I wasn’t going to blog on this topic as I have read so many that will be better written and more educated than I am but it just will not leave my head.
April 2013 will be marked in history as the time the welfare state changed forever. Much like my students study post war Britain and the land being built for heroes, the set up of the NHS, the expansion of Education and the building of social housing, April 2013 will leave its own legacy. It will have its own place in the history textbooks of the future.
If you have been watching the news you are probably aware of the welfare reforms. These welfare reforms are being implemented by a Government that were not elected. People did not vote for this coalition Government. Yet that has not stopped them stamping their way through society, attacking the disabled and punishing the worse off. The bedroom tax has been well documented although the politicians would have us think that it seems fair that if you are in social housing and have a spare room you have to pay extra for it. However this policy includes Foster Carers who take on some of our society’s most vulnerable children. It includes families who may have a child or a partner, husband or wife in rehabilitation unit that only stays with them for short times whilst they live in a residential home maybe because of illness or disability. How can this policy be fair for them. The idea to get getting Britain working and not relying on benefits is emotive. Yet do you know what the stats are for those in receipt of housing benefit? Many of those receiving housing benefit are not work shy, they are not sitting at home living on handouts. Many are families that are trapped in a cycle of poverty, working on or below the min wage. Many are working but still not earning a living wage.
The policy change that has had less media attention is the changes to our NHS. The local authorities will now be putting out tenders for services. The NHS may not be the provider. The implication for this is far reaching. Payment will often be linked to performance. An addict may not be given treatment because the risk of relapse is too great, for the service provider recieve their payment the addict must stay clean for a given period of time. Maybe that seems understandable to you… but what about other operations where the outcome may not be easy to evaluate? Will complicated, expensive surgery not be so attractive to those looking to turn a profit from the sick and disabled. My daughter, so far she has cost the NHS quite a bit, she has had seven general anestheatics, seen countless consultants and undergone months in spica having her hip remodelled. She will almost certainly require more surgery in the future, she will be carefully monitored throughout her childhood. Yet her condition is not easily treated, the outcomes somewhat unknown. Does this mean she would suffer more from the privatisation of the NHS?
Staying with my daughter, she has already been let down by the NHS, her DDH was not diagnosed until she was almost two. The new born health checks failed to notice that my daughter had a dislocated hip. For two years the hip was not completely in it’s socket and the socket therefore has not developed as it should. There is now no legal aid for medical negligence except for a few rare exceptions. My daughter is not an exception, I have heard this story of late diagnosis too many times. For most of these families it is not about a compensation culture, it is about a vulnerable patient that could have a life long condition that was made worse, that has no access to legal aid to help provide them with the medical care and financial security they may well need in the future. The welfare system will once again let these people down. Yet those with trust funds will be able to seek what they need to provide for their future. The rich will continue to be alright.
I am lucky, my children are lucky. We have two regular incomes and are as secure as can be expected. Yet it does not stop me considering those less fortunate. These welfare reforms have been badly thought out. April 2013 will be studied by the students of the future.
