The underlying shift towards 'higher trained nurses' and paramedics has been slow but inexorable here...
The original goals that the NHS set out to achieve have been surpassed many times over since it's inception, but the constant shifting of priorities and the methods of realising them, political meddling and the sheer rise in numbers has the whole system on the ropes.
Sometime ago, it needed a total overhaul but no-one had the political will to change - either that or it would have been suicide to do so.
The NHS functions, after a fashion, but is a huge black hole.
It needs further funding = more tax but then you end up with an increasing number of dependents and a shrinking number of contributors as the workforce grows older and lives longer.
I am not sure if Americans realise that for example, if I need full time nursing care in the future, live alone and have to go into a care home, the local authority will seize my house to pay for the care which typically runs at around £1,200 per week.
That's a terrible thing to contemplate after a lifetime of hard work.
(This practice of course, has nothing to do with the NHS but relates to general care which is the responsibility of the Local Authority but it is related, i.e. tax funding driven)
The original goals that the NHS set out to achieve have been surpassed many times over since it's inception, but the constant shifting of priorities and the methods of realising them, political meddling and the sheer rise in numbers has the whole system on the ropes.
Sometime ago, it needed a total overhaul but no-one had the political will to change - either that or it would have been suicide to do so.
The NHS functions, after a fashion, but is a huge black hole.
It needs further funding = more tax but then you end up with an increasing number of dependents and a shrinking number of contributors as the workforce grows older and lives longer.
I am not sure if Americans realise that for example, if I need full time nursing care in the future, live alone and have to go into a care home, the local authority will seize my house to pay for the care which typically runs at around £1,200 per week.
That's a terrible thing to contemplate after a lifetime of hard work.
(This practice of course, has nothing to do with the NHS but relates to general care which is the responsibility of the Local Authority but it is related, i.e. tax funding driven)