Day: Jun 18, 2016

In Sutton, it is not uncommon at the Robinhood Lane NHS surgery, for doctors to ‘refer’ a certain type of patient to ‘private’ hospitals in the area to receive ‘private’ treatment at the NHS expense. This diverts legitimate NHS patients ‘away’ from NHS hospitals, Clinics and Outpatients facilities that would usually deal with these medical issues (free at the point of use), if they were not being stripped of resources during the final phases of an NHS privatisation drive – established in law in 2012 by the Tory and LibDem Parties during their time of Coalition government (2010-2015). This process of referring NHS patients to ‘private’ healthcare facilities assists the ‘closing down’ of the NHS, as it gives the false impression that NHS provision is not required across the nation, and that everyone either ‘prefers’ or can ‘afford’ private medical cover (which in many cases has been proven deficient or sub-standard – leaving the NHS to clear-up the subsequent mess). The fact that NHS patients are diverted out of the NHS system in this manner is being ‘packaged’ across the UK as ‘choice’ within the NHS, when in fact it is the exact opposite – NHS patients have ‘NO’ choice if they care about their own health, over than to abandon the NHS due to a lack of NHS resources. Furthermore, evidence suggests that NHS doctors are only referring those NHS patients who are ‘young’ and in ‘full-time’ employment to ‘free’ private care, sentencing those who do not fall into these categories to a slow decline in their health and diminishing of life expectancy.