Health Flashcards
What was New Labour stance on the NHS
Instead of negotiating prices, New Labour insisted purchasers would buy at prices fixed by government
What was the problem of targets culture
Targets culture led to appalling emergency care, with 1,200 extra died in Straffordshire Health Authority
What is privatisation of NHS
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.
Who started privatising the NHS
Blair and Brown used private providers to increase patient choice and competition.
What was privatisation used for during Blair
It was often used to shift important surgical demands onto private surgeons in time of need.
Cameron’s Health and Social Care Act 2012 during the Coalition
It strengthened the internal market approach, promoting diversity, competition and patient choice.
This system could be scrutinised by private and state provides.
Seven days NHS
• What are the current death rates for not having enough GPs
Patients are 16% more likely to die if they are admitted to hospital on a Sunday and 11% more likely on a Saturday.
Success of NHS rationing on obesity and smoking
62% of CCGs restricted access to some treatments based on smoking status and 83% restricted access based on BMI.
What did Hunt promise in the new junior doctors contract
• pay
To give the highest performing consultants up to £30,000 a year in bonus payments on top of their base salary
What is the current situation with ‘unsocial hours’ for the junior doctors
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’
Why is the current system is unfair for junior doctors?
Because in some specialists, doctors were already providing a seven-day service while other areas of the NHS were not.
What are the problems with junior doctors?
Long working hours and unfair wages (cuts of up to 15%) for some
Criticism of the new contract for junior doctors
guaranteed pay rises related to time in the job are being scrapped. Instead it would be direly linked to progress through dedicated training stages
The cost of privatisation by the NHS England
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.
Criticism on privitisation had on the standard of care
private companies, who run for shareholders will inevitably put profit margins before patients
Example that illustrates the drop in standard of care under privatisation
Private companies in the health sector might have practices such as overcharging, over-treatment and/or ‘cherry picking’ the most profitable treatments
The impact of privatisation
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.
How is initial health care still free at the point of delivery?
There is no means-testing or discrimination in services offered
What is the Conservative argument in reforming the NHS
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.
The Conservative’s argument of PFI and market forces into NHS
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.
Major parties’ view on privatisation in the health sector
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.
