The NHS no longer operates on a a UK-wide basis, so why, oh why, persist with the "N" in the title?
The health service will face the most severe and sustained financial shortfall in its history after 2011, a report by NHS managers warns.
The NHS Confederation report says the health service in England will not survive unchanged, the BBC has learned.
Not the NHS, but the EHS (English Health Service) will not survive unchanged.
Health Secretary Andy Burnham said NHS funding had tripled since 1997, putting it on a strong financial footing.
Should, of course, read "English Health Secretary" Andy Burnham.
Labour's Devolution Experiment is the main reason why our truly National Health Service was Balkanised; they should at least now take responsibility for that sad fact and start using the appropriate terminology. And the BBC should show a bit backbone and start referring to Ministers by their true title.
9 comments:
The "NHS" is still a correct term O'Neill - there's just more of them, four in fact. There's the NHS for Scotland, the NHS for NI, the NHS for Wales and the NHS for England. Just like each country have their own national football team, now they all have their own National Health Service!
But the funding shortfalls in question concern the English Health Service rather than the other Health Services, so using the term NHS and implying all 4 is deliberately misleading.
HF
Well then, labour should have the balls to give them their true title.
I am not going over my old arguments on this issue i.e. there has always been four separate health services before devolution etc.
However when it comes to names, when I worked for the NHS - or to be accurate NHS Scotland, Common Services Division, Practitioners Services - the NI health service was officially "The Health Service of Northern Ireland" rather than NHS or NHS Scotland.
Those days of processing prescriptions from all over UK, GP 10 (Scotland), FP10 (England), HS 1 (NI) - all the same thing, a doctors prescription form but different parts of the UK.
They do O'Neill,in Scotland and Wales anyway; in Wales it's National Health Service Wales. In Scotland it's National Health Service Scotland.
In NI it's Health and Social Care in Northern Ireland while England arrogantly hold on to just NHS
England does not arrogantly hold onto "NHS" at all. Just the opposite seeing as we are constantly attacking the media misreporting of the latest "NHS" news, such as the fact that it is only English NHS Hospitals that are being pawned off via dodgy sale and lease-back PFI schemes to raise cash to plug this government's financial black hole.
The real arrogance is those like the Welsh who think they can make use of valuable English NHS resources, lengthening English waiting times, and then refuse to pay the resulting bills.
Actually the word "arrogance" does not do proper justice to this utterly contemptible behaviour.
One alternative could be to rename them:
The English/N.Irish/Scottish/Welsh (paid for by all the UK Nation's taxpayers) Health Service...doesn't really slip off the tongue though;)
The BBC's attitude on the terminology gets my goat most, they haven't the balls to come out and label Burnham with his true title.
Wildgoose - you don't seem to know how the Barnett Forumla actually works.
The government gives the English NHS a set sum, that sum is then used to calculate Welsh/Scot/NI budget. Those Assemblies/Parliament thenn decide where to spend that budget.
English Hospitals PFI schemes increase the amount of money going into English NHS WITHOUT increasing the amount of money going to Wales/Scotland/NI. The Welsh could use PFI to bring in extra money (and debts) to their own NHS, just like England do with theirs, but have decided against it (and with good reason).
The money saved/raised by English PFi schemes is ONLY spent in England, no equivilant amount is sent to the other countries.
O'Neill - always pissed me off to hear BBC News go on about some new Health or education initiative without pointing out that it only important to England.
Actually Hen, it appears that you really don't understand how the Barnett Formula works. Let me give you a great big clue.
There is no exclusively English pot of money equivalent to the direct grant to Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
None. Nada. Zip.
The money saved in England does not make more money available to England. It makes more money available to the United Kingdom.
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