Victoria has asked me to be a guest blogger on this site ... "just need to do a couple of posts a week ... you'll enjoy it" and being highly opinionated needless to say I said yes. So lay awake half the night working out my witty and erudite first ever blog and got up nice and early to write it .. only to find out that Victoria had got there first! But I'm not going to let that stop me ...
So yes of course the first post is about the issue that has been dominating Welsh politics this week ... car parking! Not since the Welsh Assembly Government had the last big free giveaway have journalists east of Offa's Dyke been so excited by the Welsh NHS. Why this resulted in Ben Bradshaw launching such a vitriolic attack on said Welsh NHS is a matter of conjecture - although clearly he has missed his vocation in the diplomatic corps. This propelled Edwina Hart the Minister for Health and Social Services, normally the Greta Garbo of media relations, into the BBC studio with counter accusations of sour grapes.
This has led to a rather unseemly "my NHS is better than yours" spat - something which given the lack of any real evidence or robust evaluation is pretty difficult to prove one way or the other. Waiting times are just one indicator and a blunt one at that ... although by the way Ben our MRSA rates are better than yours so there! Anyway, perhaps we could just settle for "each system has pros and cons" and each country needs to design its health services on the basis of its values, population, history, geography, resources and so on - there is no perfect health care system, no not even France. So lets put the toys back in the pram and play nicely ... because David Cameron, who would probably have huggable hoodies running the car parks, must be rubbing his hands in glee.
And what about the actual car parking? Well, most of us would feel it isn't right for patients undergoing long periods of treatment and those visiting sick relatives to have their stress increased by having to feed the car parking meter. On the other hand the stress levels will go through the roof if they find they can't park at all because the car park is full of shoppers and staff. We could have given them vouchers for parking but that would be complicated and costly to administer. We still have to pay for the petrol to get us to the hospital and what about the environment? We could go on ... and on .. and on ... Bascially, unlike Maria, hospital car parking is a problem you just can't solve. Nature abhors a vacuum, so it is with hospital car parks - no matter how big, how expensive or how free they are they will always be full. It is a basic law of hospital physics.
At the end of the day creating free parking is a popular but easy decision - there are much harder decisions to be made about the shape of our actual health services. And if you think this one has caused trouble you ain't seen nothing yet!
Wednesday, 5 March 2008
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5 comments:
Thanks to both you and Victoria for bringing a bit of balance and impact analysis to this new policy.
"Why this resulted in Ben Bradshaw launching such a vitriolic attack on said Welsh NHS is a matter of conjecture - although clearly he has missed his vocation in the diplomatic corps. "
I sense this was a fit of pique too. As this blog demonstrates, there is a rational debate to be had for the pros and cons of this policy (cost, administration, "policing") - but to come back with a load of tripe about waiting lists is not helpful.
God knows what Mr Bradshaw would make of free TV services in Welsh hospitals...
Was unsurprised to see RCN and BMA welcoming it though. Means their members will now get the free parking perk denied to many of us when we drive to work. They, after all, are paid to be at the hospitals, others are not.
It would have been much better to restrict the policy to those who are feeling the charges most acutely - patients and then visitors, especially those with chronic long term conditions.
Yes, that would have meant some form of proper policing - but without that how do we stop the car park in the Royal Gwent becoming a large free NCP for Newport town centre?
Very good post!
And thanks for the link, this will repayed forthwith.
Do you have other 'guests' writing for you?
just a quick notice your links are not working, i think there are two http in the links.
Thanks for the tip re the links - hopefully sorted now.
So none of you feel or think like most of Labours people, it's another bloody political stunt to get voters to vote, before one election we had prescriptions charges but they took years to get in, but they were given to us as a nice little vote for us, then we in Llaneli had vote Labour look a new car plant is coming, only it did not come, now we are told free parking for everyone, mind you you cannot park anyway so it makes little difference, whoops just before an elections never mind.
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