I thought Simon Jenkins' piece in Wednesday's Guardian (URL at
the foot of this letter) was fairly sensible and I hope Patricia
Hewitt reads it
I disagree with Jenkins that 'healthcare should not be a
nationalised industry', though I do agree with him about a
greater degree of localisation. EF Schumacher's concept of
appropriately managed large organisations was of a person
holding a bunch of balloons - the balloons all have different
characteristics in the way they behave but the person holding
them has an oversight on their behaviour. From my perspective
after 32 years in public health, the late 1980s structure of
Health Authorities planning for and managing primary care and
hospital development was a good one. Modified a little to
reflect the Alma Ata and Julian Tudor Hart versions of primary
health care, plus New Labour's health governance mechanisms and
a national health promotion agency, it would serve us well.
Happy holidays y'all, Alex
The NHS needs localisation, not regulated privatisation
Simon Jenkins
Wednesday December 14, 2005
The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,1666582,00.html
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