The UK National Health Service (NHS) is going to be cutting about 15,000 to 20,000 healthcare jobs this year in an attempt to reduce the deficit of £1bn. Government officials are, of course, saying that patient care will not be compromised. But, most healthcare workers like Dr. Greg Hopkinson disagrees.

If we cut staff, that can only mean more bed closures, longer delays for care and, in the end, that does mean people dying on the waiting lists. There is no point beating about the bush, people are going to suffer.

Along with staff cuts, outsourcing is being considered for healthcare employees such as medical secretaries who are considered the “backbone of the NHS” and are a part of patient care from scheduling to making patients feel welcome.

Dr. Hopkinson:

When the secretaries go, everything falls apart. There’s talk of using some firm in India to write the letters and fix appointments. My goodness, don’t they know what these women do? Some of them come in on a Sunday to get our letters sorted. But the people making the cuts never take account of all that goodwill that props up the service. Well, the goodwill is disappearing fast and one day, when it’s gone, I suppose we’ll look back and wonder how it happened.

What’s happening all over everywhere is that people are no longer considered as important as numbers. In any industry, including healthcare, efficiency and profits reign supreme. Whether it be healthcare worker or patient, the primary consideration is saving costs because there’s never enough money, but always more than enough people.

Maybe there are even too many people. Overpopulation and all that. Another argument in support of cutting healthcare spending - protecting the environment and the earth by reducing the number of people around to waste resources.

/end sarcasm

The Observer, March 26, 2006

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