Forums General chat NHS – will it survive? Reply To: NHS – will it survive? January 24, 2018 at 10:12 am #301 karen 18 Posts @notherngal I really don’t think that people were healthier before the NHS, which would be the logical conclusion from what has just been said. There have been massive improvements in treatments, over the last 70 yrs, with drugs that no-one had even dreamed of before WWII. And, of course, improved access to whatever treatments are available. Lifespans have increased because preventative medicine has developed alongside treatments and screening programs for early detection of major illnesses. Just think of the improved survival rates for cancer patients, premature babies, diabetes patients etc, etc. and the diseases that have been eradicated, such as diphitheria I agree with the consultant cited in OP, the NHS is being set up to fail and various News organizations are either a) accidentally playing into the Gvt’s hands by highlighting the problems without really explaining why they are happening or b) deliberately supporting the campaign to talk the NHS into oblivion. There may be more people than usual with flu this year, as the vaccine didn’t target the correct strain (why not? – the children’s version did) but the main reason for the shortage of beds, isn’t unprecedented demand, or ‘bed-blocking’ (horrible term), it is closure of beds/wards/hospitals in the name of ‘efficiency’. It isn’t efficient it simply saves money which is disgraceful, when UK spending on healthcare is the lowest percentage of GDP than any other European country. There are any number of ways to find the money that could be spent on the NHS if it wasn’t wasted on ridiculous vanity projects. I could save a fortune out of the education budget, simply by stopping the program of Academisation, never mind some of the other nonsense that wastes the education budget, such as national phonics testing for 6 yr olds, piloting of ‘baseline’ tests by 3 different private organizations, in thousands of schools, which was then abandoned. I am sure that those who know than I do about other gvt departments could also find easy ways to make savings.