NHS: Now The Chips Are Down

January 11, 2018 By Malcolm Blair-Robinson

It was bound to happen. The moment when everybody admits the NHS is underfunded and unable to deliver to an acceptable standard. No amount of commissioning boards, quangos and regulators can disguise this simple truth, obvious to many including this blog for some years.  The notion that you can provide an infinite service, which must expand with demand, on a finite budget is mathematically impossible, except on a rationed service and for a short time.

So now the conversation has begun. So far the government is staying silent, but it knows it is rumbled. This blog suspects that Jeremy Hunt, who refused to move in the cabinet reshuffle, is more than happy that the **** is now hitting the fan and  intends to launch a campaign within government for a completely new funding concept and settlement.

We will wait and watch and comment. There is another truth which will send shivers through the Tory ranks at every level. A major crisis in the Brexit saga can derail the government. But a major crisis in the NHS will bring it down for sure.