To: Jeremy Hunt the Secretary of State for Health
Make the Secretary of State for Health use only the NHS.
Create a parliamentary rule or protocol to commit the Secretary of State for Health to using only the NHS for himself/herself with the sanction of resignation if they use private health care.
Why is this important?
A Secretary of State for Health who does not have to resort to the NHS, for care has no incentive to ensure the service is as good as it should be. They will never personally have to bear the consequences of their official decisions.
They will also not truly understand the experience of the vast majority of the public who have no other choice.
The salary attached to the job of Secretary of State of around £135,000 p.a. plus expenses enables them to afford the privilege of private health care, a privilege which is well beyond the rest of the population where the median household disposable income for 2014/15 was £25,600.
Press reports repeatedly tell us that the NHS is in crisis and recent and unprecedented strikes by junior doctors show that the professionals on which we rely so heavily have been driven to extreme action.
A Secretary of State for Health who faces the same long waits for treatment in overcrowded surgeries and hospitals, or cancelled operations because of inadequate resources will be incentivised to make the right decisions for the majority.
