Election fever

So Gordon Brown is promising us a 'More Personal NHS' is he? Needless to say he didn't go into specifics, but if you extrapolate what his party has done in the past 10 years you get a pretty clear idea of what he's on about:Evidently, a personal NHS is an NHS where flexibility and motivation are completely removed from the careers of its workers.It's an NHS where targets are based on politics and finances, and where patient care doesn't matter a jot - the figures can be tweaked to make it look as though patients are getting a good deal when they're actually being used as pawns in a political game.It's an NHS where the public's hard-earned taxes are wasted on PFI deals and management consultancies instead of on healthcare.It's an NHS where billions of pounds of public money is wasted on failed IT projects.It's an NHS where talented doctors are forced into posts they don't want, or chucked out of the system if they don't strike it lucky.It's an NHS where nurses and physios can perform doctors' roles, but only if the patient fits the rigid protocol.It's an NHS where the top-class service used to be based on the motivation of juniors keen to achieve, and the goodwill of seniors keen to provide an excellent service... but such activities are no longer permitted.It's an NHS which tried to get a better deal from GPs by grossly underestimating the work they do, then launching a hate campaign against them because they achieved above and beyond the government's expectations.It's an NHS which pushes patients from pillar to post, wasting money, time and resources instead of providing the professional care and input which is required.

This article first featured on Dr Rant