The Hubris of the NHS – previously posted on FB.

This was initially posted to The Daily Telegraph Facebook Group on 9 June 2020.

The incompetence and hubris of the NHS shows once again as it takes on tasks it is ill-equipped for. It failed to prepare for the pandemic in any meaningful way and lied to ministers about their level of preparedness. Out-of-date PPE, insufficient planning, a lack of ICU beds is only the tip of the iceberg. It panicked at the outset when it realised the extent of this failure and sent infected patients back to care homes around the country, unwilling to wait for the results of tests, thereby incompetently infecting those most vulnerable.

They then closed hospitals to all who needed them, suspended cancer treatments, refused to see, or discouraged those with severe heart disease from going to A&E, refused to acknowledge the growing mental health crisis and were content to see hospitals with record 40-50% vacancies. As a final insult to their customers, they decided that instead of using software written by software companies, they could do better. I mean, who better to write software than a health service, right?

Despite a dismal track record of failed IT projects, they embarked on a vital element of being able to track a virus which has all but decimated our economy. Predictably, they failed. Why? Because they’re not software developers. It’s like getting a mechanic to do brain surgery. Just because you can operate a computer doesn’t mean you know the first thing about it. You get a neurosurgeon to operate on your brain, you get a mechanic to fix your car, you get a lawyer to defend you in court and you get a software company to write software. Fairly obvious… but not to the NHS, it seems.

We place too much faith in our failing NHS. When anyone suggests that reform may be in order, the predictable, facile response is “but look at the USA”. How about looking at Germany or Switzerland? Excellent health systems, non-centralised, social, universal, insurance-based and plenty of capacity. We spend huge amounts of national budget on a rationed system which collapses every winter because of the common flu.We stand outside and clap for a system which is inefficient, expensive and not cost-effective.

We have the worst cancer survival rates in the OECD, fewer “non-urgent” operations such as hip replacement or knee surgery than any of our peers, more permanent damage following a stroke, less survival after a heart attack and more child birth deaths than any other developed country. We have fewer MRI and CT scanners than any comparable economy and the wait for specialist diagnostic appointments is also at the bottom of the scale.

It is high time we stopped regarding the NHS like the national religion. It does not deserve our devotion. It deserves our objectivity. It deserves that we think instead of adoring. It deserves a revamp so that it will survive. We can’t spend much more on it than we already do. Because of the waste and its refusal to reform, refusal to accept outside help, and its overall arrogance, there will come a time where it will fail – catastrophically. And then, sadly, it will be irretrievably gone. A victim of a public too busy adoring it to save it.Coronavirus: Security flaws found in NHS contact-tracing app