Interest rates

Heyman_2

Wookster wrote: »

I rather doubt that - David Cameron has said that he wants to keep building the NHS (mostly due to his deceased son).

He has my enormous sympathy for his loss and I can't begin to imagine how he and his family must feel. But I would be pretty amazed if massive NHS cost-cutting wasn't one of the first things on the agenda to claw back some much needed cash.

Wookster wrote: »

What I would like to know is how efficiently has all that money been spent?

I only go by what people working in the hospitals tell me and in terms of what that money has enabled them to do. Money is never going to be used efficiently in publicly-run organisations - it's just the nature of the beast.

Of course the Tories will try though and go on yet another hospital-closing spree in the name of such 'efficiency'.

Cannon_Fodder

Labour have not always been pumping in money, in fact not long ago they were "cost-cutting" in the NHS http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6559929.stm

And its not just media/Tory spin either, http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/graphics/2006/2025/nhs_cuts.doc

Despite a supposed boom period, the financial jiggery-pokery of PCTs - which pushed Banking into 2nd place for its "creative methods" - succeeded in putting the front-line into debt across the country.

The effects were felt in North Staffs and other areas where cuts in nursing directly contributed to unnecessary deaths.

Whoever gets to sort out this mess will at least need to ease the rate of any budgeted increase in spending, which with inflation likely in a year or two, will mean cuts in real terms.

Makes for some awkward choices.

treliac

Generali wrote: »

Nah, nor me. People are paying down debts right now, not spending cash. That means the velocity of circulation is falling so the money supply is dropping despite the quantity of money increasing.

The Aussie Government keeps giving money to relatively poor people in 'stimulus packages'. 80% of the money has been used to reduce debts.

So people are generally applying more common sense to their personal finances than governments are to public finances?

Generali

treliac wrote: »

So people are generally applying more common sense to their personal finances than governments are to public finances?

Empirically it appears so.

Of course, world-wide the standard line is borrowing more will solve the problem.

People seem to be responding, "Will it a r s e "!

PS I read a letter in the paper over here from a teacher - a 6-y/o pupil approached her and complained a peer had used the R-word. R-word? !!!!!!!

LauraW10

Heyman wrote: »

I only go by what people working in the hospitals tell me and in terms of what that money has enabled them to do. Money is never going to be used efficiently in publicly-run organisations - it's just the nature of the beast.

Of course the Tories will try though and go on yet another hospital-closing spree in the name of such 'efficiency'.

My DD needed to see a doctor on Friday and got to she got to see her GP that day. How brilliant is that ! Makes me really sad to think that we might lose all this:o and go back to an underfunded service:o