DrNFR has a letter in today’s guardian newspaper.

Mark Porter’s claim that the government’s health reforms will take healthcare back to the 1930s is historically inaccurate. By then, local government and charities, not the private or co-operative sectors, ran most hospitals.

As a nurse, I do not believe that any NHS-funded patient should ever have to go into any state-owned hospital or clinic; everyone – rich or poor – should go independent. What we need is a world of provision that echoes that which existed prior to the ruinous National Insurance Act of 1911. We need mutuals, friendly societies, co-operatives, charities and for-profits all providing a diverse tapestry of high-quality healthcare. What most frontline nurses know is that we need to get national and local political ownership out of the system so that doctors, nurses and patients are put back in control. The real tragedy is that the government’s healthcare reforms do not go far enough.

Dr Helen Evans

Director, Nurses for Reform