Gary's views

Gary's weekly views

Each week an article by Gary has appeared in the Plympton Plymstock and Ivybridge News in South West Devon. The articles are published here

Health Service

The cat is out of the bag. It’s what many of us expected, but now its official. Figures released independently last week told us that spending on the health service has increased by 37% in the past six years, but output has only increased by 5%. In other words we are all pouring a lot more into the health service, but it is only getting a little bit better.

Few things are as important to any of us than access to first class health care when we need it. Thank goodness there is some improvement, but is 5% a big enough return for all of those extra billions of our hard earned tax? And why am I still getting serious complaints each week about the performance of Derriford Hospital.

Every time I go up to the hospital I am impressed by the effort that everyone is putting in – doctors, nurses and support staff, yes, even the much-maligned management. Everyone wants the hospital to succeed and everyone is working hard, often under enormous pressure. The people in the health service could not be trying any harder. It is not the people, it is the system.

I am increasingly convinced that no matter how much of our cash is poured in the top, it will never produce the quality of outcomes that we all increasingly demand. The government is trying to boost performance by the imposition of a vast battery of targets for every person and every department in the Health Service. This has resulted in the recruitment of an equally vast army of bureaucrats whose job it is to make sure these targets are met. We now have more bureaucrats than beds in the NHS, an achievement unrivalled anywhere else in Europe!

But targets and monitoring do not make people better. If you are a nurse or doctor already working as hard as you can, what is the point of someone standing at your elbow with a clipboard? Wouldn’t it be better if that person were an extra nurse to help with ward duties?

And why do politicians and mandarins at Whitehall think they know better than the local professionals how Derriford should be run?

No, the system is too centralised and drowning in meaningless targets, pointless data collection and useless performance assessment.

I salute every one who works at Derriford. You deserve a system that supports you, not suffocates you.

What do you think? Mail@garystreeter.co.uk

posted by Nigel on Monday, December 15, 2003