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Editor - Nigel Edwards (letter 13th May 2000) puts his finger exactly
on the spot as far as hospitals are concerned in a way that makes "focus
groups" unecessary. Cost improvement plans (CIPs) or efficiency savings
have, over
about 20 years, stripped hospitals of any tolerance or elasticity.
Whitehall appears to view ward occupancy rates of 95% and more as good -
whereas everyone working in the service knows that they lead to numerous
outliers
and to greatly increased risks and poor quality care. It would be
interesting if an economist could work out how much money has been taken
out of the NHS as CIPs over the last 20 years at about 3% a year. Perhaps
Mr Blair's billions are actually just returning what has been removed.
Dr J. Secker-Walker
Senior Lecturer
University of Wales College of Medicine
Cardiff
NHS's fundamental problems must be solved
Editor - Nigel Edwards (letter 13th May 2000) puts his finger exactly
on the spot as far as hospitals are concerned in a way that makes "focus
groups" unecessary. Cost improvement plans (CIPs) or efficiency savings
have, over
about 20 years, stripped hospitals of any tolerance or elasticity.
Whitehall appears to view ward occupancy rates of 95% and more as good -
whereas everyone working in the service knows that they lead to numerous
outliers
and to greatly increased risks and poor quality care. It would be
interesting if an economist could work out how much money has been taken
out of the NHS as CIPs over the last 20 years at about 3% a year. Perhaps
Mr Blair's billions are actually just returning what has been removed.
Dr J. Secker-Walker
Senior Lecturer
University of Wales College of Medicine
Cardiff
Competing interests: No competing interests