Killing the Sacred Cow

The title has some significance as I am Hindu but no one would stop a cow from being sold to the knackers yard in India if it was lame and gave everyone a bite if you approached it.

One of the greatest problems that a Libertarian has is trying to convey the message that Libertarians would not close all of the hospitals in the country, and the dead, dying and ill would be lying in hedgerows and/or the work house.

Anybody who has been near an NHS hospital in recent years will know that the NHS is not 'the envy of the world'. This myth has grown up over the last sixty years that has been reinforced by this Government, to the point that the NHS is beyond reform. Its hospitals are dirty, prone to MRSA, overstaffed with accountants and administrators. Its the UK encapsulated.

Don't take my word for it visit any French,German or Italian hospital to see the difference.

Yesterday a nurse was facing disciplinary action for calling out details of patients bowel movements across the wards, and failing to attend to the most basic of hygiene standards of washing hands after handling rubbish, before dealing with patients.

Today a body of a missing patient was found after three days in a locked toilet. This begs two questions, three days for a patient to be missing ?? three days and a cleaner had not checked or cleaned the toilet in the hospital ??.

Whilst whistleblowers are stripped of their livelihoods for highlighting the foul conditions that patients are forced to endure, these practices will continue.

The sacred cow is bloated,riddled with disease and should have been sent to the knackers yard years ago. None of the main three parties dare touch the NHS because of its ill deserved iconic status.

The National Insurance scheme that we pay into should revert back to what it was intended to be an insurance scheme. Not another route into the general taxation pot, so that the Government of the day, scared of raising direct income tax, increases NI instead, as it is the line of least resistance as far as the public is concerned because nobody complains as they are deluded into thinking it is all going into hospitals and pensions.

Each hospital should be self administered, and should only receive patients if it can maintain the most stringent of standards, otherwise it should close on Health and Safety grounds alone. Whitehall is about the last place that should be trusted with collecting in Health Insurance.

Cross posted from Guthrum on the Libertarian Party Blog

I am also going to include a comment from Tristan which bears thinking about seriously

The funny thing is, libertarians usually want to get rid of the NHS in order to provide better care for the poor and to prevent the collapse of the NHS which will be disastrous for the poor.

Unfortunately conservatism reigns supreme and people have no imagination and since WWI governments have systematically destroyed the non-state support networks which would otherwise flourish (and strengthen community).

The whole state sector, in effect if not in intent, is a system to enforce serfdom.

Edit: Mail Story on the Watford General Death in the Toilet It was out of order, and it hadnt been locked to prevent people entering it. A) why had it not been fixed? B) why was it still accessible?