NHS - no crystal ball as yet

Some worried noises coming from Shadow Secretary of State for Health, Andy Burnham, over at The Mirror.

It's difficult to separate the rehtorical scariness from the genuine concern in this one, but the gist of Burnham's article seems to be that under Cameron, the NHS is facing its biggest threat in all its 62 years.

Here at Your private Healthcare Insurance Blog, we definitely agree that it looks as if the NHS is heading for its biggest period of change. The question is whether this change will be all bad or not.

With the deficit the government's priority, the NHS will surely not be allowed to spend as much as it used to. But not all the money it spent went on patients anyway. The NHS employs a lot of desk people and spends (I would imagine) a lot of money on things that large organisations spend money on - consultancy work (note: business consultancy work, I mean, not medical consultants), training courses, inhouse media etc.

But Burnham is right to subject the actions of the new government to scrutiny - that is his job. The question is whether and to what extent Cameron's NHS will improve health care or just change the nature of its management and provision. It's doubtful that the changes will be painless however. Watch this space...

Posted in: nhs,private healthcare,UK heathcare