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Cardiff, financial, health, healthcare, medicine, Mike Sivier, mikesivier, NHS, office work, overpaid, private, profit, scandal, sick, Skwawkbox, target, University Hospital of Wales, Vox Political
Those of you who have been following the excellent exposure of English NHS scandals as attempts to soften up the public for mass privatisation of the NHS (oh yes they are) over on the Skwawkbox blog may be saddened to learn that it is happening over here in Wales, also.
It seems 12 patients have died within 15 months because operations at the University Hospital of Wales (UHW) in Cardiff were delayed “to meet end-of-year financial targets”.
What this – together with the situation in England – tells us is that we have allowed successive governments to turn the NHS on its head. Instead of being a medical service providing timely healthcare that is free at the point of use because it is funded by taxation, this function is now carried out in name only.
The NHS seems now to be a cover for office workers who have nothing to do with medicine and yet are happy to cancel operations due to lack of money, while being massively overpaid for doing so.
The question that arises in everybody’s mind should be: Why are we paying these people anything at all, when that money could be funding the operations they keep cancelling?
Now take this a step further. We should all be aware that the NHS is coming under heavy fire because we have a government that is ideologically devoted to the privatisation of healthcare. The claim is that, under Coalition plans, the health service would remain free at the point of use – but we know that huge amounts of taxpayers’ money would be siphoned off as profit for private companies and would not be used for medical purposes.
So this gives rise to a second question: What possible benefit may be gained from swapping one system – where healthcare is secondary to the payment of office workers – for another system in which exactly the same conditions apply, but even less of our money goes toward treatment?
I say: Sack ’em all. Whole hospitals could be run far more efficiently with a single accountant employed to keep the books straight.
Mike Sivier's blog 
Always said NHS top heavy. To many managers, to little staff. Pen pushers paid more than DRs & Nurses. Y
Reblogged this on paurina and commented:
Is it too late to save the NHS? The Secretary of State is no longer responsible for providing health care, thousands of services have been sold to private providers, and the government’s PR is successfully undermining public confidence in the NHS.
I read something a couple of years ago that stated bureaucrats outnumbered front line staff in the NHS 8 to1, that’s 8 pen pushers for every doctor, nurse, porter, cleaner, etc. Imagine the service we could have had, every hospital in the country equipped with top of the range medical equipment and medication for everyone. We don’t need politicians they are a waste of taxpayers money, all they do is perpetuate war and rob us blind. But we do need decent Hospitals, Schools, Care for our elderly, sick and disabled, decent homes and jobs that are safe and well paid. This lot of corrupt, lying, thieving, imbeciles we have in government at the moment are nothing more than company directors that are robbing the company finances and bringing the company to a state of bankruptcy. Why is Justice ignoring this criminality?
Reblogged this on this 'n that.
Pingback: NHS scandals – too many pen-pushers, too few medical staff | patricktsudlow
As an aside, to the blog on The Beastrabbans weblog. Can anyone help Katrina I’ve posted this, If I can help in any way please let me know Mike.
Please pass on this link for Benefits and Work http://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/ I joined the website a couple of years ago it’s full of vital information, most of which I have down loaded. I paid just under £17 for a years membership that allowed me to download tons of fact sheets. There is info on almost every health condition. If she has trouble or cannot afford the price I would be only too happy to help a fellow sufferer in any way I can.
You may be right but you need some statistical evidence – as it stands your argument will be criticised as mere prejudice.
It’s not an argument; it’s a statement of opinion based on the available evidence.
Actually, that’s more than the health service’s critics have, so let them talk.
too many agency staff employed rather than recruiting more staff at local level means higher costs and often they are less efficient. I also agree there are too many administrative staff particularly at executive level.