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E.P.P. will develop a Health System that is progressive in its levels of Patient Treatment.
The first level will be the local GP’s Surgery.
The next Referral Point, should you require it, will be your own local Hospital.
In the unlikely event that they are unable to deliver the level of treatment required by your illness, you would be referred, with your permission, to a Specialist Treatment Centre.
It is both unrealistic, and unworkable, to suggest that every hospital can be “all things, to all people”.
E.P.P. believes the NHS is due for a fundamental reform. This has already been started in parts of the country, and the process will be expanded and continued.
The NHS will still be FREE to all Citizens of England, providing they have paid into the system for at least 10 years (excluding school-leavers). For less than 10 years, treatment will be charged on a Sliding Scale, with State Benefit making up the difference, pro rata.
Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will decide for themselves on these details, through their own Parliaments and Assemblies.
We all know the NHS is a ‘Black-Hole’ for money. It represents an “ideal”, that is the envy of the world. It also costs English taxpayers a lot of money to support and run. The E.P.P. believes that a careful re-structuring of the system would result in savings of a dramatic nature and at the same time, will greatly improve the quality of service.
Changes, made in full consultation with all medical staff, need to happen urgently, if we are to keep our NHS, as a ‘free to all’ National Health Service.
Until we actually leave the EU, with the recent opening of the EU Borders, it is now under even more pressure and this will somehow have to be paid for. It is a “National Health Service” for England, and Britain, not the whole of the EU!
E.P.P. believes our NHS System is being widely abused, largely from visitors coming here from abroad, and receiving Free Treatment, to which they have contributed nothing.
Also recent arrivals to our country, who have made insignificant, or no contribution at all, to the huge running costs, via National Insurance Contributions,
“No National Insurance contributions made – sorry, no free treatment”! We will treat you, but you must pay, according to a scale of fixed charges, and length of time resident in this country. This applies to all Visitors, UK Residents and Holidaymakers from abroad alike.
N.B. This is only what happens in other countries!
The remarkable revelation that 10 million medical appointments are made and then not kept each year is disturbing, very time-wasting for all the medical staff concerned and is also a huge abuse of our free NHS System!
E.P.P. will review this and consider the introduction of a charge for missed appointments. It may be in the form of a small, nominal charge to see your GP, but this would only be making the innocent suffer for the guilty, as in most walks of life, so any possible alternative suggestions will be considered, to keep the system free to those who really need it.
All Hospitals will be subject to regular inspection, (like schools), and those that fail certain tests of expertise, quality, or hygiene, will be either allowed to continue on a limited scale, or closed until brought up to standard.
In order to introduce a competitive element into the system, it will be made possible for the Premier Hospital in the area to absorb the poorest performing hospital. This system will provide an enhanced level of Medical Treatment, streamline the service, and shake out inefficient management.
E.P.P. will make it easy for you to choose your Preferred Hospital for your treatment. The choice is always yours.
If your local Hospital has extended waiting lists, you will be able to choose an alternative, if the waiting list is shorter, and it is convenient for you to receive your treatment there.
General Hospitals are, by name, what they are. Offering General Medical Care, and maintaining a level of competency for normal surgical and medical needs. For higher levels of competency and specialist knowledge, patients would be referred to new Specialised Treatment Centres
E.P.P. believes that development and extension of Specialist Hospitals will benefit the English nation. Certain hospitals already specialise in Cancer Treatments, Optical work, Limb Replacement and various other problems that require expensive specialists and resources. These hospitals will be supported, enlarged and encouraged.
People suffering from specific ailments, would be free to go to these “centres of excellence”, to obtain the very best treatment – whether privately, or on the NHS.
The treatment of Cancer, Heart, or Brain Injuries requires the most modern and expert treatment available. Specialised Treatment Centres would provide the medical and surgical requirements, for all the most serious medical problems.
Specialist Hospitals would be more efficient, having a narrower band of Professional and Expert Treatment available, all in one place.
Also, this would ease the burden on the waiting list of all other hospitals. In some instances, relatives may not find it quite so easy to visit, due to the distance, but the best and quickest treatment for a sick person, to return home quickly and well again, is the paramount task and objective.
Private Hospitals and their Consultants would all be included in this scheme.
10) Operation Costs
The Cost of each Standard Operation or Treatment will be calculated nationally for England, and an agreed figure would be paid by the State.
The State always pays the agreed figure, but the money goes where the people go. In all Private Hospitals and in certain NHS Hospitals as well, the individual, or his Medical Insurance Plan, would make up shortfalls with a financial payment.
The idea of “bring back Matron” will be given careful thought, and discussed with Nurses, Doctors, Consultants and Hospital Management. The idea of returning to a central person, in control, is popular in many quarters.
E.P.P. is in full agreement with the Government initiative, currently operating in Worcestershire and elsewhere, for Nurses and Health Visitors to be given specialist training to prescribe drugs. This has many benefits, two of which are that it reduces the patient’s time waiting for a Doctor or Consultant to prescribe a drug, especially in A & E, but it also frees the Doctors and Consultants time. These “Super Nurses” will be introduced nation-wide.
Cottage Hospitals and Residential Nursing Homes will be developed and encouraged, to assist with our ageing population and their needs. It seems pointless to close a perfectly good Nursing Home, on orders from Brussels, just because the doors are 1” too narrow.
Also, it’s hard enough to find Residential Homes, without closing them down over petty regulations. With our rapidly ageing population, it is better to keep them open and running, even if with certain technical and medical limitations.
Encouragement will be given to maintaining elderly people in their own homes. It is far more comfortable, cost effective and dignified, for our mothers, fathers, aunts and uncles to remain at home and receive the appropriate support services to allow this to happen.
14) Health Insurance
Payments made to Private Health Care systems will be actively encouraged, and this will be discussed with all Insurance Companies.
Health Care Insurance Payments will also be reflected in Tax Allowances in Wage Packets, or against Annual Tax Returns made by the self-employed. This way, with Private Health Care being encouraged, and a Reform of the Hospitals, we could well be able to keep the NHS going on the present basis, and hopefully much better!
15) The Future
In time, we shall explore the possibilities of developing a new service, Free at the Point of Delivery, with Insurance Cover for all, and the flexibility for the Patient to make their choice of Doctor, Hospital and Treatment Centre. We should all expect much less Government Interference, and much more Patient Choice.
E.P.P. intends to leave the EU Block completely, and go back to trading in the Free World, as England always did. This will release substantial funding for other purposes. This additional money will be allocated in a fair and just manner across society, not totally in the NHS, but for the benefit of all England,
16) A Warning…..!
It must always be remembered, that both Frankfurt and Brussels have openly stated that: -
“The European Union will not be able to maintain the British NHS System, in its present form. It will only support an A & E Emergency Service!”
The E.P.P. can do better than that!
ENGLAND'S PARLIAMENTARY PARTY – A NEW WAY OF RUNNING ENGLAND, BASED ON GIVING VALUE FOR MONEY, CAREFUL COSTING - AND COMMON SENSE!