Are the planned reforms in the National Health Service a blessing or are they domed to fail? Or to state is more bluntly, is the government stupid or stout? The reforms should lead to saving billions of pounds; at least that is the plan. Health professionals and several political figures, however, have opposed to the proposals made by the government. Policy in health service is directed to market-based reorganizations for over two decades, but the current proposals even stun medical leaders as it would abolish Primary Care Trusts and redirect funds to GPs, although many doctors lack the expertise to control budgets. How is that to save money?
Personal comment:
In every western country health care costs are skyrocketing, because of the ageing populations and increasingly expensive treatments. In almost all western countries the answers are sought in market-oriented solutions. Governments are promising that the public will pay reasonable premiums, but the money raised through these premiums are not, by far, enough to cover the costs. I believe other discussions are to be held, but that might be very difficult. I believe that we should think again about what we expect of our medical service. Should every illness be cured? Should every medical problem be solved? Or are we going to accept that people sometimes die because of an injury or that a medical problem cannot be solved?
The cost of health are indeed very high and I think there should be a long and careful discussion about the verges of the possibilities of medical science. On the other hand I do fear this discussion, because today discussions are often dominated by one liners. The question raised in this blog demands more than one liners and people with a loud voice. And YES sometimes we have to accept live as it is.
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