We need to make sure we preserve the NHS
the NHS and social care in the past decade, the back-door privatisation, the lack of UKbased provision of equipment and support facilities all contributed to the disaster. Other countries have handled the pandemic much better and we could learn from them.
Countries, such as Germany, have a more decentralised systemwhereasintheUK over the past 40 years power has been concentrated in Downing Street. With a feckless and reckless Prime Minister the results have been catastrophic. The top emergency committee is COBRA and is normally chaired by the Prime Minister. Boris Johnson failed to attend five of the first few meetings. There was lots of evidence from other countries that Covid-19 was a deadly virus. However, our Prime Minister was shaking hands with virus positive patients. No wonder he caught the infection and imposed an additional burden on the NHS. His chief adviser, Dominic Cummings, is also reckless. Driving 270 miles to Durham whilst ill with the virus, with a poorly wife and young child, beggars belief. This was compounded by taking his son to hospital and then driving a further 60 miles to test his eyesight. No one knows how much virus spreading he did. His flagrant disregard for the rules has undermined the determination of the general public to curtail their lifestyles for the benefit of society.
I think that “lock down” was introduced too late. My wife and I decided to cancel a planned trip to Italy, because of the death rate there, four weeks before “lock down” in the UK was imposed. My wife and I are old and have been extremely cautious. Going forward, we will look at a variety of expert opinion and will adjust our lifestyles to be well inside the Government’s guidelines.
We arenotoutoftroubleand a quick public inquiry is needed to determine what went wrong and overcome the obstacles , so that those at the front line can save lives. It is known that there was insufficient personal protection equipment and that we had become reliant on supplies from thousands of miles away. We need to restore manufacturing and shorten the supply lines. The testing and contact tracing system appears to be a shambles, with juicy contracts from central Government to private suppliers. Other countries have done better with a less centralised system. It would be better to base the system on locally based NHS laboratories and local public services.
Before the crisis hit , nurses and care workers were leaving on stress grounds. It is essential to adjust the working conditions and pay so that staff are retained. More staff will be needed and the employment prospects of young people are grim. Hence, a huge training programme could benefit health care and the youngsters. Any barriers for health staff who wish to reside in the UK or staff from abroad who wish to come here should be removed. However, I would not condone poaching of overseas staff. One aspect which is being ignored is Brexit. Negotiations with the EU are not going well and there is a danger of a NoDeal exit at the end of the year. Given the state of our economy my guess is that any deal would be better than no deal. At the same time negotiations are proceeding with the USA and to my alarm the NHS is on the table. I am very surprised that the Conservative Party is so unpatriotic.
The NHS belongs to the British people and it should be a public institution funded by taxation.