This is a theme I think I’ll be coming back to. Again and again.
Last week, if you needed an ambulance in Norwich / Norfolk, you might have had a problem. At one point, 40% of all the ambulances in the area were lined up outside Norfolk and Norwich Hospital. Whose fault was it?
Well, there are some candidates.
- if the hospital had been funded by a saner method than the PFI, there would have been money for more beds, doctors, nurses and so on
- if the hospital trust had the power to charge the appropriate department (Social Services?) when a patient is ready for discharge but has nowhere to go, fewer beds would be blocked.
And so on. There are many permutations.
This is a big topic, and it will come up again. As will the name of Leslie Chapman.
