Is it healthy to rant?

Just when you thought the government couldn't dig a deeper NHS hole for itself comes the announcement that hospitals will soon be able to 'advertise' themselves to patients to generate throughput and with this, the income as 'payment by results' is implemented. basically, the more patients a hospital treats, the more money it will be paid byt he community (GPs) referring the patients. Thsi is all well and good but in Leicestershire, this has already caused a huge problem as community services have run out of money to pay for these services and are not only being bailed out by the hospitals themselves but have also had to request an increase in waiting times to ensure they can afford all the future treatments and operations! Crazy!

With advertising, the hospitals who are cash straped from the start will now be in a position to waste even more financial resource and spend away from patient care once more. The current situation whereby hospital wards and departments have to hold fundraising events and rely on donations for essential equipment is diabolical and I cannot see how the government can justify allowing hospitals to spend money on advertising when units go without machinery and resources they need.