It is now touch and go on at least three accounts whether Tory plans can
hold up till May 2015.
In the NHS cuts are now forcing twice as many
mental health patients to trvel out of area as 2 years ago. GP
surgeries are approaching crisis with millions left without a doctor.
One in 5 hospitals is currently facing a deficit. A quarter of walk-in
centres are closing. Half the senior posts in A&E are now left
vacant, which is pushing emergency wards beyond capacity.
The public
are left wondering whether the scandals at Morecambe, Colchester and now
Panorama’s Old Deanery are one-offs or setting a trend. Even top
administrators in the NHS are speaking out and castigating politicians
for wasting years on reform and being responsible for the NHS’
inefficiency.
Jeremy Hunt’s job was to keep the NHS out of the
headlines till the election and keep it ticking over at all costs. As
waiting times before seeing your own GP steadily lengthen and as
waiting lists before access to hospital grow remorselessly, the Tory
facade of a smooth transition to privatised healthcare with £20bn cuts
may well not survive a year...
(more…)
