Countdown to Community Care Mental health services-the user's view

Not a comfortable option Many will see this paper as a fundamental attack on the NHS, a means by which a free service slides down the slippery slope of privatisation. They will be ignoring the slide that has already taken place-and is accelerating. The structure that I have suggested is sufficiently robust to halt that slide and ensure that acute care remains free throughout. Long term care could develop, allowing the NHS to use the highest standards and train the staff required to run the private facilities. Patients and their carers would have a realistic choice freed from fears of favouritism and unfair influence. Transfers to and from the private sector would be eased, enabling the NHS to concentrate its long term resources on those who need its special skills. Cynical health authorities would find the closure of long stay beds a less enticing option. Private homes would be free to compete on a more even playing field, no longer subject to the whims of the local health authority. No one can pretend that this is a comfortable option. It does indeed make those who require nursing care through no fault of their own shoulder the cost. It does, however, remove the humbug which leaves the elderly to discover that our current free health service is a sham.