Hen
15th December 2010, 22:50
The "small government" reforms of the Conservative Party with regards to the NHS are certainly interesting. In my local area, a so-called "pathfinder" in policy initiative, the Conservatives have challenged the abilities of centralized, disconnected managers with little patient contact to run an effective health service responsive to patient needs and subsequently have abolished the PCT (Primary Care Trust) run by the Strategic Health Authority. Instead they have empowered GP's to take on budget responsibilites themselves and decide what treatments local people should recieve. We may see local GP's endowed with a greater social responsibility, to not spend recklessly, to think of the doctor in the next room, before one thinks of oneself. Such a program pushes back the corrosive forces of state control and empowers localities to respond to local needs. "Power to the people" is slogan of the left.
There are concerns however about how this will alter the patient/doctor relationship. There will no doubt be inconsistencies in the treatment provided if GP's are given sovereignty over their own practices. We may also find doctors rationing their services and leaving Mrs Hip Replacement crippled for a year while doctors spend their limited budgets on more essential treatment. After all, my "pathfinder" constituency finds itself with a capped health care budget, as opposed to the annual increases seen under the Labour Government. What's more, a considerable portion of the budget is lost in payments to the PFI (Private Finance Initiative), whom the government turned to when it could not afford to publicly finance the building of state-of-the-art hospitals that people expect from the NHS. All this means that GP's will have to regulate themselves and manage their budgets responsibly. Frugality is certainly not something you look for in your doctor, but the Conservatives are certainly asking for it.
I find myself in stricking agreement with the policy. I'd take front line doctors instead out-of-touch beaurocrats prescribing my treatments any day. However I do find it odd how the Conservatives can be so passionate about restructuring the NHS with notions of "power to the people", that they be so committed to flattening the hierarchy in favour of doctors, but where the free market is involved, completely forego these principles. It's actually quite infuriating to see the budget restraints in the NHS (in education too) when so often people attribute it to government "overspend", rather than a financial sector operating with impunity.
There are concerns however about how this will alter the patient/doctor relationship. There will no doubt be inconsistencies in the treatment provided if GP's are given sovereignty over their own practices. We may also find doctors rationing their services and leaving Mrs Hip Replacement crippled for a year while doctors spend their limited budgets on more essential treatment. After all, my "pathfinder" constituency finds itself with a capped health care budget, as opposed to the annual increases seen under the Labour Government. What's more, a considerable portion of the budget is lost in payments to the PFI (Private Finance Initiative), whom the government turned to when it could not afford to publicly finance the building of state-of-the-art hospitals that people expect from the NHS. All this means that GP's will have to regulate themselves and manage their budgets responsibly. Frugality is certainly not something you look for in your doctor, but the Conservatives are certainly asking for it.
I find myself in stricking agreement with the policy. I'd take front line doctors instead out-of-touch beaurocrats prescribing my treatments any day. However I do find it odd how the Conservatives can be so passionate about restructuring the NHS with notions of "power to the people", that they be so committed to flattening the hierarchy in favour of doctors, but where the free market is involved, completely forego these principles. It's actually quite infuriating to see the budget restraints in the NHS (in education too) when so often people attribute it to government "overspend", rather than a financial sector operating with impunity.