Four out of ten people would support tax increases to safeguard NHS funding during the recession according to a poll for the British Medical Association.

Obesity will cost the NHS billions if not tackled. The sacred institution of the Labour Party and the UK is already threatened by an ageing population and other problems that will add to health costs. A renewed mission of the NHS should be to concentrate on prevention of health problems. To tackle smoking, we have a tobacco tax. To tackle drinking, we have taxes on alcohol. Can you tax obesity? So...

Liberal Democrat Health spokesman Norman Lamb says the NHS is using car parking charges as a “tax on the sick.” From the Telegraph: Every year the NHS in England makes over £100 million from parking charges. While these charges do generate some much-needed income for the NHS, they can also cause real hardship for patients and their

What is becoming clear today is that the Tories cannot keep the promises they are making. Not on tax promises. Not on spending commitments. And not on the NHS either. Andy Burnham MP, Labour's Health Secretary, responding to David Cameron's comments on the NHS today, said: "David Cameron's plans on the NHS are not credible and he cannot be trusted. "Cameron promises no NHS cuts - bu...

It’s the 60th anniversary of the great institution we both love to love and love to hate. Dr Rant couldn’t resist a birthday card to the dear old NHS. So here it is:The NHS is great because it provides care free at the point of need, to the whole population of the country. All health systems have to be paid for somehow, and paying tax is as good or bad as paying an insurance premium.Th...

Classic Jeremy Clarkson rant in The Sunday Times. He says that the NHS is bloody brilliant. And then, inevitably, he goes off on one about NHS attempts to save fossil fuel and emissions and yeh! tax payers' money. In a recently oft-repeated-on-Dave edition of Top Gear a more reasonable James May shot the breeze with petrol head Jay Leno about a rather excellent Hydrogen-fuelled Car, the Honda...

This Saturday, the NHS turns 60. Its birthday coincides with International Co-operatives Day.This week several reports, most prominently Lord Darzi's, seek to define the NHS for its next stage. It's heartening to see co-operative principles more prominently mentioned than ever before in these ideas.In the proposed NHS Constitution, high status has been given to public accountability:The NHS is acc...

If we are going to have a sensible debate about the NHS in this country, we need to deal with the myth that the NHS is free. Yes, the NHS is free at the point of use, but we all pay for it through taxation. I suspect that slightly fewer people would still ‘love the NHS’ if they knew precisely how much they were contributing towards its costs through all the taxes that they pay. I say t...

Anyone who has ever had their life saved by the NHS will know and instinctively understand what a national treasure we have in this service.  Millions owe the NHS a debt of gratitude.  We salute the NHS for 60 sparkling years of selfless dedication to the people of this country and hope that, for all our sakes, there will always be an NHS that we can depend on. The problem is however, that the pol...

The NHS advisory panel on competition has ruled that NHS hospitals should not bar their consultants from working for private providers of NHS care in their own time