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Friday 18 February 2011

NHS frontline cuts - coming to a hospital near you... a BS Bank

So, unsurprisingly, the impact of budget squeezes imposed by the current government are having an impact on front line NHS services. See http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/feb/17/nhs-hospitals-axeing-frontline-staff
These may seem to a disinterested detached politician modest changes to services; where will those women who won't be able to give birth at St George's go?
An electorate who are already being squeezed by rising food and fuel prices will see further erosion of the familiar as libraries, local clinics, schools and other institutions close or at best move away. Despite the attractiveness of local targeted services (this is a presumptive interpretation on my part of the Big Society idea) the drive to save money is simply removing established local services, making them impossible to restart by volunteers and charities as the costs will be too big. So, with no one capable of bearing the initial financial burden of running these local services the Big Society Bank will have no one to lend to. That will save more money, though not before the costs of setting up the BS Bank have been spent.
Did I say BS Bank? That takes me to another thought... the BS could stand for something else?
A headquarters in Westminster perhaps?

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