NHS JOB LOSSES CONTINUE

A total of 903 NHS staff have been made redundant in the last six months due to the financial crisis in the service, ministers admitted today. Statistics show that among the compulsory job losses, 167 were clinical staff such as doctors, nurses and therapists. The remainder were managers and administrators.

The Department of Health released the figures to prove that Tory and union estimates of 20,000 job losses were too high. Health minister Andy Burnham demanded that Conservative leader David Cameron apologise for his "grossly exaggerated claims". The Tory figures included measures such as not filling vacancies and using fewer agency staff.

Last week it emerged that 95 doctors, nurses, and administration staff at Kingston Hospital could be given their redundancy notices two weeks before Christmas. Tony Blair predicted that a "few hundred" NHS workers would lose their jobs as a result of financial pressures and changes to the way healthcare is delivered.

An independent watchdog was due to report today to Parliament on the standards of healthcare in the NHS. The Healthcare Commission's annual report is based on the experiences of patients. It covers a period in which many trusts have struggled with deficits which have forced cutbacks.

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For greatest efficiency, lowest cost and maximum choice, ALL hospitals and health insurance schemes should be privately owned and run -- with government-paid vouchers for the very poor and minimal regulation. Both Australia and Sweden have large private sector health systems with government reimbursement for privately-provided services so can a purely private system with some level of government reimbursement or insurance for the poor be so hard to do?

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