Sun comes out for Tories

[Balti]

Anyone but Brown.

 

[without a dream]

Aren't the tories gonna be reviewing the licence fee? Wonder if that's why Mr Murdoch's paper have come out in support.

 

[salfordtrueblue]

Bandwagon jumping scum. They're right in the sense that Labour are unelectable at the moment, but I hate the thought of a Tory government and what that could mean. Bastards will probably cut all kinds of public spending, even the NHS isn't scared to them.

Nor to New Labour either mate, I'm afraid. I work in the NHS, and you can see the privatisation happening all around you - they're doing it cleverly, covertly and by stealth, but its definitely happening. You're kidding yourself if you believe the current government thinks of the NHS as in any way sacred.

I guess I'm more of an old school lefty, but I just can't see much difference between the current shambles and the Tories to be honest. The current Labour government is Labour in name alone - the proverbial wolf in sheep's clothing - their policies are indistinguishable from the traditional Tory stance. Can't stand either of them!

This labour goverment has put more nurses on the wards and built brand spanking new hospitals,the waiting lists are now virtually non existant and this new proposal which will see cancer patients tested within one week is a million miles away from anything Cameron lot can come up with,this fella trys to act like a gutsy leader and talks about cutbacks etc,then doesnt have the balls to say where the cutbacks will be, remember the tories opposed the creation of the NHS and for you to say theres no differance i find utter bewildering. This election is a two horse race unfortunatly and its time to stand up and be counted,dont let this lot get in by default !

 

[Nicholas van Whatsisface]

Nor to New Labour either mate, I'm afraid. I work in the NHS, and you can see the privatisation happening all around you - they're doing it cleverly, covertly and by stealth, but its definitely happening. You're kidding yourself if you believe the current government thinks of the NHS as in any way sacred.

I guess I'm more of an old school lefty, but I just can't see much difference between the current shambles and the Tories to be honest. The current Labour government is Labour in name alone - the proverbial wolf in sheep's clothing - their policies are indistinguishable from the traditional Tory stance. Can't stand either of them!

This labour goverment has put more nurses on the wards and built brand spanking new hospitals,the waiting lists are now virtually non existant and this new proposal which will see cancer patients tested within one week is a million miles away from anything Cameron lot can come up with,this fella trys to act like a gutsy leader and talks about cutbacks etc,then doesnt have the balls to say where the cutbacks will be, remember the tories opposed the creation of the NHS and for you to say theres no differance i find utter bewildering. This election is a two horse race unfortunatly and its time to stand up and be counted,dont let this lot get in by default !

You're entitled to your opinion mate, but I based what I said on considerable personal experience from within the NHS which suggests to me that things aren't necessarily as you may perceive. The most scary part from my point of view, as a politically left-thinking healthcare professional working in the NHS - who used to be proud to work in an organisation which provided free healthcare of the best quality available - is the fact that this so called Labour government is systematically privatising the NHS under our noses. Without actually telling the public. We had a meeting with a representative from the NHS management a few months back to explain to us how the structure of the NHS would be changing. The organisation will be splitting between the Service Commissioning Arm - ie: the central office-based management who decide how many nurses, doctors, etc are needed in any county or area (which would remain centrally funded), and the Service Provision Arm - ie: the people at the coal face actually working with the patients day-to-day (which will no longer necessarily be centrally funded). The idea is that the healthcare professionals within a PCT set up a what is essentially a private company, and tender for the level of service provision decided by the Commissioning Arm, competing alongside private companies. This way, the government get to drastically reduce the amount of funding they provide to the organisation whilst still insisting that it remains centrally funded. They get to keep their shiny targets, however this would see the wole ethos of the NHS destroyed. We all saw what happened to Railtrack, etc when private initiatives get brought into the public sector - profit rather than quality becomes the driving force, with sometimes drastic consequences. Unite - the Union - are petitioning their members stating that the NHS which Labour want to create is not the NHS we joined or which people have come to expect, and the one that has made us proud for so long, and you'd be amazed by the support it has received from people working within the organisation. This is a bigger problem than the public realise. Its a slippery slope towards the American model, which I don't think anyone would advocate. But you're right - the targets for waiting lists, etc do appear quite impressive. Which brings me to the next point.

Waiting lists aren't non-existant by any means, more often than not they are just circumvented by private initiatives stepping in when things look like they might be on the slide, at considerable cost to the taxpayer. I'm afraid its all about meeting targets at the moment, and the quality of care which made the NHS so great is being seriously compromised. The way appointments are organised - by giving patients choice as to where they would like to be treated - is a useful tool in the PR campaigm, and is also a very canny way of muddying the issue - shifting the blame onto the patient if the right choice is not available. As long as the NHS offer the patient an appointment at one of the available sites, it doesn't matter if the patient then turns this down due to a prefernce for another site. The target is till met, but the patient still hasn't actually been seen. These targets also put an absurd amount of pressure on already over-worked healthcare professionals, switching the focus from spending time with the patient, considering their case and ensuring they are properly looked after, to seeing as many patients as possible in as little time as possible to ensure the targets are met. In my view this has led to a considerable reduction in the attention and the quality of service the patient receives. I could tell you some horror strories resulting from this based on personal experince, but that isn't for a public forum I'm afraid.

Yes, the patient may get seen within a certain amount of time so the government can have their shiny statistics to show what a fantastic job they are doing, but the reality is that the level of service within the NHS has deteriorated markedly because there are unreasonable deadlines to meet, and is frequently performed by unmotivated staff who feel quality is being compromised to produce the kind of statisitics the government want.

I'm not adbvocating Cameron or the Tories - I can't stand them and certainly won't be voting for them - if you'd read my original post you would have seen that. I'm just stating that supporting Labour simply because they aren't the Tories is madness, and is allowing them to get away with doing whatever they want. Labour may well have created the NHS in the past, but they are tearing it apart in the present, and I for one refuse to vote for that.

(PS - Sorry for the rant!)

 

[masterwig]

The Sun are fucking glory hunters. They always go for the side that will win.

 

[Challenger1978]

tories are, and always will be keep the rich rich and the poor poor.

LMFAO you do know that under labours watch social mobilaty has actually gone down and the gap between the rich and poor has become wider.

@Optimus Prime Brilliant posts fella.

 

[dannybcity]

It's a good election to lose in fairness, the Sun might be playing a clever game (clever...The Sun...actually perhaps not).

 

[johnny on the spot]

If you think things are bad now, just wait til the Tories get in.

 

[law74]

tories are, and always will be keep the rich rich and the poor poor.

LMFAO you do know that under labours watch social mobilaty has actually gone down and the gap between the rich and poor has become wider.

@Optimus Prime Brilliant posts fella.

Agreed, Nu labour = old tory with added spin
As another trade union activist i would be detest the tories in government for 4 years BUT if that is what it takes for Labour to return to Labour values then i would be (almost) willing to accept it.

What is currently happening with the NHS is happening in almost if not every aspect of the public sector with PFI and PPP being the chosen option (PFI is private finance initiative and PPP is Public private partnerships).
My union recently funded and commisioned a report from Edinburgh University on this issue
<a class="postlink" href="http://www.nipsa.org.uk/Press-Releases/UNIVERSITY-REPORT-CALLS-FOR-MORATORIUM-ON-USING-PF" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.nipsa.org.uk/Press-Releases/ ... N-USING-PF</a>

You might be interested to note that when the children born this year reach the current retirement age they will STILL be paying of this debt that successive governments have loaded this country with

 

[dannybcity]

tories are, and always will be keep the rich rich and the poor poor.

LMFAO you do know that under labours watch social mobilaty has actually gone down and the gap between the rich and poor has become wider.

@Optimus Prime Brilliant posts fella.

I can't see that. I'm no fan of New Labour but if they've done anything it's try to get kids from families that traditionally wouldn't stay in education, stay in education.