On Fri, 2 Jun 2000 [log in to unmask] wrote:
> Far be it from me to defend the Blairites, but I'm unconvinced by Alison's
> comment that
>
> The problem seems to be Alison's notion of "healthy" -- I haven't
> visited any NHS establishment this week, but I'm using a recently-prescribed
> spray to treat an ear infection and a tube of cream I bought some time ago
> to treat my athlete's foot. Does all that make me healthy or unhealthy?
>
> On the face of it, there're likely to be enough people like me who
> happen to renew their prescriptions this week to stand in as my
> representatives, so to speak.
>
> There may be people who *never* use NHS facilities for *anything*,
> but they are either extraordinarily "healthy" or extraordinarily rich -- in
> either case, I don't see what value their opinions about the NHS might be
> thought to have.
Perhaps I shouldn't have used the word 'healthy' when I meant non-users of
the service. I don't think that people who happened to use the service
during the five days in question are a random sample and there are
different reasons why people do and don't use the service apart from being
super-healthy or super rich. Dissatisfaction and lack of confidence it may
inhibit people while other peoiple may have a lower threshold for using
it. Like Martin, I prefer an old-fashioned random sample.
Alison
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