Oh, the Queen’s Speech. For me, one of the most truly terrible
bits was the clause to restrict access to the NHS.
We knew this was coming since Jeremy Hunt started to claim
in March that immigrants were “clogging up the hospitals”, despite later admitting that migrants from the European Economic Area only cost
the NHS £10-20 million, which is a drop in the ocean compared to the annual NHS
budget of around £100 billion. I mean, in 2011 we wasted £4 million on
homeopathy, for fuck’s sake. I am all for saving money within the NHS, but saving a
trivial amount by restricting access to healthcare for potentially vulnerable
people? There are other ways.
And how would this be policed? The idea that doctor’s
surgeries might be put in the position of having to check on a patient’s
immigration history and background is an alarming one. The Royal College of GPs
has issued a statement on the issue – “GPs must not be the new border agency”. When ill people are afraid to go to their GPs, only bad things can result.
And quite apart from the risk to the patient, in many medical conditions a delay
in primary care will only lead to the need for emergency care – which costs a
lot more than treating early and preventing the disease escalating.
Tories: I know you recently lost a lot of votes to UKIP. I
sympathise, I really do. But stay away from our NHS, please.
Thankfully, there's now a handy app for all
healthcare professionals faced with this political minefield: Do I Treat This Immigrant?
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