Here are two stories that should make the Government and the NHS hang their heads in shame. Despite the billions of pounds that have been poured in to the NHS under New Labour some of the most vulnerable members of society are being failed time and time again. Not only do half of Alzheimer’s patients leave NHS hospitals in a worse state than they entered them but care in NHS hospitals for them is so bad that a third of their carers have to complain and a greater number think that they should have.
Surely we have seen enough of these horror stories for even the most die-hard NHS supporter to realise that the system is failing. With the cuts in public spending that are inevitably coming our way there is an historic opportunity to put things right. It is too late for the Government, who I am sure will make some empty promises in today’s Queen’s Speech, but the Conservative party must take notice of the suffering reported in these all too frequent stories. It is time for the NHS to stop subjecting people to this substandard care. All NHS hospitals must be returned to the independent sector where the language of price drives quality of care. The NHS has had sixty years to try to prove its worth. It has failed continually, now it is time for the market to demonstrate its superior qualities.
