Professor John Robertson OBA
Thanks to AR for alerting me to this.
The word ‘Perspective’ there, is doing heavy lifting as former Blair Minister, Brian ‘Bad Vibrations’ Wilson, tries to tell us that Starmer is only getting rid of the NHS England top layer and freeing the trusts up, to get imaginative [spend the money in the private sector] and, of course leave NHS Scotland behind.
It’s by no means just a perspective, a point of view, It’s a whopping lie.
Here’s another ‘perspective‘ but a far more honest and clear-sighted one:
The Starmer government’s announcement that it is abolishing its ‘quango’ NHS England, unsurprisingly given the ties of Starmer and Health Secretary Wes Streeting to private health cash, is a scam.
Presented as an efficiency move, to get rid of duplicate layers of management within the NHS, it is in fact a move to complete the long-underway break-up of the National Health Service into 42 autonomous ‘Integrated Care Boards’ (ICBs) that will each independently commission services – and will be incentivised not to treat people, by giving ICBs a share of the ‘savings’ generated by rationing or withholding care.
ICBs and the ‘Integrated Care System’ that they form are a rebranding of ‘Accountable Care Organisations’ (ACOs) – a copy of the US ACO system that has has for decades impoverished US patients and refused care to those uninsured and unable to pay. UK ACOs were rebranded to ICS after information about the reality of what US ACOs mean began to percolate into the awareness of the British public.
In fact, the ‘National’ in NHS disappeared early in this process, beginning before and then accelerated through the 2012 Health and Social Care Act and 2022 Health and Care Act. The 2012 Act abolished the responsibility of the Health Secretary for the health of the UK people, abolished Primary Care Trusts and Strategic Health Authorities and transferred tens of billions of pounds a year to so-called ‘Clinical Commissioning Groups’. The 2022 act put ICS into statute law.
The creation of ICBs – in separate commissioning boards – completed the process, and the removal of so-called ‘NHS England’ has removed even the notional idea of any national umbrella that it represented and the Starmer government is forcing ICBs to include private health companies on their boards and privatisers’ cash in their funding.
Source: Starmer just abolished the NHS, not just the ‘NHS England’ quango – SKWAWKBOX
Why will there be deaths?
From Oxford University researchers reported in The Lancet, on 29 February 2024:
A new review has concluded that hospitals that are privatised typically deliver worse quality care after converting from public ownership. The study, led by University of Oxford researchers, has been published in The Lancet Public Health. The researchers carried out a meta-analysis based on evidence from 13 longitudinal studies, covering a range of high-income countries.* Each study assessed quality of healthcare measures for patients before and after health service privatisation, at either the hospital or regional level. The studies included measured indicators of care quality which included staffing levels, patient mix by insurance type, the number of services provided, workload for doctors, and health outcomes for patients such as avoidable hospitalisations.
Key findings:
- Increases in privatisation generally corresponded with worse quality of care, with no studies included in the review finding unequivocally positive effects on health outcomes.
- Hospitals converting from public to private ownership status tended to make higher profits. This was mainly achieved by reducing staff levels and reducing the proportion of patients with limited health insurance coverage.
- Privatisation generally corresponded with fewer cleaning staff employed per patient, and higher rates of patient infections.
- In some studies, higher levels of hospital privatisation corresponded with higher rates of avoidable deaths.
- However, in some cases (e.g. Croatia), privatisation led to some benefits for patient access, through more precise appointments and new means of care delivery, such as out-of-hours telephone calls.
According to the researchers, the results challenge the theory that privatisation can improve the quality of healthcare through increased market competition, and by enabling a more flexible and patient-centred approach.
Footnote – In case it’s not obvious, this is very high quality rigorous independent research. You can trust them.
Talking-up Scotland 'Albatraz' 
I think we all know by now what is Brian Wilson’s “perspective”.
The word warped comes to mind.
Wilson is the epitome of a bitter ex Labour politician, who although no longer a Labour politician , still speaks and acts on their behalf .
Obviously he is well known as someone who hates the SNP, but with him as one who opposes (hates) the SNP then that just reinforces my support for them as a political party , especially when I recall his time in politics and his lacklustre contributions….
Not forgetting his many current propaganda contributions as part of the anti SNP MSM brigade (with there always being available many ongoing jobs for the political ‘Boys’ in UK mainstream and also in alternate rogue media, post their previous political careers)
Brian Wilson should have stayed with The Beach Boys….
As it is obvious , via his warped “perspective” that he is very much still…. ‘all at sea’ ….
Ba dum Tss………
Liz S
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If Brian Wilson is in favour of ANYTHING then I am against it , as a matter of principle !
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Day 1 the UK is going to lead the world with the AI revolution taking over vast numbers of jobs that can be done better by “dodgy programmed” tech.
Day 2 we will save billions and billions by forcing people into work to achieve 80% employment.
Day 3 we will make the English NHS the bestest by sacking 50% of the staff and save even more making the remaining bosses gain bonuses by not treating people.
Day 4 holy s#*t why are all these people out of work?
Welcome to the UK Labour Westminster government just like their masters over the water.
No matter how ill you are, how many family members you are caring for you “must” work. “Work makes you free”
Caring for someone 24hours a day, 7 days a week non-stop for months and year is f#*#*#*g work. Carried out by someone we all know, parent, children, grannies n granpas of any one of us.
UK Labour Westminster government and it’s followers demonstrating their callousness, lack of morals and empathy.
Not in my name.
dottieb
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O/T but yet still Labour(ish)….as is Brian Wilson.
More Labour party “perspective” shenanigans…
STV News reported that on her visit to Scotland yesterday , Rachel Reeves , the Labour UK Chancellor, said:
“It is “imperative” that the Scottish Government works with the University of Dundee to address the educational institute’s £35m financial crisis”.
She also “called on SNP ministers to ensure the situation is a “one-off” which doesn’t affect other universities around the country.
Rachel Reeves said that she “did not accept that UK immigration policies are to blame for the issues at the University of Dundee. She said there are still “huge numbers” of international students coming to UK universities”
#LabourSupportBrexit.
Wales, who are governed by Labour, are also having similar problems with their Universities.
What say Rachel Reeves !
The BBC Website ,under their main Wales page, wrote in an article on 12 March (which, as an article, has now been removed from being one of their main articles on their Wales page , surprise surprise NOT !):
“High profile announcements about job cuts at universities could affect the sector’s reputation, the head of Wales’ new universities watchdog says”.
Watchdog being Medr.
“Earlier this year, Cardiff University announced plans to cut 400 academic jobs and other Welsh institutions also said they would be seeking redundancies in order to balance the books”.
“The Welsh government has tasked Medr with looking at what subjects are offered by Wales’ eight universities after Cardiff University said it planned to cut whole departments including nursing, modern languages and music”
“Welsh Universities have said they are facing significant deficits and Simon Pirotte, the Chief Executive of Medr, acknowledged circumstances (in Wales) were “really, really challenging”.
He said universities were taking “transformational action to make sure that they have longer term sustainability”.
“A consultation process on Cardiff University’s plans will end on 6 May, while Bangor University is consulting its staff about proposals to cut 200 jobs”
“The University of South Wales said 90 academic jobs could go after previously setting out plans to cut 160 professional services posts”
“It has said some subjects in areas including fashion, marketing, film and TV and business could close”.
“Other Welsh universities have also announced plans to make savings amid increased costs and also a drop in income from international students’ fees”
Someone tell Rachel Reeves as she disputes that is happening , as something relevant to Scotland …….mainly !
As she stated yesterday when in Scotland that there are still ““huge numbers” of international students coming to UK universities”.
Though I suspect Reeves was only saying that to contradict what the Scottish government have been saying in regards to UK immigration policies impacting the number of international students now coming to Scottish Universities.
However in May 2023 The Herald published an article by one of the country’s most senior academic’s where they were quoted as also saying that “UK immigration policies threaten Scottish Universities and could put Scotland’s Universities at risk”.
In August 2024 it was reported that “Visa restrictions on international students will not be lifted under Labour. Labour has confirmed it will not reverse the Conservatives’ restrictive student visa policies, while maintaining its ‘welcoming” stance towards international students”.
Labour supposedly “welcoming” the “international Students” but with them still maintaining the “Tory restrictive student visa policies”.
It was reported in February this year that:
“Pressure mounts on Welsh (Labour) government to intervene as Cardiff posts UK sector’s biggest deficit yet. Crisis-hit Cardiff University has recorded UK higher education’s biggest operating deficit yet for 2023-24, with the total shortfall across Welsh institutions forecast to reach £70 million”.
Both Wales online and Nation Cymru online quoted this forecast , for these Welsh institutions, to reach £70 million.
However back to the Dundee University story…….
MSM Monitor tweeted this:
“Why is former Scottish Labour leader Wendy Alexander missing from media coverage of the Dundee University scandal? She resigned her £199,000 role as Vice-Principal days after the scandal was revealed and was handed a Labour peerage weeks later”.
I checked this and I found that Wendy Alexander was indeed the Vice Principal of Dundee University from 2015 to late 2024, she was then nominated by Sir Keir Starmer, for a political peerage , in December 2024, as in late 2024.
Also not forgetting the donation scandal that was linked to Wendy Alexander in 2007 when she was in the Holyrood parliament , where she then resigned as leader of the Labour party at Holyrood .She had failed to declare, as gifts, the donations that were made to the fund for her campaign for the leadership of the Labour Party in Scotland.
Alexander’s campaign team had accepted a impermissible donation from Paul Green, a property magnate, Mr Green was not registered as an elector in the United Kingdom so this barred him from donating to a UK-based party. Newspaper reports indicated that “Alexander was aware of the identity of the donor, after having sent a personal letter of gratitude to Mr Green (at his home in Jersey) concerning the donation”.
Labour UK, like the Tory party, rewarding for past and current failures and scandals.
No “change” there then.
Liz S
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Brian Wilson was a non executive director of AMEC Nuclear Holdings Ltd. He is a great champion of handing the private sector lucrative deals in public sector business. Perspective is biased.
https://powerbase.info/index.php/Brian_Wilson
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In the USA decisions about patient care are often taken by insurance companies rather than doctors.
Affordability trumps what might be appropriate.
The global drift to the political right is demolishing many of the things that our forefathers fought for and returning those countries to poverty and servitude.
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Mr Wilson opts to highlight the Scottish Health Council as one of the ‘quangos’ he dislikes so much. But is this Council even a quango?
The Council is (merely) a committee of eight non-executives which provides independent advice/challenge to the board of Healthcare Improvement Scotland. The Council meets (just) four times a year.
(https://www.hisengage.scot/about/scottish-health-council/ )
Are we to count boards and advisory committees as ‘quangos’ now in order to justify the British Labour Party’s negativity towards the NHS in Scotland and by this means, boost its electoral prospects in 2026?
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I don’t think that even this Labour party would be dumb enough to fight a Scottish election on a prospectus of abolishing the Scottish NHS.
No it will be the usual lies,smoke and mirrors from them with furtiveness being their M.O.
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Various British Labour Party politicians are now seeking to use the Westminster government’s abolition of ‘NHS England’ as an indication of bold , innovative action to reduce bureaucracy/waste that Labour would pursue here if Sarwar becomes FM in Scotland after 2026. Who doesn’t want to eliminate bureaucracy/waste? Once again Labour misrepresents the nature of the NHS in Scotland just as it misrepresents. its performance.
Scotland does not have an equivalent of ‘NHS England’ to be abolished!
From The Herald (November 27, 2024), there was this headline: ‘NHS Scotland and NHS England: How do they each differ?’
(https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/24752248.nhs-scotland-nhs-england-different-structures-explained/ )
‘... the Scottish healthcare system “differs quite significantly” from its English counterpart due to the lack of an equivalent body to NHS England. In Scotland, the NHS is split up into health boards whose chief executives report directly to the Cabinet Secretary for Health. In England, hospital trusts fall under NHS England, the body responsible for overseeing the funding, planning and delivery of healthcare on behalf of the UK Government.’ (my emphasis)
The former Chief Medical Officer for Scotland (Gregor Smith) is reported explaining in evidence to the Covid Inquiry: “England has NHS England as a separate public entity, public body. There isn’t an equivalent in Scotland. Instead you have 22 health boards, 14 of which are territorial health boards.’
The Herald article also reports on Humza Yousaf’s remarks in evidence to the Covid Inquiry, ‘arguing that an overarching entity such as NHS England is “effectively adding another layer of bureaucracy with little in return”.
He added: “Not only do you get little in return, I think the worry is that the direct relationship between Cabinet Secretary for Health and chairs and chief executives is diluted [and] it could allow a Cabinet Secretary to feel like, in some respects, they’re somewhat off the hook, when they should never be off the hook.”
The organisation, i.e. ‘NHS England’ that is to be abolished is a creature of the Lansley reforms introduced by the Tory/Lib Dem coalition government:
‘NHS England was created as the NHS Commissioning Board, as part of the ‘Lansley reforms’ of 2012. The original intention was to take the existing ‘NHS Executive’ leadership embedded within the Department of Health (as it was then called) and create a new statutorily independent organisation that would be both ‘lean’ and ‘free from day-to-day political interference’. (From The Kings Fund, March 13, 2025: The reshaping of NHS national bodies has only just started. How will it finish?)
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Surely the bottom line is that whatever takes place in England, the inevitable outcome is that less money will be given, I know, I know ,our own money, to the S.G to run our health services. And that is the Labour/Tories plan. Denude our health sector of cash, shout that it isn’t performing properly, and bring in the private sector. If that happens, I pity future generations of Scots.
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