There is absolutely no method to this madness. The idea of fining hospitals for re admissions is just plain stupid and short sighted, just as the idea of paying hospitals again for re admissions was. Lansley is an idiot, dishonest or both, and frankly I don't care which combination he is.
Lansley's chatter is nonsensical, just as Burnham's was, just as Hewitt's was, just as Johnson's was, the list goes on and on. The fundamental problem with these cretins is that the internal market is a moronic idea. The fact that primary and secondary care are not set up to cooperate in the best interests of the patient is plain foolish and until that problem is addressed, the politicians talk is just hollow garbage.
Primary and secondary care need to work together, currently they do not and the stupid payment systems serve to decrease the amount of cooperation between the two, thus worsening patient care. There is a massive needless bureaucracy in place in which both primary and secondary care are fighting over a few scraps, while the interests of patients are forgotten. If Lansley thinks these new ideas will reduce the bureaucracy and squabbling then he is quite wrong, the opposite is true.
The internal market is the enemy and our politicians continue to side with the enemy because their corrupt ideologies are deeply flawed. The Tories are no different to New Labour, both are groups of muppets who refuse to address the systematic problems with the internal market. Top down control of the market won't work, we need a system in which patients are prioritised and the movement of money does not trump clinical need. We need cooperation, not competition, until that is done money will continue to be frittered away on these stupid top down market based initiatives.
