So our highest-paid GP earns in a year what Neymar (a footballer, apparently) earns in 6 days, Ed Sheeran in just over a fortnight and the boss of RBS in four months. The real scandal is that it will take the Prime Minister the whole of her (potential,) term of office to bank that much. Although she does get free board, lodging and petrol, I guess.
Years ago when I worked in Greece, families used to fly their poorly relatives to London to get better medical treatment. Now it’s cheaper, even with the cost of flights and hotels, to go to Lithuania for a hip replacement and Hungary or Turkey for a bit of dental work.
In the real world, large chunks of the NHS are already sort-of privatised. In Gloucester, many cataract operations are carried out by a private company; which, yes, has cut waiting times considerably. In Oxford, three GP practices are now owned by a private company....
Pension rules have, since ‘Pensions Simplification’ a few years ago, become ridiculously complex. Much of the ad hoc, short term stuff added since has had unforeseen effects, such as huge tax bills for doctors having to work extra hours to keep the NHS afloat. They...