Lord Flight is Chairman of Flight & Partners Recovery Fund, and is a former Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury.
The National Health Service sacred Cow has had its day. Everyone knows this to be true, but governments continue to shy away from radical change and reform, because they fear it would be so unpopular with voters – or would it? Everyone knows that as it stands the NHS is one of the most dysfunctional health services in Europe and beyond.
So what reforms would work, and what has shown itself to do so acceptably elsewhere? In most European countries, you go to see the doctor and pay a modest sum for the appointment. Those who do not have the means to pay or are ona pension credit would confirm their position by filling out a form. In Europe, doctors’ surgeries are normally equipped with the latest x-ray machines and they provide much of what happens in A&E in Britain.
It has been proved on so many occasions that where goods or services are provided free, this is abused. At present, people fail to turn up for appointments. If they were charged a modest fee for non-attendance, I am sure many fewer appointments would be missed.
In a different context, pay increases can lead to a reduction in output. Qualified senior doctors had huge pay increases some time ago which has resulted in many retiring early. The bulk of their workload was taken up by the junior doctors, who we all know feel very undervalued. Here again, the system is crazy. The junior doctors qualify at Great Britain’s expense, but then head off to other countries where the pay is better. Something similar can be said about nurses.
There are however, areas in the NHS which are massively underfunded. Lady Flight met two air ambulance men recently who asked her whether she knew how many helicopters there were in London to serve the population, and was told just two.
The rot set in when matron was replaced by high-earning managers. Nurses became grand and would only do certain jobs. As seen by the current strikes, for many their interest in their patients is not their first priority. Indeed, the same can be said of others on strike.
When people are alone, old and vulnerable, it is a disgrace to inflict strikes upon them. Wages do need to go up, but savings must be found to pay for them.
Having visited many older people’s homes, Lady Flight is not surprised that older people often do not wish to reside there. They know that their life expectancy is only two to three years. Care homes are also incredibly expensive and mostly very much run as a business.
We believe that people should be able to choose when and how to end their lives. The arguments supporting against voluntary euthanasia will, I believe, fade away over the next decade, and public opinion will come round to supporting voluntary euthanasia.
People need something positive to look forward to. Few children can afford the time or cost to live near their ageing parents and, with both husband and wife working, cannot be expected to cross the country to visit elderly parents often. So the parent is left living in a soulless existence, “waiting for the great reaper”.
I believe an individual should have the right to specify when, where and how they wish to turn off their lives. This would require an application of standard arrangements and laid down standards. What is surely wrong is for an individual not to be able to terminate their lives when they wish to do so.
Interestingly, while death was a much addressed and discussed subject in the nineteenth century, it has become taboo in the twentieth – a subject not to be talked about in public. What I believe is needed is a “rule book” setting out what you need to do if you wish to end your life in a civilised way.
Lord Flight is Chairman of Flight & Partners Recovery Fund, and is a former Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury.
The National Health Service sacred Cow has had its day. Everyone knows this to be true, but governments continue to shy away from radical change and reform, because they fear it would be so unpopular with voters – or would it? Everyone knows that as it stands the NHS is one of the most dysfunctional health services in Europe and beyond.
So what reforms would work, and what has shown itself to do so acceptably elsewhere? In most European countries, you go to see the doctor and pay a modest sum for the appointment. Those who do not have the means to pay or are ona pension credit would confirm their position by filling out a form. In Europe, doctors’ surgeries are normally equipped with the latest x-ray machines and they provide much of what happens in A&E in Britain.
It has been proved on so many occasions that where goods or services are provided free, this is abused. At present, people fail to turn up for appointments. If they were charged a modest fee for non-attendance, I am sure many fewer appointments would be missed.
In a different context, pay increases can lead to a reduction in output. Qualified senior doctors had huge pay increases some time ago which has resulted in many retiring early. The bulk of their workload was taken up by the junior doctors, who we all know feel very undervalued. Here again, the system is crazy. The junior doctors qualify at Great Britain’s expense, but then head off to other countries where the pay is better. Something similar can be said about nurses.
There are however, areas in the NHS which are massively underfunded. Lady Flight met two air ambulance men recently who asked her whether she knew how many helicopters there were in London to serve the population, and was told just two.
The rot set in when matron was replaced by high-earning managers. Nurses became grand and would only do certain jobs. As seen by the current strikes, for many their interest in their patients is not their first priority. Indeed, the same can be said of others on strike.
When people are alone, old and vulnerable, it is a disgrace to inflict strikes upon them. Wages do need to go up, but savings must be found to pay for them.
Having visited many older people’s homes, Lady Flight is not surprised that older people often do not wish to reside there. They know that their life expectancy is only two to three years. Care homes are also incredibly expensive and mostly very much run as a business.
We believe that people should be able to choose when and how to end their lives. The arguments supporting against voluntary euthanasia will, I believe, fade away over the next decade, and public opinion will come round to supporting voluntary euthanasia.
People need something positive to look forward to. Few children can afford the time or cost to live near their ageing parents and, with both husband and wife working, cannot be expected to cross the country to visit elderly parents often. So the parent is left living in a soulless existence, “waiting for the great reaper”.
I believe an individual should have the right to specify when, where and how they wish to turn off their lives. This would require an application of standard arrangements and laid down standards. What is surely wrong is for an individual not to be able to terminate their lives when they wish to do so.
Interestingly, while death was a much addressed and discussed subject in the nineteenth century, it has become taboo in the twentieth – a subject not to be talked about in public. What I believe is needed is a “rule book” setting out what you need to do if you wish to end your life in a civilised way.