The chancellor is being urged to find billions to prop up the NHS. Always assuming this is the desirable thing to do rather than pay off the debt, there is plenty of money sloshing about in order to do this without raising one single penny in extra taxes.
Two-thirds of the British public say the Chancellor must make the NHS his top priority in this week’s budget, as 90 MPs write to Theresa May to demand action over social care policy.
The Independent’s exclusive poll, carried out by BMG Research, finds that 64 per cent of the public want Philip Hammond to find billions more for the NHS, amid closures of A&E units and walk-in centres and as waiting lists lengthen for routine operations.
One has to ask, do those who said they want this want to pay more money to the treasury to achieve this aim? As opposed, of course, to getting the rich to “pay their fair share” (the translation being people who have more than me should have more of their money stolen so that I can have free stuff). I certainly don’t. And having had recent experience of the NHS, I’m pretty sure we’d have got better results using a non-state run system.
However, going back to the point – here, then, is what Hammond could do:
- Close the department for media culture and sport.
- Close the department for overseas development
- Cease all foreign aid with the exception of immediate disaster relief.
- Cease all charitable funding.
- Close down all public health bodies with the exception of those dealing exclusively with communicable diseases.
I reckon I’ve just found somewhere in the region of £20Bn. That should be enough for starters.
And also get the NHS to reprioritise the ‘services’ it offers. There’s much more savings to be made there.
Oh, I’m sure there are 😉
Have they finally gotten around to stopping funding for ‘witchcraft’ and ‘magical thinking’ or ‘homeopathy’ as it is sometimes called by non-scientists ?
Or free up the £40 odd billion in the ‘ligation fund’, as AR campaigned for.
Spell check you have failed me! ‘litigation’ of course!
To typo is human.
I have also had recent experience of the NHS and I tend to disagree on one point. I doubt if I would have had a better result.
I have no doubt though, that it would be better run without all the political interference. And without the millstone of “free at the point of use” hanging round its neck. Make people pay, even if it’s only a nominal amount e.g. a fiver to see your GP, a tenner for A&E. I’m sure you could throw all of the country’s tax receipts at the NHS and they would still want more.
It may be obvious and hence wrong, but it seems to me that if you pay something at least for medical treatment, there is an incentive to do more; if it all comes out of a fixed budget, managers spend most of their time working out how to dissuade people from seeking advice.
Ah yes the new tory way of thinking, any monopoly money the socialists can promise from the magic money tree we, the NuTories, can beat.
National debt you say, i see no ships.
I wonder who these 2/3rds of the British public are is more to the point, i suggest at least 52% of the public have a better grip on reality than this NHS bollocks.
If my cat is taken ill I ring the local vet and they answer the phone straight away. I can get an appointment immediately at a time that is convenient and when we arrive we are seen on time and kitty’s problem is dealt with. The treatment can sometimes be expensive and we have to lay out the money and then claim it back from our pet insurance. I do get a good service from my local surgery but my experience of other parts of the NHS has been somewhat indifferent to say the least. Maybe there could be an opinion poll about what the public believe are the reasons that my cat gets better health care than they do.
Your vet doesn’t have multiple layers of highly paid management spending vast sums on the process of tracking where vast sums are being spent.
Perhaps the drinks industry could provide ‘A&E’ facilities near to their consumption outlets, that would save having to have two lots of police and allow the real A&E to get on with their work?
Of course!
And they could round up those nasty smokers standing outside the pub having a puff at the same time.
Win/win!
@LR, I agree
Plus:
– close DEFRA (when/if we leave EU)
– close Equalities commision
– close the E and IS parts of Department for Business, Energy, & Industrial Strategy – allow free market to do E & IS
– abolish Gift-Aid
– abolish all subsidies inc business rates subsidy for Charities