Nobody believes Theresa May: NHS funding is a Tory joke at OUR expense
The problem here is that facts can say whatever people want them to.
The BBC’s evening news yesterday (Sunday) referred to real-terms increases in NHS funding since the Conservatives came into office in 2010 of 1.2 per cent, rising to 2.25 per cent in 2016-17.
But the average since the NHS was founded is four per cent, so the Tories have lagged far behind.
You can see the difference in spending choices in the following graph:
The Tories have increased spending, sure – but by a miniscule amount compared with the previous Labour government.
But that’s not the whole story. As a percentage of GDP – the total amount of money made by the UK every year – spending on the NHS has suffered a sustained reduction – its largest ever – since the Tories arrived in 2010.
This is a deliberate attack on the healthcare available to the nation, at a time when demands on the service are increasing – partly due to other Conservative Party policies.
Cash-strapped citizens are eating unhealthily, adding to the possibility of health problems. Benefit claimants are being subjected to huge psychological stress by the Department for Work and Pensions, increasing the chances that they will suffer serious health issues. Working people, forced to try to survive while their pay is cut, in real terms, year on year, are also heading for health disasters. There are other government-related health issues.
And what is the result of these changes, forced on us by the Conservatives?
5 NHS patients died waiting this week:
•Portsmouth woman died after 7 hr wait
•Lancashire man died of heart attack, had waited 90 mins
•Dudley woman died on a trolley in a corridor
•Essex woman died waiting 4 hours for an ambulance
•Dudley man died waiting at A&E— Tory Fibs (@ToryFibs) January 6, 2018
Todays just saying. pic.twitter.com/1FQm4Jxa6L
— Rachael Swindon (@Rachael_Swindon) January 6, 2018
Theresa May has said the Tories have provided the NHS the amount of money they thought it needed – tacitly admitting that they have been underfunding the service badly:
But then, as one prominent doctor has pointed out:
This interview on #marr is a prime example of a politician in denial.
‘The NHS is doing ok’
‘The railways are fine’
‘The economy is doing well’
‘Jeremy Hunt is doing a great job’
‘Schools are at their best’Does anyone else actually believe this?
— Dr David Wrigley (@DavidGWrigley) January 7, 2018
No. We would have to have seen a plan to solve the issues that have caused the recent deaths, and we have seen nothing of the sort. Instead, Theresa May is planning to reward the Health Secretary who has enacted the policies that caused the deaths.
It's a heartbreaking fact that Patients are now dying as they wait hours for NHS ambulances to arrive, dying as they wait hours to be seen in A&E, lying shivering on floors of hospitals at 100% capacity whilst medical staff are at the point of exhaustion and Theresa May says this pic.twitter.com/xZF0IhZmOK
— Peter Stefanovic (@PeterStefanovi2) January 7, 2018
The NHS is delivering for people, it is treating more people and more people are being seen within the four hours every day. But of course, nothing is perfect. And there is more for us to do. #Marr pic.twitter.com/NaG8fohbXy
— Theresa May (@theresa_may) January 7, 2018
Oh really?
Iain Duncan Smith started this & was, shamefully, allowed to get away with it. There are more people *alive* than ever before. Performance can only be measured by percentage changes in their treatment times, which is why they are wholly absent from these ‘stats’. https://t.co/NMLOQkE0wO
— James O'Brien (@mrjamesob) January 7, 2018
Theresa May has shown utter disregard for patients this winter. A real apology would be backed up by real action. Instead all we get is a plan to promote the Health Secretary who has overseen this crisis. Promoting the Health Secretary would be a betrayal of patients pic.twitter.com/VEsG59JvE3
— Jonathan Ashworth (@JonAshworth) January 7, 2018
On #Marr today I explained how this winter NHS crisis was both predictable and preventable but we’ve had years of Tory underfunding, lost beds, we’re short of staff and social care support been cut savagely pic.twitter.com/0onmdqc33s
— Jonathan Ashworth (@JonAshworth) January 7, 2018
This takedown by Peter Stefanovic is excellent because it answers flannel with fact:
Theresa May proved on @MarrShow today we can't believe a word she says on the NHS crisis, full report on this link https://t.co/KjGNdLVZZH pic.twitter.com/958gMjR2OR
— Peter Stefanovic (@PeterStefanovi2) January 7, 2018
Some have suggested that Mrs May and Jeremy Hunt are simply refusing to accept the facts – that they believe their line that the NHS is better-prepared for what Mrs May calls “winter pressures” (she’s refusing to admit it’s a crisis). This is not accurate:
https://twitter.com/DancingTheMind/status/950045065451319296
https://twitter.com/DancingTheMind/status/949938943822319617
And the media are trying to stir up support for private health:
https://twitter.com/DancingTheMind/status/949936204195270656
Let’s just remember that we already pay for the NHS. It takes nearly 30 per cent of public spending (although a large amount of that now goes into the bank accounts of private health corporation board members, thanks to Conservative changes introduced by Andrew Lansley and David Cameron for no reason at all).
This is the best possible way of paying for the health of the nation, although the amount of public money being spent on it, and the uses to which that money is put, are varied depending on who is running the government. Clearly the current, Tory, model is one of mismanagement and waste.
@theresa_may @Jeremy_Hunt Shame on you. We can afford the NHS, what we clearly can't afford is a Tory Government!#NHS #NHSNotGovsToDestroy #NHSNotGovsToSell #NHSCrisis #NHSlove #ResignNow https://t.co/oJdIUIQFTR
— TracieWaylingArtASMR (@traciewayling) January 7, 2018
Clive Peedell has the right idea:
The first step to building a successful health service is to focus on the social determinants of health. That means addressing wealth inequality, poverty, poor housing, social exclusion etc. In other words, everything that modern conservatism makes worse #NHSCrisis
— Clive Peedell (@cpeedell) January 6, 2018
But then, he’s a doctor, not a businessman. The Tories would never be interested in anything he has to say.
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Let’s hope #Marr doesn’t need the NHS in future, He might be in an Ambulance next time for the 5 hours regretting not reporting on the real state of the NHS and who has REALLY caused it.
The problem isn’t just underfunding but the fact that much of NHS money is going to shareholders and owners of private companies and in interest payments due to PFI. Also recruitment problems are leading to nurses, doctors and other NHS workers being hired from private agencies, at very great cost. The Tories’ friends and donors are benefitting from this, at our expense.
The only solution is to elect a Labour government that will reinstate the NHS, ie drop privatisation, drop PFI,,increase funding, and reinstate nurses’ bursaries and drop University fees, to encourage more people to become doctors and nurses.
The government should also give assurances to EU workers in the NHS that they are wanted and welcomed to stay as it will take many years to train enough people to replace them.
Theresa May’s biggest weakness is that she obviously thinks everyone believes all that comes out of her mouth!
The Nasty Party is carrying out a deliberate and dishonest policy of economic sabotage – its as simple as that. Any apologies are just thoroughly dishonest ploys in an attempt to cover up their nasty policy.
The Tory agenda is as Noam Chomskypointed out, Defund, making it unworkable, people get angry, then hand it over to the private sector.
Thatcher called this process, the rolling back of socialism. Now people understand the difference between socialism and capitalism.
This short video says it all:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MB0bkytOdNQ&feature=youtu.be