Current Affairs The Conservative Party

[Daveysgingerlovechild]

Back to the Tories. Talks about cutting benefits.

It's a bold strategy to take to be honest. Reduce support for the poorest while increasing profits for the richest.

Freeze/starve as many of the poor as possible this winter. Population falls. Then there's less strain on the NHS. So then by default, the NHS becomes appropriately funded without needing to increase its funding. NHS starts coping more, so the argument becomes, "Look how amazing the NHS is under us".

Bold, bold strategy.

One slight problem with that...

Health inequalities will continue to widen, so there will be more poorer people getting unwell sooner in life. Its chronic conditions that take up a lot of NHS resources, so it'll continue, arguably.

Longer term I suspect we'll store up problems for future generations. Life chances are heavily predicted on what happens as a child, including health and so forth.

If it is a plan, it's very much in keeping with this lot's MO. I.e. it's terrible.

Personally I just think Truss et al couldn't care less. Apparently a white paper on health inequalities has been canned. Why might that be?

https://www.theguardian.com/politic...ey-scraps-promised-paper-on-health-inequality

 

[Marius57]

One slight problem with that...

Health inequalities will continue to widen, so there will be more poorer people getting unwell sooner in life. Its chronic conditions that take up a lot of NHS resources, so it'll continue, arguably.

Longer term I suspect we'll store up problems for future generations. Life chances are heavily predicted on what happens as a child, including health and so forth.

If it is a plan, it's very much in keeping with this lot's MO. I.e. it's terrible.

Personally I just think Truss et al couldn't care less. Apparently a white paper on health inequalities has been canned. Why might that be?

https://www.theguardian.com/politic...ey-scraps-promised-paper-on-health-inequality

I agree. And anyone with common sense would see that. (It was said more as a joke than truth but scarily it isn't implausible that it is a plan they come up with, same as johnsons "let the bodies pile high")

Pricing people out of energy also means people are less likely to use it, meaning there's more for them and their rich mates and no supply issues.

 

[DanEFC92]

 

[Marius57]

All based off a mandate she doesn't have because she has completely ignored Johnsons manifesto pledges which got them into power.

Any new leader of a ruling government should be forced to hold a GE before they can do this sort of damage.

 

[Rita_Poon]

Not looking great on this either

Record number of nurses quitting the NHS

Experts call for urgent action on brain drain of staff as 40,000 walk away in the past year.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Bruce Wayne]

 

[Rita_Poon]

Just the beginning, the rats starting to mobilize and head for the dock...

 

[Bruce Wayne]

Not looking great on this either

Record number of nurses quitting the NHS

Experts call for urgent action on brain drain of staff as 40,000 walk away in the past year.

www.bbc.co.uk

That's not something that will be easily fixed either, as deep down it's not really about pay but the fundamental lack of staff. You've got around 330,000 nurses in the NHS, and about 45,000 unfilled vacancies, which essentially means that those that do remain are having to cover 45,000 unfilled roles. Couple that with the intense pressure the service is under anyway and it's no great surprise that burnout is endemic in the profession.

It's perhaps worth remembering that the NMC has around 700,000 nurses registered, so a bloody lot of them have tried the NHS and thought this really isn't for me. The Economist summed it up quite nicely this last week. It really is a terrible employer these days (and not just because of the pay).

The NHS has a lot of locums. It should listen to them

Many people do not want to work full-time for the NHS. With good reason

www.economist.com

 

[Rita_Poon]

Slight spin to that, the 'off-contract' point. Dr X or nurse Y fulfill their contract then take the locum (contractor) hours doing the exact same. I believe there was a push by some nurses to sign contracts that demanded the minimal hours they could because pay is significantly better outside of their nhs contract.
This is difficult because it means shortages are covered in some cases/places but hauling more hours out of any one person with no prospect of relief for burnout or replacement when they've had enough or earned enough only exacerbates the issue. Also losing veterans for whatever reason is painful because those skills and experiences are not so easily replaced, so although theres more trainees, theres less guidance, although theres more enthusiasm amongst a workforce that isnt jaded by the system they walk face first into the maelstrom and the facts of 'life in the trenches'.

 

[Andy McGurk]

When Sunak takes over as leader after Truss is ousted....

 

[ChesterBlue]

Cutting benefits to cover their tax cuts for their rich mates during a cost of living crisis is unimaginably cruel

 

[Lapeno77]

Earlier than expected, but there it is...

 

[Daveysgingerlovechild]

I agree. And anyone with common sense would see that. (It was said more as a joke than truth but scarily it isn't implausible that it is a plan they come up with, same as johnsons "let the bodies pile high")

Pricing people out of energy also means people are less likely to use it, meaning there's more for them and their rich mates and no supply issues.

It is eerily similar to the Thatcher years and the 1980 Black Report. The Tories attempted to suppress it / distance thenselves from it because Thatcher's Govt did not like the emphasis on the social determinants of health and associated spending programmes and recommendations. The behavioural / individual habits stuff they did, but the former did not fit the worldview.

 

[Daveysgingerlovechild]

View attachment 185658
All based off a mandate she doesn't have because she has completely ignored Johnsons manifesto pledges which got them into power.

Any new leader of a ruling government should be forced to hold a GE before they can do this sort of damage.

Remember the grief Labour got for the "Vote Blair and get Brown" stuff in 2005?

Lol. At least it was fairly clear. These have properly snuck in the back door.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

One slight problem with that...

Health inequalities will continue to widen, so there will be more poorer people getting unwell sooner in life. Its chronic conditions that take up a lot of NHS resources, so it'll continue, arguably.

Longer term I suspect we'll store up problems for future generations. Life chances are heavily predicted on what happens as a child, including health and so forth.

If it is a plan, it's very much in keeping with this lot's MO. I.e. it's terrible.

Personally I just think Truss et al couldn't care less. Apparently a white paper on health inequalities has been canned. Why might that be?

https://www.theguardian.com/politic...ey-scraps-promised-paper-on-health-inequality

Experts urge government to keep focus on levelling-up health

Experts are calling on the Government to continue focusing on ‘levelling-up’ health, arguing that reducing the health gap is too important an agenda to abandon.

www.cam.ac.uk