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Cant disagree with the last bit, but are you saying Chris that you are ok with privatization?

I'm not going to get involved with politics; there's too little difference between the parties now to make argument worthwhile:(this is another area in which we're following the trend set by the U.S.A.). the short answer is that, as a world, not just as a nation, we're breeding too fast and living too long; I heard on the news today that within ten years, 50% of us will be diagnosed with cancer, which is largely a disease of old age. The good news is that about 40% of those diagnosed will survive... ah, maybe that's not such good news after all. The best thing we can do about the situation is to get young people better educated and get the layabouts off their fat a*ses and into productive work, when they will pay tax rather than being a drain on society. I worked continuously for 49 years and am now enjoying the income which the State kindly provides. I am, these days, totally apolitical so I refuse to get into arguments about which party is best: I reckon that the present lot is doing the best it can with the resources it has.

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My point exactly Frank, the Government isnt going to state "We are going to privatize the health service more and more and more ,so that in the end you will be paying for everything you get,and if you dont get or cant afford insurance, thats tough because all you will get for free, is a minimal inferior service if you can queue long enough and if you're lucky enough to have a hospital near enough that accepts non private patients."

That wouldnt go down well , would it?

Would you be happy with my scenario Frank, or is it that you truly believe the Government have 'finished' privatization now ,and trust that they wont take it to the levels Ive mentioned?

The British Medical Association has passed a motion of no confidence in Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt.

Sky news.

Why do I think the Govt are going to take privatization further Frank?

Because , to quote you

"NHS has been privatised for many years now, that is why we pay for dental treatment, prescriptions etc. Even car parking to visit our family members in hospital has been privatised "

and they never said said all those things were being done in the name of privatization either, they were all just quietly slid in, as will the rest of their privatization plans , mostly probably wearing the guise of some other reason.
The very first tinkering by Mrs T, was the thin end of the wedge , and the wedge has driven deeper and deeper and deeper.

Birkenhead Medical Centre is now owned by Virgin, I believe.

The first hospital car parks that I remember bringing in charges, was back in 1990's in Ipswich.
The general public were guilty of using the free car park whilst doing their shopping ,then returning to have lunch or afternoon tea in the subsidised hospital cafeteria. Thus, the visitors to patients were unable to access either facility. So that makes sense. Always the few who spoil it for the many!

it is not scaremongering- it is true. The NHS IS being privatised.
I laughed out loud at 'all you can do is vote for your party of choice'. omg.
Talk about encouraging people to remain 'sheeples'!!

yes, there is apathy due to people not being aware of the facts, fear etc
-overturning the poll tax didnt happen overnight either.

I'm all in favour of saving the NHS but I think that the 42,000 Source staff members that didn't turn up for work today and every day need start caring first.

The nhs is a joke,the treatment from the medically qualified people is fantastic. I have been off work for 6 weeks now after an injury... Unpaid. If I was in the nhs I could remain off work for 6 months... FULL PAY! Can you see the problem?

Frank-Posting an 'up and coming event' hardly constitutes spending all my time egging people to join demos. lol.

what makes you assume i'm a Labour supporter?

Demos' in Hamilton Square and Arrowe? Never heard of them! Must have been poorly advertised, if i'd have known I would have posted an event.

As stated, it takes two minutes (even less to copy and paste) to set up a new post and its up to people whether they want to attend or not.

I cant believe some of the responses on here rudebox, the guy whining because he's self employed and didn't get paid for six weeks reeks of jealousy and the one telling us the country is run by the trade unions I wish, he must have been reading Enid Blyton.I am truly frightened for my family (all of whom work and have since they left school)if this government get another term in power it is truly the party of self interest.

Yup. Your source is the Daily Mail.

I didn't mention the Labour party Frankie, but at least we got some crumbs off the table from them, lets see what did we get off the cons, de regulation , privatisation,the best of british sold off to the lowest bidder and now sold back to us for obscene amounts of money,thatcher's government encouraged the unemployed to apply and receive disability benefit to massage the unemployment figures, but of course now they don't care because they hide behind the recession and of course blame it all on the previous government they must also be responsible for all the other countries both inside and out of the EEC including the USA who are in recession,but hey lets face it there are enough thieves and rogues from all parties in parliament and that my friend is were the problem lies

What you have to remember with the NHS is that the bulk of the workforce are frontline staff like nurses, and there are NHS policies in force which for obvious reasons, preclude them from going into work with many of the ailments that we would drag ourselves into work with . Rightly so but it skews figures that the good ole DM like to pick up on.

Regarding the 6mths pay you mention. The NHS in the early days of setting up, was 'a good employer' . Nothing wrong with that .Its a vital service , highly very specifically trained staff in the main , that you want to look after, retain, and then get back to work asap for all our sakes. The 6mths rule is available to management in pursuit of that.

Why get rid of it?Its been negotiated properly for all the right reasons , since whenever.Its there for employees to be treated fairly, when genuinely sick.
Management doesnt however have to sit back and watch endless people skiving or failing to do their job , its within HR's power , (and its what they should be doing) to monitor sickness and productivity levels , warn and reprimand when it turns out to be inefficiency or melingering, and follow the correct course to sacking if it continues.

The private sector has never been prone to carrying dead wood in the form of genuine but unproductive on/off sick employees. The NHS has always been a bit soft that way, so in genuine cases of continual illness , they may ,just because the 6mths are available , keep that person employed far longer than they need to instead of going through available procedures to get the person evaluated professionally .If it is assessed that the person is so repeatedly sick they are not cost effective for the NHS to continue to employ, they they should be and can be got rid of. Maybe HR arent doing this.

So, maybe since decentralization and reorganizations, NHS HR Departments whether through lack of skill or lack of will, just are'nt using the tools available to keep a good sick pay system free from abuse?
So, we dont need to get rid of the system, we need the system managed properly , so that it works the way its supposed to.

Sadly though, where the unions are powerful as in Wirral, I suspect that if HR did try harder to use procedures at their disposal to get the 6mth system operating properly , the first time someone got sacked for taking too many days off unjustifiably, there would be screams of anguish from Unite or whoever, and the trust would end up having to pay stacks of money for bank and agency staff during the outcry to have the sacked person reinstated!!

If you believe what you have written Frank then it is you who has been brainwashed, no it was definitely Thatcher,so we reduce jobs in the public sector were are people going to be employed? the private sector? factories and businesses going broke by the day, armed forces cut to the bone, manufacturing industries sold off, so then they end up unemployed on benefits they lose their homes they cant contribute to the national purse, of course the Tories could bring back the workhouses scrap the NHS and those that cant pay can die in the streets that's the vision for the future they have back to the days of the blocker and tipping your forelock, they have no understanding and no compassion their ethos is money and privilege.