Please can we keep politics out of the NHS

I have just undergone surgery for carpal tunnel and trigger finger at the Meriden Hospital, Coventry, which meant that I got the treatment quicker, and the NHS got it cheaper, than if I had been on an NHS hospital waiting list.

So, when I hear of politicians pontificating that they will do all they can to stop initiatives like this, they need a reality check, because patients want access to treatment, quickly, not political dogma, taking forever.

The NHS performance target for A&E is that 95% of patients should be seen within 4 hours? But that is a stupid statistic, because it is too global, and doesn’t take account of situational factors, for problem resolution. Equally more patients are now attending A&E because of (unmentionable) immigration, and the fact that, when in office, Labour changed the contractual arrangements of GPs, as a consequence of which people turned up at A&E rather than surgeries.

The figures for England, on this indicator show that 85% of people are being seen, which Labour are calling a crisis, but in Wales, where Labour has control of the NHS the figure is 72%, and it is even worse in Scotland and Northern Ireland, thanks to political dogma.

The future of the NHS is through the effective, efficient, economic delivery of clinical services, as demonstrated by my GP practice, which is superb. It is not through an army of politico bureaucrats who lurch from cock up to cover up, as is now the case. Labour need to renounce it’s declaration to “weaponize” the NHS, and all politicians need to wake up and realise the patients want good treatment, not politics, that trap the NHS in a quagmire of rows that are just point scoring, but not resolving issues. KEEP POLITICS OUT OF THE NHS. Got it?

Steve Vickers