• Question: do you think the NHS will be/should be privatised?

    Asked by tasha to Simon, Shehla, Katharine, Jonathan, Emma, Chris on 12 Jun 2017. This question was also asked by Lacey.
    • Photo: Jonathan Harte

      Jonathan Harte answered on 12 Jun 2017:

      NO
      I still think all patients should have access to a good level of healthcare which is free at the point of access.
      However, I do think there needs to be a debate about what that level of healthcare should/ can be and what responsibility patients should take for their own health and wellbeing.

    • Photo: Emma Rowe

      Emma Rowe answered on 12 Jun 2017:

      I think that certain services should and will be privatised – for me, this would include non urgent/cosmetic issues/things that don’t effect your health.
      However, I believe that essential care should always be free to everyone at the point of access. With health, it is important to understand that everything has a cost, but the patient should not incur these costs for essential treatment.

    • Photo: Katharine Bradbury

      Katharine Bradbury answered on 12 Jun 2017:

      I don’t think the NHS should be privatised.

      Access to healthcare free at the point of delivery is a really important principle of the NHS. I have experience of other healthcare systems which are funded by health insurance and they offer an inferior service especially to those on low incomes.

      However the NHS does not have unlimited resources so we need open, honest debate about its future and how it should be funded.

    • Photo: Christopher Symonds

      Christopher Symonds answered on 13 Jun 2017:

      I try very hard to stay out of the politics of the NHS and just try to do the best I can within whatever environment I have to work in.

    • Photo: Simon Browes

      Simon Browes answered on 14 Jun 2017:

      Absolutely not. The evidence is clear that highly-marketised healthcare drives up costs and variability and make healthcare unaffordable for many. There is a role for independent providers – after all most General Practice is provided by independent contractors – but I believe healthcare is a right, not a commodity, and that we should be clear about where public money is being spent.

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