John Taylor appears to have developed a kind of sincerity beyond
normal bounds, being that he is able to put his name to a premise in which he
does not agree and then agrees with what he reads!
Once again, as we are subjected the weekly bafflingly
ridiculous political propaganda from the pen of Cllr John Taylor, (or whoever
it is who ghosts his letters) it is becoming increasingly obvious that whoever
it is who creates this literal 'jibber-jabber' has convinced himself that he is a
man confidently adorned in the finest raiment’s of reason, but when analysed,
we find that he is barely able to dress himself!
This week, the focus of his one-sided observations fell on
the NHS and the dreaded ‘threat’ of ‘privatisation’ - a debate which I predict
will become more to the fore as we near the next General Election.
Now it may have passed the intrepid Labour councillor by, or
maybe he purely chose to not mention it, but the irrefutable fact is; from its
inception when Aneurin Bevan opened the first National Health hospital in
Manchester, the private sector played a large role in the setting up of the
NHS, and has done so ever since!
The irony here is that although all political parties have
remained wedded to the principal of ‘free at the point of use’ the Labour party
decided from the very beginning to depend entirely on the private sector for
the crucial supply of drugs, medicines and other essential medical supplies. To
this day the NHS would collapse if not for the large pharmaceutical and medical
supplies companies on which it depends for everything from headache pills to x-ray
equipment, hi-tech' screening devices and MRI scanners, to everyday bandages and
bedpans.
John Taylor also missed out reminding us that it was none
other than the Labour government who did in fact break their own promise of
‘free at the point of need’ by introducing ‘prescription charges’ which admittedly
have subsequently been accepted by all governments ever since as a modification
to the main ‘free’ principle.
Then of course we have our local GPs who from the creation
of the NHS have remained ‘private sector businesses’ - who earn much of their
living from NHS contract payments. This is why many of our local GPs are able
to perform private sector work in their surgeries, charge for offering holiday
and travel advice, vaccinations, private consultations, work for legal cases
and the like, all for very attractive fees and charges. Let’s also not forget
that most GPs arrange their own properties, finance their own practises and
hire their own staff. Some also run their own dispensing service to earn
additional revenue.
Although the Conservatives did open certain NHS services to
private sector contractors, to look after cleaning, provide the meals and some
of the other ‘hotel style’ services, likewise whilst in office Labour argued
that good quality care free at the point of use, could be done more quickly and
more cheaply and better by buying in service from the private sector and paying
for it with NHS funds for patients in order to relieve shortages of capacity in
particular specialities and to reduce the waiting lists.
I'd like to bet that most of us know someone whose had surgery on the NHS at The Alex' or another 'BUPA' style hospital, who say, 'they were treated like Kings!'
I'd like to bet that most of us know someone whose had surgery on the NHS at The Alex' or another 'BUPA' style hospital, who say, 'they were treated like Kings!'
I therefore treat the councillor’s diatribe to make a
political issue out of a Tory ‘threat’ for further privatisation with total
contempt; unless of course John Taylor is saying that the Labour party, under
Red Ed’ will be announcing step-change policies in their pre-election manifesto,
were Labour; who employed and actively encouraged the extensive use of the
private sector when last in power, would now want to nationalise General
Practitioners and drug companies should they ever to get
back into office.
As far as I can see, there is absolutely no threat from any
political party to the idea that the NHS should not be free at the point of
need to those who want it. Which is, in effect, all people want to know! And despite his continual political scaremongering, to the contrary, I suspect Cllr Taylor and his political masters in London know it too!
Another point to consider when listening to Cllr Taylor’s criticism
of the private sector, is why, considering his apparent principled stance against
anything ‘private’, the councillor of which he is a major policy maker, has not offered to resign over the councils
increasing practice of handing out lucrative contracts for once council run
services to private companies? A practice that even his own Trade Union brothers in UNISON criticise.
Maybe he could start by justifying the average
monthly spend of over £6million with INSPIREDSPACES TAMESIDE LIMITED?
Perhaps he could also
justify the £900,000 that was over-paid by Tameside
Council to Meridian Healthcare in 2011, for care home beds that were never used!
Or the millions awarded to Carillion for facilities Management and housekeeping
services, not to mention the hundreds of £millions his council has signed away
in PFI contracts?
Of course we will not get an answer to all this, but I
predict that next week’s ‘Letter from Ducky’ will revert to his default dialogue on ‘local history’!
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