Cameron and the NHS

Right at the start of Tony Blair's premiership we had a clue of the empty vessel we had elected. A nutcase, you may recall, had burst into a school in Dunblane and slaughtered a number of children. It was an horrific, shocking event, leaving the country numb. It was a time for strong leadership.

A group of bereaved mothers wanted the law changed, as a memorial to their lost children. They were called, if I remember, the Snowdrop Campaign. Blair, more interested in headlines than governance, acceded to their wants and 'handguns' (pistols to you and me) were banned. Apart from the idiotic incidence of the British Olympic Shooting Team having to train in France (for ownership of a pistol, deemed so dreadful by these bereaved mothers was part of a sport, subsidised by the taxpayer) there has been no beneficial effect of this law. It used to be that the bad guys, and a very small number of good guys, had guns, now it is only the bad guys. You can buy a pistol in a pub in many cities, for about £50.

The lesson of all this is that the bereaved are not in a position to make laws. They are too emotionally connected.

Following the tragic loss of his son Ivan, it is being said that David Cameron's politics have been shaped by the experience, and the poor boy's tragic life and death will influence the country. Here is Cameron quoted in the Times: "When your family relies on the NHS all the time – day after day, night after night – you really know just how precious it is.” The Telegraph says: "He revealed the treatment of his son at St Mary's Hospital, Paddington, where he died was one of the prime reasons why the NHS had become such a campaign priority for his Conservative Party. "

I recently heard of a man who entered hospital without anything that much wrong with him and contracted, in the hospital, MRSA, C-difficile and E-Coli. There is an increasing number of reports of unnecessary deaths in hospitals. Doctors earn £100,000 a year and people can't get treated. Such is the rationing of healthcare that older people have to be deemed less deserving of treatment than the young. There is talk of not treating the overweight in order to save cash.

What the NHS needs is a good kick up the backside; I wonder now if David Cameron is equipped to administer it.