Letter from Mark Langabeer (Hastings and Rye Labour member)
Last week, the BBC’s current affairs programme, Question Time, was devoted to the crisis within the NHS. One of the panellists was a guy called Jim Bartholomew, who was described as a journalist and writer. His prescription for solving the crisis in the NHS was ‘social insurance’.
He stated that nations that had better health outcomes than Britain were based on the insurance system, quoting Germany and Holland as examples. These ideas are gaining currency within the Tory Party. In truth, they are similar to a system of healthcare that existed before the introduction of the NHS in 1948.
The NHS is paid by general taxation and is free at the point of use. Social insurance is based upon contributions from employers and employees. Insurance companies become the providers of healthcare. Does the social insurance model work? Bartholomew’s claims about insurance are selective. He doesn’t include the USA because private insurance fails to give good healthcare for the majority of its citizens. Countries like Sweden and Denmark have a similar funding system to the UK and have better healthcare. Insurance companies are in business for profit, not healthcare needs. It’s worked in Germany because of the higher level of funding. They have invested more in health provision than the UK.
Tory front bench fearful
Question Time neglected to mention that Bartholomew writes for many right-wing newspapers and is a member of the misnamed, ‘Reform Party’ – mainly former UKIP supporters and right-wing Tories. Their ideas are echoed by many Tory backbenchers. At the moment, the Tory front bench are fearful of public reaction to further privatisation within the NHS. However, the idea of social insurance could grow if the current crisis deepens.
In my view, Labour should commit to a programme of investment, similar to the level that exists in Germany. They must support a cost of living pay rise for all the NHS staff. A 10% pay rise, at least, is fully justified and should be supported at national level, even though the Tories will claim that this is unaffordable.
Labour should also advocate a programme which includes the nationalisation of the major drug companies that make huge profits from the sale of drugs to the health service. It should call for the cancellation of PFI (private finance initiatives) and bring tendered services back in-house. These measures would help to secure a fully funded health service.
