11-05-13, 03:29 AM
Thing is, we don't (or shouldn't) need to exclude any particular people / groups - all the crap spouted by out-of-touch people about "unable to afford free-at-the-point-of-use healthcare" is bollocks.
Billions are wasted in the public sector supply chain through poor tendering and procurement (as one contractor put it "it's really a case of think of a number and double it") (think of the number of failed IT projects), MP's are picking up silly money for doing sod all (dodgy expenses anyone??), (similar can be said for plenty council officials), people are sat in cushy, comfy offices doing non-jobs picking up fat salaries etc. Atos (the firm employed to assess people's fitness to work) are a prime example - staff without medical / clinical training are sending people to work, that aren't fit to work (they'll doubtless be paid by every "case" (person) examined and passed fit (thus it'll be in their interest to say "s/he can work") - and Atos staff opinions seemingly count for more than that of a Doctor who has spent 5 or 6 years at university to train in their profession. And doubtless Atos "services" (as a private contractor) won't come cheap either.
I had a spell on the dole about 4 years ago, claimed the JSA / HB / CTB, and received no less than 4 (yes, FOUR) letters concerning the calculation of HB / CTB from ONE office - so, 4 sheets of paper, 4 envelopes, 4 x postage costs, when it could have been sent in one. Multiply that nationwide (2m? people), and it soon adds up. And we wonder why the country is broke.
The NHS (and other public services) is surrounded by officialdom to a stupid level - endless paperwork ("paperless office" anyone??), and loads of time taken (wasted) to fill it out (and before anyone says it, I'm not having a dig at the genuinely-hard-working-and-constantly-up-against-it staff).
Central Government seem to pull services up from the roots for the fun of it, and it's a costly process that doesn't actually seem to achieve anything useful.
Get rid of the red tape and stupidity, and there is enough money in the kitty to afford it.
Billions are wasted in the public sector supply chain through poor tendering and procurement (as one contractor put it "it's really a case of think of a number and double it") (think of the number of failed IT projects), MP's are picking up silly money for doing sod all (dodgy expenses anyone??), (similar can be said for plenty council officials), people are sat in cushy, comfy offices doing non-jobs picking up fat salaries etc. Atos (the firm employed to assess people's fitness to work) are a prime example - staff without medical / clinical training are sending people to work, that aren't fit to work (they'll doubtless be paid by every "case" (person) examined and passed fit (thus it'll be in their interest to say "s/he can work") - and Atos staff opinions seemingly count for more than that of a Doctor who has spent 5 or 6 years at university to train in their profession. And doubtless Atos "services" (as a private contractor) won't come cheap either.
I had a spell on the dole about 4 years ago, claimed the JSA / HB / CTB, and received no less than 4 (yes, FOUR) letters concerning the calculation of HB / CTB from ONE office - so, 4 sheets of paper, 4 envelopes, 4 x postage costs, when it could have been sent in one. Multiply that nationwide (2m? people), and it soon adds up. And we wonder why the country is broke.
The NHS (and other public services) is surrounded by officialdom to a stupid level - endless paperwork ("paperless office" anyone??), and loads of time taken (wasted) to fill it out (and before anyone says it, I'm not having a dig at the genuinely-hard-working-and-constantly-up-against-it staff).
Central Government seem to pull services up from the roots for the fun of it, and it's a costly process that doesn't actually seem to achieve anything useful.
Get rid of the red tape and stupidity, and there is enough money in the kitty to afford it.