UK ‘long overdue' a conversation about NHS funding, says Javid
Sir Sajid, also a former health secretary, said the country 'cannot afford' to 'bury our heads in the sand' when it comes to how the UK pays for healthcare.
His comments are part of the foreword for the PolicyExchange's report The NHS – A Suitable Case For Treatment.
The centre-right thinktank suggests that 'better quality healthcare' could be delivered 'by moving from our present entirely socialised model to a hybrid model with a significant social insurance component'.
They also advocate changes such as removing free prescriptions for over-60s, but the report says that 'under no circumstances' should the UK try to replicate the US model of healthcare.
Introducing the paper, Sir Sajid described the NHS as 'one of our country's most treasured and beloved national institutions'.
'We've come to a crossroads. A serious conversation with taxpayers about how we continue funding their favourite national institution is long overdue,' he said.
He said that the UK is left with the options of putting more money into healthcare through tax rises or 'reforming' the system.
'What we cannot afford to do is to bury our heads in the sand,' he added.
'The responsible politician, the one who is concerned with the national interest, must look at every option for reform,' Sir Sajid said.
The PolicyExchange report says that 'under no circumstances should the UK consider moving towards the US model', but that other countries 'with some sort of insurance-based model do much better' such as France, Germany and Singapore.
'We believe that better quality healthcare with universal coverage and improved long-term funding sustainability could be secured by moving from our present entirely socialised model to a hybrid model with a significant social insurance component,' the report says.
Alongside a shift towards a 'social-insurance based system of financing healthcare', the thinktank made a number of recommendations for reforms that could be made within the existing NHS model.
Among the changes the PolicyExchange suggest are a £20 charge for visiting a GP, with low-income groups exempt.
They also say that people over 60 should no longer be universally eligible for free prescriptions, and the exemption should be determined by your income.
They also advocate charges for 'more luxurious hospital accommodation', which they say could raise £700million.
PolicyExchange advocate a system where universal healthcare coverage is available, and a basic model can be supplemented by other policies.
The Government would regulate insurers and healthcare providers, and they say the system should still be called the NHS, with the main change being the way it is financed.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Sun
26 minutes ago
- The Sun
Fat cat water regulator bosses get millions of pounds in salaries while failing to get a grip on the sewage crisis
GREEDY water regulator bosses paid themselves millions in salaries while failing to get a grip on the sewage crisis. Ofwat's senior management team netted more than £2 million in pay last year. 2 Chief exec David Black received a total remuneration package of £250,000 to £255,000 including pension. The failing regulator also handed out over £6 million to external consultants in two years, according to official contracts. It comes as Ofwat is set to be abolished under reforms announced on Monday. The useless watchdog has been blasted for failing to stop water companies spewing sewage into waterways while lining the pockets of their shareholders. Now it can be revealed the regulator has been spaffing taxpayer cash on companies for communication advice and training staff for grillings by MPs. A £15,000 contract was given to Moxy Communications for advice including 'training for Select Committees'. This is despite Ofwat having around 16 people on their comms team with salaries for their senior director advertised at around £105,000. Recently, advisors Strand Partners won a £100,000 seven-month contract to 'reduce the pressure on Ofwat and free up resource'. 2 A separate £30,000 contract was spent on an online tool to schedule content to go live on Ofwat social media channels. And another £80,000 went on a 'social listening tool' to 'gain valuable insights' from social and digital media. Senior Lib Dem MP Tim Farron said: 'It is shocking that Ofwat bosses have the audacity to award themselves millions for failure, and this unnecessary spending is an insult to every single bill payer who sees their charges rocket, while the state of our waterways plummets. 'This isn't just incompetence; it's a betrayal of public trust and we need a radical overhaul. 'It's time to pull the plug on Ofwat. We need a powerful, new regulator that can finally force these companies to clean up their act and stop the sewage scandal for good.' Tory shadow environment secretary Victoria Atkins said: 'As families watch bills rise by the month, Ofwat bosses are busy signing off million-pound consultancy contracts and paying themselves bumper salaries. "Spending £80,000 to listen to tweets and £15,000 on Select Committee coaching is a slap in the face to every household footing the bill.' For the first time the Government will promise to cut sewage pollution with a clear deadline. Environment Secretary Steve Reed has announced that pollution from water companies will be cut in half by the end of the decade. And a record £104 billion is being invested to upgrade crumbling pipes and build new sewage treatment works. He said: 'One of the largest infrastructure projects in England's history will clean up our rivers, lakes and seas for good.' He is expected to announce a consultation on creating a new regulator to coincide with the results of a major review into the water industry directed by former Bank of England deputy governor Sir Jon Cunliffe. An Ofwat spokesperson said Mr Black's salary takes account of the 'scale, complexity and challenges of the role'. They added: 'Decisions on pay and bonuses for the Senior Leadership Team are made by the Board's People Committee in line with guidance from the Cabinet Office and the Senior Salaries Review Body. The process and the salary increase applied was in accordance with the Government pay guidance for Senior Civil Servants.'
Telegraph
26 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Parliament is still stacked with gender ideologues
Let's be clear: by 'transphobes' Roca doesn't mean violent thugs who want to crucify cross dressers. He means you. He means the average British voter who believes that biological sex exists. The parents alarmed that teachers are telling their daughters they are 'born in the wrong body' if they like playing with trucks. The people campaigning to stop male sex offenders from being housed in female prisons. The detransitioners left scarred by medical experiments masquerading as care. He means the Supreme Court justices who recently reaffirmed that, under equality law, sex means biology, a decision he decried as 'depressing.' To Roca, all of them – all of us – are unhinged. But what's truly depressing is that Parliament is still stacked with unabashed gender goons like Roca, who confuse sneering for superiority and ideology for intellect. The Labour Party has become a refuge for some of the most absurd and extreme statements ever uttered into a microphone. Dawn Butler once bafflingly informed a Pink News audience that 'babies are born without a sex' and that ' 90 per cent of giraffes are gay.' Stella Creasy earnestly believes that being a feminist means affirming 'women with penises.' And Labour's health minister Ashley Dalton once tweeted that people should be able to identify as llamas if they wish. Then there's Jess Phillips, self-identifying 'gobby feminist' and safeguarding minister, who stayed mute as gender-critical MPs were hounded from public life, and who's said precisely nothing about the scandal engulfing the Tavistock Clinic. Where was her safeguarding when young women like Keira Bell were led down a path of irreversible medicalisation on the NHS? But what's most infuriating about Roca's smug sermon is his deluded belief that all that's needed is 'robust conversation' to 'bring people around' to his view that gender identity ought to outweigh the reality of biological sex. For a decade, gender lobbyists like Stonewall shut down debate, smeared dissenters as bigots, and undermined the democratic process by influencing public policy behind closed doors. When we wanted dialogue, they called it hate. Women trying to arrange discussions about now shelved proposals to reform the Gender Recognition Act faced bomb threats and intimidation from activists, and arrest and interrogation from Stonewall trained police forces. Thanks to their work, common sense has resurfaced, and it is sweeping through the nation. The public can see clearly who the real 'swivel-eyed' loons are: those who lock male rapists in women's prisons, who drug confused children, and earnestly believe you can be born in the wrong body.
BreakingNews.ie
26 minutes ago
- BreakingNews.ie
Concerns grow over further delays to opening of €2.2bn National Children's Hospital
Concerns are growing over further delays to the opening of the National Children's Hospital, as Children's Health Ireland has yet to be granted early access to the building. CHI had planned to begin preparations this summer, but says it is still waiting despite being ready to go since July 1st. Advertisement The €2.24 billion hospital is now due to be completed by the end of September, but key areas still have not met the required 'snag-free' standard. The hospital has already missed 14 previous deadlines. Speaking on Newstalk, Sinn Féin's health spokesperson, David Cullinane, said it is disappointing. "It's just one of the most frustrating public infrastructure projects that I have ever seen. "It just has been riddled with controversy after controversy and, while we all want to get to a point where the hospital is open and is treating patients, I just find it incredible that only a number of months ago we were told that this commissioning process would happen earlier, that there would be access at this point.
