Skip to main content

Bright future for NHS in Wales!

During the last few days of the referendum debates in Scotland, the subject of NHS funding inevitably and inexorably made it's way to the top of the agenda. It seems there are few subjects which can scare people more effectively than the NHS. In January, the Health Minister in the Welsh Assembly made a very important speech which was not afforded anything like the coverage it deserved. That is a great shame because for once, a senior Minister in the UK made a speech the content of which should be mandatory reading for everyone.

In seeking to promote a new era of "Prudent Health Care", Mark Drakeford reminded his audience that "each of us has a duty to look after our own health - we must all become custodians of our own health". This is no less than the reality. Access to the NHS has to have some strings attached before the whole system just collapses under the strain. 

"The NHS is free from charge but not free from obligation". If we all want it to remain free at the point of access true to the founding principles of Bevan, we have no choice but to recognise and accept our own obligations. It was a refreshing appraisal of the status quo. 

In his speech, Prof. Drakeford looked at health care both from the perspective of the individual and the whole population. He correctly proposes more of a joint effort between the patient and the healthcare professional. This will serve to promote a more concordant approach which is well known to yield more effective outcomes for the patient. It also has the added advantage of reducing waste with respect to both time and resources. When we go to our dentist, we sit there and the dentist tells us what we need to be doing better to have more healthy teeth. For reasons which are not always obvious, our visit to the doctor tends to begin with the doctor asking us what the problem is. The new approach being espoused by the Minister for Health urges us as patients and healthcare professionals to be more collaborative in seeking more effective solutions.  

The population has to play it's part by everyone accepting their responsibility for their own health. Prof. Drakeford is absolutely right even if achieving this is going to take time. Nothing will ever be achieved unless everyone knows where the goalposts are. It is going to take cultural change and that sort of change can take generations to achieve.

He is also right to point out that this strategy is not another case of "the Nanny State". By employing a more preventative approach and seeking to make healthcare interventions with the greatest chance of long term benefit, this approach simply seeks to avoid the higher, long term costs associated with avoidable ill health. 

Avoidable. That is the crucial word. He isn't talking about the unfortunate members of our society with problems beyond their control. He is just referring to the large numbers of people taking daily decisions which are known to exert negatively on their health - avoidable. This is why, among other things, he proposes a minimum 50p per unit charge for alcohol. This will exert a great benefit in a number of ways.

A minimum price for alcohol will reduce the existing chasm between supermarket and pub prices. The reason so many pubs have gone by the wayside is that they have been forced out of business by the loss leader strategies of the supermarkets. The reason this matters is that pubs were, and still should be, community hubs. The reason this is important is that the aspirations of the Health Minister will be dependent on a renewed community spirit. The effect of a 50p minimum price will be a bottle of wine for about £6.00 and a 4 pack of beer cans for £4.00. In other words, it wouldn't be dramatically different from the prices now but it would make the current playing field more level. More importantly, it would also serve to address the growing problem of alcohol addiction which continues to blight our society in Wales. It is admittedly very difficult to address those currently addicted but it is surely the least we can do to try and deter the next generation. 

The content of this speech needs to go viral like one of those funny videos we see on social media. If it does, there is every chance that our NHS will be able to continue true to the founding principles of Bevan. As the Minister said, "We must all become custodians of our own health".


Comments

  1. Smoking, drinking, over-eating, drugs, physical inactivity.
    These are the main causes off ill health at all ages. Those who indulge in them are not bothered. That is the problem.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I don't entirely agree with you. I'm not aware of evidence which finds that people indulging in the main causes of ill health are just not bothered. Inside, I think we're all bothered. The difference is that some people appear to need a bit more time and attention to help them recognise the value of their health within the context of their lives. If I didn't believe this, it is arguable why we would have an NHS in the first place. Surely the aspiration of the NHS or any other healthcare system is to try their best to get people back on their feet not just for today but for the rest of their lives as well?

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Labour Leadership hopefuls thwarted by Socialist!

When Yvette Cooper today called for UK councils to each take a quota of Syrian refugees, it illustrated the pitfalls of political ambition. As is the custom for the modern breed of politician, she first went to Oxford to study politics, philosophy and economics in which she gained a first class honours degree. The daughter of the former leader of the Prospect union, she left Oxford to gain further qualifications at Harvard and the London School of Economics respectively. Then it was time to gain employment in the real world. Her first job in 1990 was as a policy researcher for the then Labour leader John Smith. By 1992, she had left these shores to help Bill Clinton with his presidential campaign. Any chances of real experience of the real world were dashed when she came back to become a policy advisor to Harriet Harman. This was followed by a role working as a research associate at the Centre for Economic Performance. By 1995, she had progressed to become Chief Economic Correspond...

Are you being served?

Denbighshire County Council (DCC) have just published their Resident's Survey Report. And an interesting read it is too. But before scrutinising the content of that Report, it is interesting to note that the Local Government Data Unit has just announced that DCC was one of the top 5 performing Councils in Wales during 2015/16. But sadly, the Resident's Survey Report was not used to come to this conclusion. If it had been used, it would be difficult to believe that DCC is one of the best performing councils in Wales - unless the others are even worse. Although I'm not sure if DCC are legally required to conduct a Resident's Survey, I would have thought it to be an obvious thing to do. To quote the Local Government Authority, "Understanding the resident's views is a key element of assessing the effectiveness of an authority, alongside cost and performance information. Furthermore, understanding resident satisfaction and being able to make informed comparison...

A golden opportunity for Denbigh?

Mini outbursts of discussion continue do their rounds on social media regarding the present state of our town in Denbigh. The temptation to bemoan the status quo is seldom far away as we seek to compare the past with the present. The world around us has changed radically since the second world war and it is often a great challenge for us all to keep abreast of that change. Sixty years ago, it was still fairly normal to see a horse and trap coming to town. Such a sight today would bring the town to a standstill - if indeed there were any shoppers there. The way we communicated sixty years ago was mainly by word of mouth with the written word still being the domain of the pen in our hand. The way we shopped has changed radically too although not always as much as some people think. In those days it was still fairly standard practice for a local shop to deliver their goods to households within a few miles of their premises. In recent years, the ubiquitous supermarkets have been quick ...