[OLD BOY]

Originally Posted by Angua

We live on my income and Mr A's small pension. We could claim benefits, but don't. We really are at the lower end of the tax paying spectrum, but live frugally and limit our outgoings. We don't even claim the married persons tax allowance as Mr A despairs of getting sense out of the government as they ask for P60 income and he has none.

The NHS is severely understaffed, this has a HUGE effect on costs. Nothing to do with efficiencies, you cannot get more out of a system that does not have the human resources to do the job in the first place. All you can do is hope the winter crisis is small and short lived, as there is no capacity for worse.

Leaving the EU has already lost us badly needed staff, who are going elsewhere in the EU for better pay and conditions. Removing the nursing bursary has cut the numbers going into the profession. Longer hours often with no pay, just because they care, is causing staff to leave or retire early. None of these have anything to do with "efficiencies".

Teaching the next generation of Doctors costs money and time. Time senior Doctors no longer have due to staff shortages and so the problem multiplies. All for what? Some mythical ideal, where stress no longer exists, with all the corresponding health problems vanishing. Get real.

I think I should clarify that I don't think the efficiency problem is down to the medical staff. It's the bureaucracy and the clapped out systems that they have to live with that is the problem.

We should be looking at those issues, implement the changes required and with the savings, improve working hours for the medics to attract more to the profession. The hours they have to work are ridiculous - no wonder we can't get the staff.