A Serious Mistake

   There's been a fair bit of activity on Twitter this week about the stealthy and creeping privatisation of the NHS and although there have been several links posted to newspaper articles and internet blogs, one criticism that has emerged is the failure of the BBC and other media bodies to include it in their news bulletins.

   I know that in our own town, a hospital ward is threatened with closure with more emphasis to be placed on "care in the community" but I fail to see any efficiency in this. Surely it is easier and makes more sense to tend to patients together in one place than to send carers to their homes for an hour or two a day. Is this another example of David Cameron's Big Society? - "Let them go home, fend for themselves and someone else can look after them. They're off our hands now and we'll have room at the hospitals to bring another company in to provide private treatment for a profit."

   In a couple of years when it all goes pear shaped, all he will have to do is say "I'm sorry" à la Nick Clegg and all will be forgiven. Maybe! A petition has been set up to try and prevent the closure (link) but I fear it will need many more signatures to those already added to reverse the decision despite the idea being branded "a serious mistake". How long will it be before another plaque is required to accompany the opening one pictured: "Ilkeston Community Hospital was closed by the ConDem cuts"