The budget cuts are going to affect lots of people badly, but they need to be done unfortunately. If the government weren’t to cut things now, then we would be faced with even bigger problems down the line. With that said, I don’t know whether they are going about it the right way – only time will be able to tell.
One thing I don’t think should be cut is NHS budgets. It worries me that doctors are going to be in charge of their own medication budgets now, as the amount of times I’ve heard people say they’ve been turned away only to find out later that the GP was wrong is astonishing. I fear for anyone who doesn’t have private medical insurance if the GPs have complete say over where the budgets are spent. Especially for non-life threatening, but still difficult, problems such as muscle and tendon injuries.
Don’t get me wrong, I think the vast majority of GPs do a great job. The problem is, they are too general and hence it’s very difficult for them to make a specific diagnosis in most cases. The consequence of them knowing a little about everything is that mistakes are often made. GPs should be a gateway to seeing the right specialist in my opinion, as this would provide the best care for the patient.
It will be interesting to see how the budget cuts effect our lives over the next few years. My guess is that they won’t have the huge impact that many people are expecting, but I’m sure most of us will see some sort of difference.