'Winter Blues 2006' have arrived with a vengeance

摘要

Happy new year everyone. There's been a lot happening recently in the NHS with patients getting a choice of where to receive non-emergency treatments. Most people (almost 75%) according to a BBC poll, would continue to use their local hospital or stay within their local health authority area for treatment. The fears of patients jumping ship and all running off to the best hospital they can seems unfounded, but I'll be interested to hear from you if you notice a change in patient numbers, either up or down. Health ministers hope the increase in patient choice will reduce waiting times and increase standards of care. It certainly sounds like it should. Imagine your local hospital is overcrowded, and is not considered to be up to the highest standard. Once the waiting times are down, the Trust can (should) concentrate on raising standards by adding more staff, offering more training, tightening economic controls and supervising better cleaning. Soon word spreads throughout the local authority that the hospital is now in top shape, and patients begin to return. That seems like sound principles of demand and supply.