NHS: Do you think that the media are badmouthing it, because the government wish to rid themselves of it?

We have to remember the Tory press is a business as well as a bullshit factory. Because the NHS is a vital part of all our lives, the puppeteers and hacks know that NHS horror stories generate interest and sales of their recycled toilet paper, just as any mention of immigrants, asylum seekers and benefit cheats have all the shaven headed tattooed loons jumping up and down, farting in time to the Tory tune, but more importantly, buying the Mail or Express or Sun or Torygraph or Times.

As to the NHS, both the present Tories and the Newscorp Labor PLC Tories want to privatise it by stealth rather than attempting the sure electoral suicide of abolishing it. Privatisation of NHS services was going on under Blair and Brown, long before Lansley decided to take the process further. It is this privatisation, and the running of NHS services as businesses by managers with a business background, that produce the horror stories we are reading, mainly through grossly unreasonable demands on staff who eventually become unable to cope with the workloads forced on them by those managers.

If we want to improve standards in the NHS, the first step would be to bring its services back within the public sector, and run according to the old public sector and NHS ethos, which actually worked, and worked well, before maniacs and corrupt criminals such as Thatcher and Blair started attempting to turn every aspect of British life into sordid exploitative businesses.

Incidentally - re Sweet Pea's rant - do you suppose he is writing from a secure mental health facility???

It's great tactics, keep telling us how bad the NHS is and maybe just maybe they might be able to justify their current privatisation plans and their future privatisation plans to us.

It won't work of course because we all know that by and large the NHS does a wonderful job and we won't let the free marketers ruin that.

"lazy nurses who are only in it for the money and not patient care." - Yes nursing, the profession renowned for it's lucrative salaries and the piss easy work they have to do... I despair... If it's so easy why not give it a crack? You wouldn't last a week.

Idiots dont seem to consider that there were more posh boys from public schools in the last labour govt than there are in the current tory one. I think the media say what they do about the nhs bcos its true, theyre hi lighting the bad aspects and there are loads. You go on a waiting list to go on a waiting list, the hospitals and filthy, there arent enough docs or nurses and the one that do exist either cant be bothered or are asleep from overworkin.

The sooner the NHS is abolished the sooner people will be safer. The media are not hyping up the bad parts of it they only know a fraction of the truth. There are true stories that would make your hair curl, but these people never go to the Press. It's time to get rid of incompetent, badly qualified Doctors and lazy nurses who are only in it for the money and not patient care. They wouldn't last 2 minutes in the private sector, but think they have a job for life in the NHS and they can get away with murder literally.

if you want to pay 10k for a simple procedure and 100k+ for a procedure to save your life... go ahead get rid of it...

and don't forget the $15k for insurance you pay annually...