Comments on: Better a localist NHS than a nationalist one

By: Noma Torian

Noma Torian — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 07:51:58 +0000

would it be possible to translate your website into spanish because i have difficulties of speaking to english, and as there are not many pictures on your website i would like to read more of what you are writting.

By: Total Politics Top Lib Dem Blogs at Charlotte Gore

Total Politics Top Lib Dem Blogs at Charlotte Gore — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 11:14:55 +0000

[...] (-) Wit & Wisdom 44. (-) Duncan Borrowman 45. (-) Nick Clegg MP 46. (-) Nigel Ashton 47. (-) Social Liberal Forum 48. (-) Steve Webb MP 49. (-) The Speaker 50. (-) Belsize [...]

By: Top 75 Lib Dem blogs: the Total Politics List

Top 75 Lib Dem blogs: the Total Politics List — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 08:02:12 +0000

[...] (-) Wit & Wisdom 44. (-) Duncan Borrowman 45. (-) Nick Clegg MP 46. (-) Nigel Ashton 47. (-) Social Liberal Forum 48. (-) Steve Webb MP 49. (-) The Speaker 50. (-) Belsize LibDems 51. (21) Hug a Hoodie 52. (23) [...]

By: Simon

Simon — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 16:30:10 +0000

Excellent article. However, the idea of co-payments is not that bad. Many of the defenders of our policy on tuition fees cite the fact that you can’t have too much education, and so introducing co-payments (in the form of tuition fees) is a bad idea. This doesn’t hold for health, as one can definitely overconsume health services. We also see people book GP appointments and not even turn up. A famous RAND study showed the effects of co-payments on health consumption, which anyone interested in health policy should read.

And, of course, we could always do what we do with prescriptions and waive the co-payments for the elderly and poor.

By: David Heigham

David Heigham — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 12:51:31 +0000

I am no expert in the National Health Service, but:

- Are there “national standards”? I have the impression that the NHS started out with some wide differences in local health care provision; and most of those differntials are still there; 50+ years on.

- Is there “national accountability” for health care outcomes? Where and how?

- “National pay”? I am not sure if the NHS has London differentials at the moment; they seem to come and go. However, surely one of the objectives of Labour (and Tory)contracting out NHS ancilliary activities is to not pay more than the going rate in the local labour market?

By: David

David — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 09:23:32 +0000

James,

You repeat here a claim from a previous article re: the Tories and localism, saying “They have nothing to say about the most important tool at a localist’s disposal: tax”.

Though I am the least likely person to defend the Tories on localism (I remember the comments of their local government spokesperson all to well re: the reasons they were more willing to trust it now), I have to argue that the reason they say nothing on local taxation is because that is the most contentious area, the most likely to create so-called “postcode lotteries”.

I am holidaying in Sweden at the moment, and the biggest complaint the friends I am staying with have about the local education services is that more economically affluent areas are able to raise more in tax, and that therefore there is not equality of funding, which sometimes leads to schools in poorer areas shutting down. Though I am inclined to agree with your reasoning re: localisation of services providing accountability to insure against the “lottery” in “postcode lottery”, I do not agree with your thoughts re: local taxation improving this, because to my mind that creates a recipe for economic inequality being transferred to local services.

By: Quaequam Blog! » Andy Burnham’s unhealthy flag wrapping claptrap

Quaequam Blog! » Andy Burnham’s unhealthy flag wrapping claptrap — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 23:31:49 +0000

[...] written a response to Andy Burnham’s astounding Guardian article on the NHS on the SLF website: Given the choice between “national”, “health” and “service” the word that Burnham [...]