DAUK’s GP co-lead has told national radio listeners that health policy should be taken out of the hands of politicians.
Dr Steve Taylor argued for a more independent, expert-led system to determine the country’s healthcare needs.
He was speaking to Nick Ferrari on LBC radio during a discussion on the ongoing Covid Inquiry.
Covid Inquiry
The inquiry’s third report, which was published on Thursday, said that the NHS was on the brink of collapse during the pandemic. It said the health service only survived thanks to the ‘superhuman’ efforts of healthcare workers.
The Rt Hon. the Baroness Hallett DBE, the inquiry chair, said: “The UK entered the Covid-19 pandemic ill-prepared and with its healthcare systems in a parlous state, with severe workforce shortages, an ageing hospital estate, low numbers of hospital beds and high bed occupancy rates.
“It is unsurprising therefore that the impact on the healthcare systems of the four nations was devastating.”
Austerity
Commenting on the report, Dr Taylor said austerity and a decade of underinvestment in the NHS had left it woefully underprepared for the pandemic.
He said: “I don’t honestly think the NHS should be left in the hands of politicians.
“If we take Germany as an example, they have a council of 38 members that basically decides the health needs for the nation.
“It passes that information to the politicians and says you’ve got to raise the money.
Health policy
“Effectively, we’ve got the government deciding health policy rather than scientists and doctors and those that might know what’s needed.”
Listen to Dr Taylor’s interview on the DAUK Instagram.
Read the latest report from the Covid Inquiry.
CATA (Covid Airborne Transmission Alliance), of which DAUK is a member, is a core participant at the inquiry.
It issued a press release ahead of the publication of the Covid-19 Inquiry’s module 3 report.
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