(no subject)

[webofevil]

On the weekend I came across this postcard, which I bought in my final year of school, 1990. How apt that I should happen upon it in time to commemorate the month when the Conservatives—to the eager applause of Labour's Alan Milburn and with the baffling and suicidal support of the Liberal Democrats—were finally able to bring their long-term plans to fruition and begin to parcel off the NHS, the free-marketeer's nemesis, to their loyal friends and supporters.

Coincidentally I now live very close to the hospital in the photo, which is why I can vouch that about 12 years ago it was, with wearying predictability, converted into luxury flatlets.

Comments

[gonzo21.livejournal.com]

Sad sad days. I can only imagine the Lib-Dems are gambling that by the time the next election rolls around, people will have forgotten about the NHS bill.

Which makes me wonder if a backroom deal has been done with the private healthcare companies for them to not start doing anything evil with this new bill until after the next election.

[rosamicula.livejournal.com]

It didn't exactly shut down and cast the kiddies onto the street, did it? The hospital's administration had been petitioning for years for a massive upgrade or transfer to a building more suited to twentieth century medicine, and that's what happened when they moved to the Variety Club Children's Hospital (I was at school at the time and we did some fundraising to purchase artwork for the new hospital, oddly).

[webofevil.livejournal.com]

> I can only imagine the Lib-Dems are gambling that by the time the next election rolls around, people will have forgotten about the NHS bill.

There's no imagining necessary - this is No. 10's explicit assumption. Cameron hasn't yet publicly used the words "it's time to put it behind us and move on", but I suspect it's only a matter of time.

[gonzo21.livejournal.com]

And so long as the great British public don't see services being cut right in front of their noses, they probably will be fine about it. It's going to be a slow erosion that we probably won't see the full effects of for 10 years.

... I am, for once, glad to live Scotland.

Will be interesting to see if they try to push these changes onto the Scottish NHS, or indeed if they can?

[mrslant]

about 12 years ago it was, with wearying predictability, converted into luxury flatlets.

That would have been under the Labour government, then...

[webofevil.livejournal.com]

Well, yes. Everything gets converted into luxury flatlets. I'm not saying that's a specifically Tory trait; it seems to be some subsidiary law of thermodynamics.

[a-pawson.livejournal.com]

Health is not a reserved matter, so the NHS in Scotland is run by the Scottish parliament. The Scottish NHS is going to face budget cuts similar to those in England over the next couple of years though.

[gonzo21.livejournal.com]

Budget cuts that the SNP have quite cleverly postponed these last two years, so that they will hit really hard over the next two years, letting them point at the evil English and say look, it's all their fault, vote for independence!

[http://users.livejournal.com/_moggy_/]

I had my tonsils out there.