In the news this week (see here) I learnt that the NHS in Cheshire and Merseyside are spending £300,000 on fees to Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC) to cut frontline services. There have been many similar stories up and down the country.
I’m well aware that, thanks to wonder drugs like statins etc, we’re all living longer. As a result costs for healthcare are increasing. However I’m getting concerned about how much money is being spent in the wrong areas.
Take the Stafford Hospital scandal for instance. I’m a big believer in a NATIONAL Health Service and wonder how much money has been wasted setting up NHS foundation trusts? Stafford Nurses at Stafford were struck off for falsifying information to avoid breaches of targets. Why would any nurse want to do this? I suspect pressure was put on them by managers and their accountants. Some services were transferred elsewhere, which may have saved that hospital costs – but may not help the NHS as a whole, if the costs simply go to another centre.
There seems to be an increasing emphasis in paying highly paid people to run our hospitals as businesses, rather than trained healthcare professionals looking at preventing ill health.
I’m very proud of our NHS, and accept that I may have to pay more for it in the future. I’m fed up with politicians (and others) meddling with it. If I’m seriously ill I want a consultant with medical qualifications looking after me, not a consultant who’s an expert on Balance Sheets and Net Worth.
Today I heard here that a nurse took her own life after becoming stressed from work. I hope that even the accountants will realise that that is a cost that is too high.