24 hours to save the NHS?

Do you remember Tony Blair's claim that election day would mean the country had just "24 hours to save the NHS"? Did the voters who fell for the spin of Tony, Alistair, Peter and Gordon really believe that 10 years on people would be avoiding hospital visits in case they caught a fatal infection, that they would have to pay to park in hospital car parks, that Gordon "Prudence" Brown would have "paid" for his billions of pounds of NHS "investment" into new NHS buildings by way of a PFI off-balance sheet scam, that there would be four different NHS systems operating in the UK since devolution, according to health chiefs, that patients could be required to stop smoking, take exercise or lose weight before they can be treated on the National Health Service, that plans to eliminate excessive waiting times in the National Health Service stand no chance of succeeding and now that "Millions of people with arthritis, asthma and even heart failure will be urged to treat themselves as part of a Government plan to save billions of pounds from the NHS budget"?

In this latest case, "instead of going to hospital or consulting a doctor, patients will be encouraged to carry out "self care" as the Department of Health (DoH) tries to meet Treasury targets to curb spending."?

Apparently, these new guidelines for people with chronic conditions may include:

"• Monitoring their own heart activity, blood pressure and lung capacity using equipment installed in the home

• Reporting medical information to doctors remotely by telephone or computer

• Administering their own drugs and other treatment to "manage pain" and assessing the significance of changes in their condition

• Using relaxation techniques to relieve stress and avoid "panic" visits to emergency wards."


As the Labour party and its champagne swilling friends at the BBC lead the country in endless choruses of "things can only get better", did anyone think that after 10 years of a New Labour government if they or their family felt that they were having a heart-attack they would be taught to use relaxation techniques rather than call an ambulance?

24 hours to save the NHS or 10 years to all but ruin the NHS and the country?