Health

Question 1

What was New Labour stance on the NHS

Answer 1

Instead of negotiating prices, New Labour insisted purchasers would buy at prices fixed by government

Question 2

What was the problem of targets culture

Answer 2

Targets culture led to appalling emergency care, with 1,200 extra died in Straffordshire Health Authority

Question 3

What is privatisation of NHS

Answer 3

Introducing competition into the NHS, through the involvement of more for-profit companies, outsourcing contracts to run NHS services and the private provision of goods and staff.

Question 4

Who started privatising the NHS

Answer 4

Blair and Brown used private providers to increase patient choice and competition.

Question 5

What was privatisation used for during Blair

Answer 5

It was often used to shift important surgical demands onto private surgeons in time of need.

Question 6

Cameron’s Health and Social Care Act 2012 during the Coalition

Answer 6

It strengthened the internal market approach, promoting diversity, competition and patient choice.
This system could be scrutinised by private and state provides.

Question 7

Seven days NHS

• What are the current death rates for not having enough GPs

Answer 7

Patients are 16% more likely to die if they are admitted to hospital on a Sunday and 11% more likely on a Saturday.

Question 8

Success of NHS rationing on obesity and smoking

Answer 8

62% of CCGs restricted access to some treatments based on smoking status and 83% restricted access based on BMI.

Question 9

What did Hunt promise in the new junior doctors contract

• pay

Answer 9

To give the highest performing consultants up to £30,000 a year in bonus payments on top of their base salary

Question 10

What is the current situation with ‘unsocial hours’ for the junior doctors

Answer 10

Junior doctors only get higher pay for working between 7am and 7pm and all day on Saturday and Sunday, which many critics, such as the BMA, classed as ‘unsafe’

Question 11

Why is the current system is unfair for junior doctors?

Answer 11

Because in some specialists, doctors were already providing a seven-day service while other areas of the NHS were not.

Question 12

What are the problems with junior doctors?

Answer 12

Long working hours and unfair wages (cuts of up to 15%) for some

Question 13

Criticism of the new contract for junior doctors

Answer 13

guaranteed pay rises related to time in the job are being scrapped. Instead it would be direly linked to progress through dedicated training stages

Question 14

The cost of privatisation by the NHS England

Answer 14

healthcare that is provided by the independent sector has increased, with the current yearly total at nearly £7bn, which is a total 6.3£ of the NHS budget.

Question 15

Criticism on privitisation had on the standard of care

Answer 15

private companies, who run for shareholders will inevitably put profit margins before patients

Question 16

Example that illustrates the drop in standard of care under privatisation

Answer 16

Private companies in the health sector might have practices such as overcharging, over-treatment and/or ‘cherry picking’ the most profitable treatments

Question 17

The impact of privatisation

Answer 17

There is a risk in which private providers are cherry picking lucrative services to boost their profits leaving the NHS with less money to provide comprehensive care.

Question 18

How is initial health care still free at the point of delivery?

Answer 18

There is no means-testing or discrimination in services offered

Question 19

What is the Conservative argument in reforming the NHS

Answer 19

Reforms are necessary as increasing costs and unrealistic expectations mean that rational choices have to be made about how to run an increasing unwieldy body, particularly in the current economic climate.

Question 20

The Conservative’s argument of PFI and market forces into NHS

Answer 20

it is sensible to introduce PFI and market forces into NHS care to ensure that services are run efficiently and with the best allocation of resources.

Question 21

Major parties’ view on privatisation in the health sector

Answer 21

None of the main political parties plan to scrap or further privatise the NHS, merely to encourage more use of private healthcare amongst those who can afford it to life some of the burden from the NHS.