Dissatisfaction With Health Inequalities

A recent British Social Attitudes Survey has shown a significant drop in public satisfaction with the NHS, from 70% to 58% in a year; this is the largest annual drop since 1983, but that was when the Survey started, so it could be the largest drop ever! There are obviously myriad reasons why this could be so, the main one probably being the coalition reforms to introduce competition into the National Health Service. But I want to focus on one local example. At Russells Hall Hospital in Dudley, patients who are able to afford to be treated privately as part of the Care Plus private treatment programme are able to park for free, while monthly charges for staff at the hospital have risen from £15 to £19.50! So hard-working staff pay more, while rich people get it covered. In a health institution which was designed purely with fairness and equality in mind, it’s no wonder that people are becoming dissatisfied.