Doctors show what they really care about ... and it's not their patients!

Doctors, just like all other professions, previously opposed the Government's proposed NHS reforms outright ... but when the Government ignored them, they were quick to 'give up' and 'get on' with it.

However Doctors have voted to strike today ... about one particular aspect of the NHS reforms ... but not those parts set to decimate the NHS ... 

Doctors have instead decided to strike over proposed changes to their pensions! (which, even after the change, will see them receiving 250% more money than an average person receives when they are still working, and before any Tax/NI is taken off!)

This just goes to show how these people, who take the hippocratic oath (and who we are supposed to trust) have, for some time, not become medical doctors due any 'calling'/desire to care for people (i.e. a vocation, as it once was), but to get on a highly lucrative 'gravy train' consisting of money (NHS, private, shares/bonuses from rationing your care), self-interest and greed. 

If this were not true then they would be striking over those parts of the bill that will decimate the NHS, ration/privatize healthcare and, to put it bluntly ... 'kill people' ... shame on them ... people will soon trust them as much/little as the politicians and the banksters!

Conflict of Interest: 'Profit for Doctors' v 'Your Care'

Following my post in January entitled "NHS Reforms: Patient Choice or Doctor's Choice?" I exposed the fundamental flaws in the reforms planned for the NHS, as well as the conflicts of interest they create. As they stand GP's will be able to profiteer in many different ways, destroying the trust between patient and GP. 

Well Channel 4 has today also gone on the offensive, exposing the fundamental flaws in the proposed bill and challenging politicians/providers. They highlight how the current bill is almost devoid of any legislation focused on tackling fundamental conflicts of interest and stopping GP's from being able to profiteer from such reforms (at the expense of patient care). Channel 4 pointed out numerous ways GP's will be able to profiteer (e.g. referring work to providers they are 'partners' in, being given a share of the profits created by reducing the amount spent on care for patients etc), and went further by exposing the plans of some of the groups involved (e.g. Integrated Health Partners).

Will the Government now start to listen and avoid this potential catastophe?  Let's hope so, though they haven't listened to date (e.g. to the concerns of the Royal College of Surgeons, the Royal College of Physicians and the Royal College of Nursing). It's interesting the BBC and Nick Robinson are nowhere to be seen when it comes to challenging these NHS reforms ... I wonder why!

What's worse - Ignorance or Apathy?

As bankers pay themselves billions in bonuses for gambling, and everyone else suffers and pays the cost of bailing the banks out ... most people are living a life of ignorance or apathy ... with hardworking people/families losing their jobs and paying higher taxes, and with future generations being burdened with debt.

Meanwhile these legalised ponzi scheme fraudsters (banksters) are carrying on regardless and getting away with it ... they are lending very little to businesses but speculating a great deal on commodities (such as oil, precious metals, cotton and grain - pushing up raw material prices and thus inflation) and the collapse of economies (e.g. that have bailed them out, such as Ireland).

At the same time the medical profession (consultants and doctors) are busy ripping off the NHS, with consultants earning £100k's (e.g. taking £100k plus extra a year by charging £1000 for just 4 hours extra work) and with doctors quietly taking home 40% more pay (and for many much more than this) for doing less work (e.g. no out of hours cover) as a result of flawed GP contracts.  I raised these issues on BBC's Question Time at the time and they reluctantly admitted it ... nb people used to go into the medical profession with a passion for helping people, not to milk the system dry and use the proceeds to fund property portfolios ... the money they have taken out could have paid for MORE doctors/nurses and much better patient care ... but they clearly decided this was not in their own best interests and decided to take the money for themselves instead (nb as a result taxpayers now pay some of the most expensive doctor/consultant fees in Europe).

Can we expect the current wave of politicians to sort these things out properly ... Well I'm afraid the answer at the moment is 'no' as the truth is they do not have the interests of ordinary hard-working people at heart ... and their own self-interest/greed stops them from challenging others playing the same 'game' too ... so it's going to take far more than this I'm afraid.

Some argue that people get what they deserve ... and if they remain ignorant/apathetic they should not be surprised (or even complain) about being exploited (i.e. 'taken for a ride') by others ... but do you agree with this?  ... and what's worse in your view ... ignorance or apathy? (why not think about it, and avoid the obvious "I don't know and I don't care" answer!)