NHS Job Shop: “Working for Health” in Kentish Town. Closed. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
English: Hull Royal Infirmary (2) This building was the “Paupers’ Hospital”, or “Workhouse” built in victorian times, and becoming part of the National Health Service on the introduction of the Welfare State after World War 2. People would stand on Argyle Street bridge to see, and to wave to their relatives. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
This is a must-read, powerful and passionate story, published in the News Statesman. Harry Leslie Smith, a 91-year-old RAF veteran born into an impoverished mining family, recalls a Britain without a welfare state.
Source: Hunger, filth, fear and death”: remembering life before the NHS
This is a very moving story but it needs to be put into wider historical context.
When communism failed, socialists turned to social welfare as one of the means of achieving their political objectives. Unfortunately, the welfare system in many advanced countries has been abused and poorly managed. Socialists have become the new conservatives trying to prop us the crumbling welfare state. Meanwhile, conservatives have botched it, by relying on progressive and prolonged austerity, rather than radical reform. This blog has repeatedly offered argument after argument for a strategic approach to radical change, especially the UK’s National Health Service. Open this link to see dozens of blogs on the NHS – keep opening the tab at the bottom left of the page entitled ‘Older Posts’.
The position advocated on this blog is for a ‘world class‘ public healthcare in the UK. It should benchmarked on the world’s leaders, like Germany, France, Italy and Singapore. This is radical reform but there is no simple bridge from the current NHS to the new best practice model. Unfortunately, politicians are not being honest with the UK public about the NHS. Socialists still want to throw more money at the NHS. The Conservatives missed their opportunities for radical reform and their simplistic austerity strategy has failed as well. [open this link for research evidence on ‘radical reform of public health‘] But the far-left radicals who infiltrated the UK Labour Party will not be satisfied with throwing money at the welfare state – they want revolution and the UK to become a Marxist state. How many Marxist states have world class public healthcare?
For an introduction to the research literature on the politics of public healthcare, open this link
What’s so wrong with following Europe’s best practice?
Thoughts?
Dr Alf's Blog 