'Doe-eyed' - Andy Burnham
Andy Burnham, who is standing
as a candidate in the Greater Manchester mayoral elections, was recently
described by one newspaper columnist, as ‘doe-eyed’ and a cross between ‘Paul
McCartney’ and a ‘Thunderbird puppet’. Last week, Andy, the Member of
Parliament for Leigh, was on the stump in Ashton-under-Lyne, where he was
billed to be speaking at a public meeting on ‘Health and Well-being, at
Clarendon Sixth Form College.
While the event was free to attend,
and was advertised on ‘eventbrite.com’, it was not widely advertised or easy to
register and many of the people who were attending the event, told me that they
were Labour Party members who had received invitations to attend the meeting. Despite
assurances from a Labour functionary, wearing a red tie, that it was indeed a
public meeting, a Tameside councillor, told me that it was by invitation only.
By all accounts, the event
turned out to be less a “Policy Development Conference on Health and Well-being”
and more an Andy Burnham roadshow. A health professional, who managed to attend
the meeting, who is also a Labour Party member, told NV that the event was a
‘missed opportunity’ and a ‘waste of time’. Seemingly, proposals to integrate health
and social care in Tameside and across Greater Manchester, “the first properly integrated National Health and Care Service”,
which Burnham supports, were presented as a shining light within Greater
Manchester.
While the public are told that
Andy Burnham is keen to involve the public in developing policies that “will make a real and meaningful difference
to people’s lives”, this turned out to be even more bullshit. According to
our health professional, the people in charge of the meeting were not interested
in talking about the massive bed cuts at Tameside Hospital, low staffing
levels, or how tax-payers’ money is being wasted. Neither had they much to say
about the fate of the N.H.S. Instead, all the speakers focused on how Andy
Burnham’s career as a Labour politician, had been full of dedication to the
well-being of the great British public.
Although I think that integrating
health and social care could be an excellent idea, the thought of out-of-their-depth, ten-bob councillors, in Greater Manchester, having greater control
over N.H.S spending and health care in the region, is something that fills me
with abject horror. In 2013, the Electoral Reform Society (ERS), said that
Labour dominated councils like Manchester, Salford and Tameside, were at risk
of becoming the equivalent of ‘one party states’ like North Korea, China or
Cuba.
Last month, Sir Richard Leese,
the Labour leader of Manchester City Council- a council where almost all the
council seats are filled by Labour - speaking about DevoManc, told an
audience at the Greater Manchester Centre for Voluntary Organisations (G.M.C.V.O)
A.G.M, that he wanted to see ward and hospital closures across Greater Manchester,
including Tameside. He believes that many people who are currently in hospital,
need not be there and that their needs could be better met in other ways.
However,
as part of the ‘Devolution’ agreement, the government have made it a condition
that all the ten council’s in Greater Manchester, develop ‘new care models’ between now and 2020, to receive the £450
million, ‘Transformation’ fund monies agreed in the devolution agreement. Mr
Leese also believes that it is the role of voluntary organisations, to “fill in
the holes”, left by public service cuts.
Already, Tameside Hospital have
confirmed that they are planning to close 246 beds at the hospital by 2020 and claim
that this can be compensated for by the creation of five local
multidisciplinary care teams. Moreover, care services are steadily being
privatised - CareUK have recently been given a five-year contract for
musculoskeletal services in Tameside. Nationally, some 200 N.H.S care services
have also been handed over to the billionaire tax exile, Richard Branson.
Milton Peña, a retired
consultant orthopaedic surgeon, who worked at Tameside Hospital for
seventeen-years, told a public meeting held in Stalybridge in September:
“Such
a massive reduction in bed capacity will lead to a drastic deterioration in
quality of care of patients in Tameside and Glossop. Safety, effectiveness and
patient experience, will be significantly affected.”
Some people are rightly suspicious
about the notion of “integrated care” believing it to be a cover for cuts, deprofessionalization
and the downgrading of N.H.S services. They question how private companies can
provide a high standard of health and social care while making profits and point
out that this is often done, at the expense of cutting staff and working
conditions.
Although, Andy Burnham, failed
to explain how ‘integration’ will improve health and social care, some
sceptic’s in the ‘Tameside Keep our N.H.S
Public’ group, believe that Labour in Manchester, have:
“swallowed
hook, line and sinker current government ideology that believes publicly funded
and provided health and social care services should be severely reduced,
leaving a ‘safety net’ for the deserving poor, for whom no alternative is
possible.”
As they point out, this would
mean most of us paying for services or taking out private health insurance as
is the case in America, where failure to pay medical bills, is the main cause
of middle-class bankruptcy in the United States.
As a candidate for Mayor, Andy
Burnham, should tell the electorate whether he agrees or disagrees with Sir
Richard Leese in wanting ward and hospital closures across Greater Manchester
and how “integration”, will improve health and social care.
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