Aneurin Bevan

[piratelassie]

Aneurin Bevan will be turning in his grave. The way the NHS is being managed today is very worrying especially down south. It is well recognised that the NHS in Scotland under the present government is safer than it seems to be under the Lib/ Con gov.,and if we vote no in 2014 then I fear the pressure from Westminster can only increase to follow them. I know I will be accused of making a political point but the NHS is far far to important for that.

[Flynn]

Agreed. The coalition have had to backtrack somewhat in recent days: http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2013/mar/05/nhs-private-sector-humiliating-u-turn-labour.

The PRIVATISE EVERYTHING party are now claiming the PRIVATISE EVERYTHING clause was an accidental piece of bad drafting.

Meanwhile, this is how a privatised healthcare system works in the US: http://healthland.time.com/2013/02/20/bitter-pill-why-medical-bills-are-killing-us/

[RagnarRocks]

THe NHS is a perfect piece of good socialism but just as it shouldn't be privatised neither should it suffer from the problem of over managing I'd like to see more doctors and nurses and a lot less beuarucrats eating up the budget. Healthcare for individuals shouldn't be capped but neither is it a bottomless pit as far as cash goes. One thing I think should be stopped is health tourism but the organisation itself and the dedicated doctors and nurses deserve respect!

[Phill]

It may seem safe under certain hands up in the North but there is a slow and deliberate erosion of services available in Caithness, thus rendering trips to Inverness more frequent.
All seems OK for now but once patient transport is removed and expenses for transport are cut to the minimum for a select few, how will you view the NHS then?

Plenty of good signs around the central belt were the voters are though!

[cptdodger]

Aneurin Bevan will be turning in his grave. The way the NHS is being managed today is very worrying especially down south. It is well recognised that the NHS in Scotland under the present government is safer

I am not going to comment on how the NHS is run here, or in England, I can only go on my experiences dealing with the NHS. I move to Caithness four years ago, in 2008, I was diagnosed with an illness which is progressive and incurable at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee. I saw a Consultant every six months, and my GP every three months. My consultant there, transferred me to a Consultant in Raigmore, as I had not received an appointment for 8 months, I contacted Raigmore who advised me they had transferred me to Caithness General, after another two months of chasing them up, I got to see a Consultant who dealt with general medicine, and had heard of what I had, but never treated anybody with it. That Consultant left nearly two years ago and has not been replaced, I was then transferred back down to Raigmore, and it is now over a year since I have seen any Consultant. My GP knows little about my illness, and as a result I have had to endure procedures, that had the GP done their homework, I would not have had to.

I lived in England for about 14 years, and never, came across anything like it is up here. You carry on thinking the NHS is "safer" in Scotland, but, just do'nt get ill, or you might just find out the hard way, the lack of services that are available at Caithness General.