to all the workers, a message from the bosses

[SV650rules]

https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/...nce-chief.html

Now you know why council tax keeps rising.... finally salary pension schemes were phased out by most private sector companies a long time ago...

[littleoldman2]

Originally Posted by SV650rules

https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/...nce-chief.html

Now you know why council tax keeps rising.... finally salary pension schemes were phased out by most private sector companies a long time ago...

I'm sure that's part of the reason, but the real reason is that there is no alternative to choose between. Monopolies always lead to high prices, public / private doesn't matter.

[Heorot]

The National Audit Office found 38 per cent of all local NHS organisations are struggling to balance their books and raising serious concerns about value for money.

Meg Hillier, an MP for Hackney in London and the chairman of the Committee of Public Accounts, said: 'It is deeply concerning that local auditors are raising increasing numbers of concerns about local bodies’ arrangements to secure value for money, but these are often not being listened to and there is no consequence for the local bodies themselves.

No consequences, so no attempt to balance the books. The government is expected to bail them every time.

[Adam Ef]

My friend who is an NHS nurse had his hours / days cut in an attempt by his department to save money, at least so it looked that way on paper to appease budget handling people. Only problem was they actually needed him for the same original hours (and more), so he now also picks up extra work to his reduced hours, back up to what he was doing before, via an agency at a higher rate of pay than before. So the department end up paying more for him, but on paper it they've lowered their permament staff wages to make the budget handling people happy.

[keith_d]

Ooh, we've found another one of those big questions...

In the UK there is effectively an unlimited demand for healthcare spending, and this is only going to get worse as the population ages. The NHS problems are exacerbated by a management structure which is mired in 1970's bureaucracy, ageing infrastructure and dispirited junior staff who have born the brunt of politically inspired cuts.

So called 'efficiency savings' really don't address any of these problems. They just add more bureaucracy without making long term improvements to health care delivery. Similarly, the gradual increases in real terms spending proposed by successive governments don't allow the NHS to implement a step change in performance. Demand is still outstripping spending.

I don't see any easy answers to this problem, but I'm fairly sure that using the NHS as a political football will ensure that any improvements which might be made are blocked by one political party or the other.

Just my thoughts,

Keith.

[SV650rules]

It suits the agenda of Labour controlled councils to blame service cuts on a conservative government, and local councils need to get smarter at sourcing services to get value for money. I see now that most of the fly tipping was caused by local councils handing over waste to dodgy contractors who took the money and promptly dumped it on old roads and railway tracks. Local councils obviously did not investigate the contractors very well, and it was far too easy to get a rubbish disposal permit, all that is being tightened up now ( horse and stable door). Wolverhampton was also guilty of making money from issuing taxi permits to every Tom, D1ch or Harriet ( updated to comply with gender equality legislation ) with very little checking and basically flooded all of the local Midlands area with wannabe taxi drivers.


As for the NHS, anything that is free at point of use for anyone from anywhere, whether they have contributed to it or not is on a hiding to nothing, and is basically a money pit. The original NHS was set up to treat basic stuff and basically to make sure people were fit to work, now it is expected to fix everything for everybody, no matter how badly they have treated / neglected their body... many people look after their car better than they look after themselves...

[Heorot]

The last few years I have had cause to use the general hospital in my area due to cancer and other age related issues so have had a close look at how the various departments within the hospital are organised. What struck me, as someone who worked in the private sector for most of my career, is the level of waste at an administrative level. Every dept. and indeed sub dept. had at least two receptionists. In the cancer outpatients there were 4 receptionists, (which was justified as the desk was manned (personed?) for 14 hours each day and the throughput of patients was very high) but in general, the hospital was employing far too many admin people. In one case, the DVT dept, had one senior nurse for 2 receptionists. The nurse assessed me and then sent me to another dept where again there were 2 receptionists for an ultrasound examination of my leg. There were 3 medical staff attending me for the ultrasound, one to do it and 2 to watch him.

[Heorot]

Seeker, I nentioned Northamptonshire CC in an earlier post. In their case, it was not only their not adhering to government cuts in their grants, but also bloated staffing and reckless spending on vanity projects.

[SV650rules]

Originally Posted by Heorot

The last few years I have had cause to use the general hospital in my area due to cancer and other age related issues so have had a close look at how the various departments within the hospital are organised. What struck me, as someone who worked in the private sector for most of my career, is the level of waste at an administrative level. Every dept. and indeed sub dept. had at least two receptionists. In the cancer outpatients there were 4 receptionists, (which was justified as the desk was manned (personed?) for 14 hours each day and the throughput of patients was very high) but in general, the hospital was employing far too many admin people. In one case, the DVT dept, had one senior nurse for 2 receptionists. The nurse assessed me and then sent me to another dept where again there were 2 receptionists for an ultrasound examination of my leg. There were 3 medical staff attending me for the ultrasound, one to do it and 2 to watch him.

The watchers could be medical students, and anyway staff are not allowed to be in a room on their own with a patient these days due to allegations of various kinds by money-grubbing no win no fee clients, so staff have to have witnesses on hand, and some patients can turn aggressive so a bit of self protection thrown in..

Medicine is a very Labour intensive business.

[Talking Heads]

NHS seems to be doing much better in Scotland.
Wonder why that would be...?