Profitable Healing

According to NHS figures more than 4,400 lives can be saved each year if healthcare standards at hospitals were the same during nights and on weekends as during the working day. As a result the NHS is making “24/7 care” a priority.

In response to this Dr Mark Porter, leader of the British Medical Association (BMA), said

‘But the calls we sometimes hear for a Tesco NHS, full service, 24/7, are just ridiculous.’

Reasons given as to why the concept was labelled as ludicrous included the fact that the NHS simply couldn’t afford it. Unlike Tesco, by functioning ‘comprehensively’ 24/7, the NHS would not make any profit.

A survey carried out by the BMA showed that doctors stated ‘financial constraints’ as one of the main barriers they faced when trying to implement changes, alongside shortage of time and excess bureaucracy.

I went and discussed this idea of full-time care with my aunt who is a nurse, living in London. She told me that she supported the notion of 24/7 care and as healthcare professional she wanted nothing more than to provide the highest standard of care for her patients. I then asked her, as a mother of three young children, how if implemented, the new plan would upset her family and social life and whether the implications would cause others to oppose it. After all if the doctors and nurses were unhappy, their productivity levels would decrease which could have adverse implications on the health care.

She told me that “people are always willing to work” and at the end of the day it all came down to affordability.

- http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-23031333 as seen on 1/09/13, 'Tesco-style NHS plan 'ridiculous'", Nick Triggle