NICE and Mean Labour

I have been trying hard to think of any thing Labour has done in recent times to improve the lot of people in this country apart from MPs and I must say I'm having great difficulty, now I know that a few die-hard Labour dinosaurs, would point to things like the welfare state which I feel imprisons more than its helped, the minimum wage set at poverty levels, and NHS which consumes ever increasing amounts of money, although you still cannot find a dentist, and doctors have surgerys to suit themselves, the old and welfare dependant.

Something that I was going to touch on a while back but I forgot about, and please in this case I'm not attempting to be facetious, was highlighted by author Terry Pratchet, in Sundays News Of The World, he gives a rather serious example of what's wrong, please click here or alternatively turn to page 6 in yesterday's edition.

That said it seems that the health service under Labour are more than happy to give us prescriptions for drugs for recreational purposes like Viagra on the NHS, in preference to treatment for more serious disorders. So what could be more important, well frankly not a lot, except maybe brain function, since we are engaged in more cerebral matters, most of the time, even if its just think of er having fun. So where is this leading, well the government set up, some "independent" quango type organisation, called NICE to advise on what is and isn't effective treatment, and despite its proven benefits NICE, decided to not recommend Aricept for patients with early Alzheimer's.

Still no need to panic if your Scottish, don't forget the Labour party "Scotland first" policy, so you'll be able to get a prescription for Aricept, if you need it, without even having to pay charges at the chemists, as Terry Pratchet mentions in his article "There is a two-tier NHS, in fact —the Scottish one and the English one"

NICE stands for National Institute for Clinical Excellence of course to give a clearer indication of their purpose, the last word in title needs to be swopped for Excuses rather than excellence.

It comes as no surprise to me that a health service run by a flawed Labour Government, would see recreational drugs like Viagra, on prescription rather than treat an illness such as Alzheimer's which attacks the core of who and what we are. Fortunately for me at this point in time I know who I am and what Labour are, and unlike some of Labour smug leadership I realise that some of the UK's citizens are more equal than others.

The NHS has always promised more than it could offer, of course old dears and the like will always see the positive, in those that work in caring professions and their right, but the simple truth is that our health service is not as good many think and who hasn't had either first hand experience or is aware NHS GP's offering a long wait to see an NHS specialist or that same NHS consultant next week, for a bung, sorry private appointment and this will continue to be the case if you need Aricept since the NHS are spiteful enough to disapprove of patients spending their own money on life enhancing medication.

Why is that Labour can be so nice in Scotland and frankly so mean if you happen to be in England? Still that's a question, you might ask Steve Ladyman, or maybe why can't the health service in England spend £2.50 a day to help delay the onset of Alzheimer's. And if you feel uncomfortable about confronting members of Parliament, or think it rude, just think how much their trousering from the Taxpayer and don't imagine they'll hesitate for a second to ask for your vote when the time comes.

You may think that I'm being unkind to Labour, just chew this over 400,000 people currently suffer from Alzheimer's and assuming that, all could benefit from Aricept, the total cost might be £400,000,000.00, which is a big number, until you remember that the Government had 67 times as much when it found £27,000,000,000.00 in petty cash to save a handful of directors backsides at Northern Rock.

PS The web version of the NOTW appears to wrongly attribute the photograph, at the top of the article