minister Lord Bethell tweeted: “I wish we’d had the guts to do this.” High praise indeed.
Health bodies and unions are understandably concerned that yet another reorganization will divert precious resources away from patient care. As Professor Phil Banfield of the BMA noted: “Doctors’ experiences of reorganisations of the NHS have not been positive.”
And the timing? Peculiar to say the least – coming just days after a mass exodus of NHS England’s top brass, including the chief executive and medical director. Nothing suspicious there at all.
The way staff learned about their potential redundancies was particularly classy – NHS England sources reported “audible gasps” as the news broke without warning. Unison’s general secretary Christina McAnea called the handling “nothing short of shambolic.” Stellar employee relations from the party that claims to stand for workers’ rights.
When we examine the evidence from Labour’s first seven months in power, this looks increasingly like a knee-jerk reaction from a party without a coherent plan. The Tories created this “world’s largest quango” a decade ago, and now Labour is dismantling it – political pendulums swing while patients wait.
As for the prognosis? As any good doctor would say after hasty surgery without proper consultation: it doesn’t look good. But we’ll be here in the waiting room, watching this experiment unfold – just don’t expect us to applaud until we see actual results.
#NHS #Healthcare #Politics #LabourGovernment #NHSReform
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