incollo la recensione di un libro sulla privatizzazione del National
Health System in UK. Laser Manchester vuol dire qualcosa, o ogni volta
che si deve far vedere da un medico sale su un aereo e torna in Italia?
:)
NHS plc: The Privatisation of Our Health Care
Allyson M Pollock. Verso, 2004. Pp 271. £15·00. ISBN
1-84467-011-2.
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With bias, passion, and authority, Allyson Pollock confirms suspicions
that something is rotten in the state of the UK's health system. More
than that, NHS plc
will horrify the average reader by revealing the vigour, cynicism, and
secrecy with which the UK government is pursuing its purpose.
Departmental budgeting, the crass insistence on fundamentally senseless
private finance initiatives, and the launch of foundation hospitals are
all stages in the systematic privatisation of specialist services.
Tenders for the administration of these services are already being
sought from corporate giants that are mainly, but not exclusively, from
the USA. The terms of the new GP contracts have opened the door to the
privatisation of primary care. The end result will be that primary and
secondary care are eventually directed by a series of private companies
whose main objective is profit. As public money is siphoned into
private hands, the point will be reached when costs cannot be met from
central funds, and the outcome will be inevitable: multi-tier health
care, funded in part by insurance and direct consumer payment.
A government that has learned nothing from the disastrous
privatisation of the railways and other essential services is
determinedly pursuing a policy that will reduce the quality of health
care while dramatically increasing its cost. In many cases, the
politicians and advisers who force through these changes are, or will
be, in the pay of the companies involved. A revolving-door system acts
as an employment agency for ministers who become surplus to
requirement: their knowledge, contacts, and remaining influence are up
for sale to corporate bidders.
Some might ask: why did NHS clinicians allow this situation to
happen? The answer is that clinicians did not, and could not, have
suspected the extent of what was being done. Most are honourable people
who couldn't imagine the scale of deceit implicit in modern politics,
and the capacity of politicians to blur the margins of public, and
self, service. The few medical leaders who get close to the halls of
power are bought off with flattery and a gong, or ignored. But the
implications for doctors' professionalism and the wellbeing of their
patients are enormous. The newly imposed contract for hospital doctors
has formalised the process whereby their commitment to employers can
take priority over patients. This conflict is at the root of the
unease, bordering on despair, of many in the NHS. NHS plc
should be required reading for every clinician and patient in the UK.
If it were, there is just a chance that something may be done to stop
the rot, but it is probably too late.
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