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Jim Graham

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About Jim Graham

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  1. OK, for what it's worth - I think the internet gives a voice to millions of people who otherwise would not have one. It easily and quickly facilitates free speech. And there are people out there who need to be heard. But, at the same time, there are way too many who should never be heard. The anonymity that the 'net gives encourages confidence and allows participation without fear. But all too often anonymity is used to mask some base human behaviours. It accentuates the fact that not everyone has the intellect to appreciate it and use this resource wisely. Everyone may have a right to free speech, but not everyone has the resources to deal with it when it is aimed at them. There are some very fragile people out there, who probably shouldn't be engaging in some aspects of social media. But, then again, why should they have to put up with nasty bullying trolls getting their kicks abusing others? When social media is known to be unregulated it just encourages the basest behaviours. I think every website set up for profit should be monitored and an ability for users to report bad behaviour. But, if the police are monitoring then I think that's a good thing if it makes trolls think twice. It's a shame they have to, and taxpayers have to foot the bill for dingbats who can't behave. But then, twas ever thus.
  2. Don't waste your time on the local monkeys, go straight to the organ grinder. Write to the man at the top, at head office. They aren't usually difficult to find. A quick google of "managing director of (company name)" should yield results. They may even have a complaints section on their website. But don't pay a penny until you are happy, because once you have paid you'll never see them again. And don't be afraid to name and shame. And don't forget the websites where people rate companies like Trustpilot. Big companies monitor those for adverse feedback.
  3. What complete dribble. Sheffield Forum is awash with left-wing trolls. The idea that the right have the monopoly on malevolence is just plain daft. There's no nastier, more intolerant creed than Socialism. Capitalism tolerates socialism. Socialism does not tolerate capitalism. Cue...
  4. You rather undermine your weak arguments by resorting to pedantry and personal abuse. It's no surprise on SF. The title of the thread is: Have the Conservatives fixed our country? And some commentators have jumped in and lazily and predictably claimed that the Tories are ruining the NHS. I contend, and have evidenced, that the NHS does a pretty good job in ruining itself. There is plenty more evidence out there. Only yesterday I was reading of a finance director in the NHS paying himself £47,500 a MONTH (£570,000 a year). He is not alone. And we could also get into the PFI deals bleeding the NHS dry or the absurd cost of pensions for NHS staff also taking a big chunk of the NHS budget. But the biggest cause of 'ruining' of the NHS is the British people. The British people wilfully refuse to take good care of themselves and take a free health service for granted, and abuse it mercilessly. Almost two-thirds of Britons are now classed as obese and that massively increases their risk of diabetes, heart disease, cancer, stroke, and many other conditions. Then there are two million visits every year to A&E by people misusing alcohol. All of which leaves the NHS to pick up the bill for what amounts to poor lifestyle choices. The NHS was set up to reduce the terrible toll of diseases such as TB, and to provide safe, affordable medicines for everyday complaints. It has been a great success. But it never was and never should be a backstop for a lazy self-indulgent population dying of stupidity through their own self-neglect. Every penny spent on an obese diabetic is a penny that cannot be spent on care for those who are in need through no fault of their own. It's very easy to trot out lazy rhetoric about how 'it's all the government's fault'. Some of what is wrong with this country may be the government's fault. But when it comes to the NHS much of what is wrong with it is entirely self-inflicted.
  5. I am not suggesting doctors set out to kill patients. I merely point out that when the worst happens the doctors are not held to account. There is a set of procedures designed to ensure enough doubt can be cast on the doctors actions to exonerate them. Taking out a healthy kidney and leaving the cancerous one in place is as good as a death sentence for the unfortunate patient. Yet it happens all too often. Blood clots left behind after surgery can be a death sentence or, at best, leave life changing consequences, and a big bill for taxpayers in follow up NHS care. It's not the doctors that pay. 1,400 Mid Staffs patients had 'a bad experience' of the NHS - they died. Another 13,000 had 'a bad experience' of the NHS according to the Keogh report. Many of those also died. My own NICE committee admitted that 30,000 patients a year had 'a bad experience' of the NHS. And 25,000 a year still have 'a bad experience' of the NHS through blood clots alone. I'm sorry you have had your ideals of a perfect NHS challenged, but the truth is there, and, of course, you are free to ignore it, as many do. And why shouldn't patients complain if they have been mistreated? Are they, like you (and doctors), supposed to believe the NHS is untouchable? Oh dear. Here is today's medical success story. Another £2 million out of the NHS budget. Curse those ambulance chasing lawyers. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-3733109/Spinal-injuries-carer-warned-doctors-not-epidural-hip-op-wins-2m-payout-NHS-left-paralysed.html
  6. I'll be very happy to read your well crafted arguments if you have any.
  7. There you go http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/news/10093091/NHS-negligence-claims-rise-by-20-per-cent-in-just-one-year.html Medical staff may be heavily regulated, but they are rarely held to account by those regulators. Not one doctor was even disciplined after 1400 deaths at Mid Staffs. A licence to practice is a licence to kill.
  8. Who says the Conservatives are destroying the NHS? You? The medical profession? From your comments below you seem to be basing your opinion solely on the amount of money spent, not on the experience of patients. The only ones destroying the NHS are so-called medical professionals, and their corrupt managers. The bill for medical negligence claims against the NHS is now more than £19,000,000,000. What could the NHS do with that money? Instead of being spent on care it is paid to lawyers and compensation to injured or killed patients. And how much do you think corrupt managers have spent on lawyers and compensation to whistle-blowers that they have tried and failed to suppress? The NHS is awash with cash, but not enough of it gets spent on patient care. Too much of it is poured down the throats of lawyers, administrators, PR, useless management and incompetent medical staff. This government has pledged to make the NHS more efficient, and top of that list of efficiencies is to cut down on negligence by doctors. Of course, the BMA will fight them tooth and claw for the right to kill patients and not have to take responsibility. That's always been the way for doctors. You can huff and puff all you like but the reality is that the NHS was out of control under Labour. This government is trying to get it back under control and is being fought every step of the way by a bolshy medical profession demanding the right to get paid more, to do less, and to remain unaccountable.
  9. Shipman happened early on Labour's watch and they eventually put in some measures to stop it happening again. I have read both the Keogh Report and the Francis Report. They simply report an uncontrolled, uncaring NHS with managers paying themselves huge salaries and pensions. Under Labour doctors were given huge pay rises in return for less work and less scrutiny. In 2005 I sat on a NICE committee looking into preventing deaths caused by blood clots. At that time 30,000 people a year were dying as a result of blood clots, and the vast majority of those were as a consequence of NHS intervention. I simply make the point that pouring money into the NHS does not make it better or safer. What the NHS really needs is better management, and it won't get it under a Labour government. It is more likely under a Tory government. But the fact remains that on Labour's watch billions were poured in and tens of thousands of lives were thrown away through neglect by an uncaring, unreformed, unaccountable medical profession. Remember that propaganda slogan: The NHS is Safe in Our Hands. What it actually meant was: The NHS Staff are Safe in Our Hands, but NHS Patients are Not. I say again that the idea that Labour has a monopoly on compassion is utterly laughable, and has no basis in reality.
  10. Labour poured billions into the NHS and would have undoubtedly satisfied your GDP criteria. yet the result of all that cash was Mid Staffs, the Keogh Report, Liverpool Pathway and the likes of Shipman. Tens of thousands of British citizens were, effectively, killed by uncaring NHS staff under no political scrutiny whatsoever. The Tories may have turned down the funding tap, but they have made the NHS much safer. Personally, I prefer to wait a bit longer and know I'll survive a trip to the NHS, than be seen straight away and have to take my chances.
  11. So is it all right to change the benefit system for political gain by making it more generous to buy votes by taxing working people and handing money to the non working people?
  12. Don't forget Labour's chronic anti-Semitism from the Palestinian flag waving brigade.
  13. It smacks of Socialism. It's an authoritarian creed that does not tolerate dissent. The foot soldiers carry out the Dear Leaders secret wishes whilst the Dear Leader publicly decries the actions of a few that 'don't represent what we stand for'. Twas ever thus.
  14. And then there was our very own Red Flag waving, hard-line Trot, philandering, twice sacked minister, executive directorships holding, Murdoch money taking, student top up fees introducing, immigrant floodgate opening, ID Cards mooting, laughable citizenship test introducing, plastic bobbies bringing, Chatsworth and London dwelling, and all round Socialist sell out - the Lord Blunkett of Chatsworth. And, you still can't get his snout out of the trough.
  15. Do you mean like the caring and sharing that was going on in Rotherham? Or do you mean the caring and sharing that was going on at Mid Staffs? If so, I think I'll pass. Thanks
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