The ThunderDragon: A Surplus - But At What Cost?

22 November 2007

A Surplus - But At What Cost?

So in a "clampdown on spending" the NHS has turned a £547m deficit last year into a £1.8bn surplus this year. But at what cost to the public? Why do they have this money if not to spend it and use it on bettering facilities and patient care? if they don't need it for that, cut taxes and give it back to the taxpayer!

However, is this surplus good for the NHS? I doubt it. How could it have turned a large deficit one year into an even larger surplus the next year without something happening to the level of service provided? This "clampdown on spending" has probably led to a lack of investment where it is needed and sacking [or just not recruiting] staff wherever possible, no matter the effect on the overall level of care to the patients.

For this financial turnaround in the NHS to have happened to such a large degree is impossible without the lowering of standards. After all, there's no other way that they could have done this since all their income comes from our pockets!

It may look good on the news for the NHS to have a surplus, but it's not good for the NHS on the ground.

Source: BBC

SELF-CONGRATULATORY TESTIMONIALS

54th Right of Centre blog - Iain Dale's Guide to Blogging 2007: Top 100 Right of Centre Blogs

79th best Conservative Blog - Iain Dale's Guide to Political Blogging 2006

"I like the way he handles a broad range of subjects in an engaging and friendly manner. Definitely one of the good guys." - Croydonian

"Right-Wing blogging from a UK student. A fresh perspective on a plethora of events with a healthy interest in shelf-stacking to boot." - Cityunslicker

"One of the more depressing aspects of blogging and the modern world is seeing reams of text on a page. The Thunder Dragon's mixture of politics and fun posts, with good illustrations and quickly made points makes his blog an accessible and fun place to discuss and think about politics." - gracchi

"Already an A lister, technical whiz Thunder Dragon shows that not all A listers are stuck up stats groupies who’d sell their grandmothers for more traffic. And he’s on Iain Dale’s list for a reason – he’s simply a fine blogger, scoring highly on the ten point Dale criteria and with his finger always on the political pulse. He's also the technical brains behind Blogpower, along with Ian at Imagined Community." - James Higham

"The ThunderDragon consistently provides an interesting and enjoyable read - always entertaining and often insightful. His writing may even give us a foretaste of our political future. Stick with him. After all, time will cure his youth." - Tom Paine

"Thunder Dragon - Provocative and inventive, especially for this post about how to sort out the USA. About 22." - Matt Wardman

"The Thunderdragon is one of the rising stars of conservative blogging" - Graachi

"... a cheeky young fire breather" - DuSanne

"A lovely little political blog... The articles are competently written with a small levening of opinion but not too much to annoy" - Baht At

LINK TO THE THUNDERDRAGON - WITH A BANNER!