Why is no one explaining that the narrative about plummeting NHS productivity is a false narrative? There are loads of articles being written about this - have any of the journalists actually examined the long-term trends?🚨 The Tories reduced the ‘input’ during the 2010s, by reducing hospital … - ThreadSky

jujuliagrace.bsky.social • 8 days ago

Why is no one explaining that the narrative about plummeting NHS productivity is a false narrative? There are loads of articles being written about this - have any of the journalists actually examined the long-term trends?🚨

The Tories reduced the ‘input’ during the 2010s, by reducing hospital …

Comments

janbellina.bsky.social•8 days ago

If you need confirmation of the Dunning-Kruger Effect, you need look no further than journalism (well, maybe politicians too, but definitely journalism).

thereunderneath.bsky.social•7 days ago

I would actually say most departments in the NHS are so understaffed they’re not able to be healthily productive.

At the moment staff morale is at an all time low & these articles about productivity being low are adding salt to the wound.

Labour are not helping by failing to discredit that.

nico0511.bsky.social•7 days ago

I wonder Dr Patterson…how do you feel about NHS England cutting c.40% of staff 18 months ago and then announcing that in about 2 weeks another 15% will lose their jobs…ostensibly to divert £325m to front line services…sensible? About time?

ggzznn.bsky.social•8 days ago

Is journalism still a thing?

lux-tenebrae.bsky.social•8 days ago

Not the Gated Institutional Narrative kind

martinrobertson.bsky.social•6 days ago

because the fascists own the MSM

pablothetrucker.bsky.social•8 days ago

Anytime I see "Tories" & "NHS" In the same sentence, I can be confident that the sentence will accurately refer to some kind of gutting of services, privatisation, or other nasty dumbfuckery by those skidmark bastards. How reassuring that something at least is so predictable. They deserve it.

greenchutes.bsky.social•7 days ago

Same true for Labour!

jontia.bsky.social•7 days ago

It's really not. Not only have Labour not been in power for 14 years, but investment during the last labour government was increasing at double the rate of Thatchers tenure, which was itself higher than Cameron and his train.

https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/insight-and-analysis/data-and-charts/nhs-budget-nutshell

mega-g.bsky.social•7 days ago

Thanks for that correction.

An inaccurate throwaway one-liner can do so much to undermine the truth.

greenchutes.bsky.social•7 days ago

But I wasn't referring to the last Labour government. I was referring to this, the final Labour government. As it shuffles off rightwards to oblivion.

mega-g.bsky.social•7 days ago

Don’t be silly. They’ve only been in government 7 months.

mrsmalone.bsky.social•7 days ago

Completely agree!

dundonaldpatrick.bsky.social•7 days ago

😆😆😆😆journalists😆😆😆😆 examined 😆😆😆😆. I think they’ll sack journalists and just use AI for “news” stories.

debby64.bsky.social•7 days ago

Because people love to moan all day long, and the next day and the next day. Solution focused may involve using ones brain. Heaven forbid the truth and a solution!!!

tocoso.bsky.social•7 days ago

I wondered where this narrative had cone from, it is everywhere and no one seems to ask what it means and how it is calculated, this will be a good read!

blandishments.bsky.social•6 days ago

I think almost every single performance measure the NHS has ever been asked to produce has been simplistic and generally meaningless. What is the measurement of "efficiency" in the NHS and what is the evidence to indicate it has declined?

emmawalkerceo.bsky.social•8 days ago

The narrative in Scotland just now is nothing like the experience that I have had with the NHS here.

Which journalists do you recommend for thorough and honest reporting on NHS?

jujuliagrace.bsky.social•8 days ago

…bed numbers and pushing hospitals to operate at very high bed occupancies (part of the reason we now have annual winter crises).

The ‘productivity’ of the NHS is a number derived from the difference between ‘inputs’ and ‘outputs’. They created a situation where it *looked* like productivity was..

paulcole.bsky.social•8 days ago

There have been many studies on lean production - a consistent conclusion is for maximum efficiency you need to set theoretical capacity 25% larger than intended maximum throughput. Hospitals, emergency services, you name it, need to follow that rule. Operating at 80% capacity is the right target.

jujuliagrace.bsky.social•8 days ago

Hospital bed occupancy is meant to operate at around 85% to maintain safety. This winter NHS hospitals in England have hovered around 96% 🚨

igas2.bsky.social•7 days ago

ARFD! (A recipe for disaster)

paulcole.bsky.social•8 days ago

The 85% has almost certainly resulted from the same observations as in industry. Hospitals are simply sized far too small, so it's absolutely expected that you'd get winter beds crises.

jujuliagrace.bsky.social•8 days ago

…increasing year on year, by reducing the NHS resources.

We then faced the biggest public healthcare crisis in the NHS’s history, which the NHS was poorly equipped for. Productivity has now ‘plummeted’ - because the Tories couldn’t cut much more back, waiting lists spiralled, and more resourcing …

jujuliagrace.bsky.social•8 days ago

… is finally being injected but this adds to the ‘inputs’ -which were essentially in deficit for many years.

This tips the input vs output - so we are told the NHS is “almost 20% less productive than pre-pandemic”. 🚨

I’ve explained what’s happening: https://open.substack.com/pub/jujuliagrace/p/new-productivity-data-shows-nhs-staff?r=2654ap&utm_medium=ios

peashen.bsky.social•7 days ago

It's all eing done to make it look like the NHS is failing so they can sell it off

zonesofthought.bsky.social•7 days ago

Exactly. Privatisation has been “the solution” for decades despite any/all demonstrations that it isn’t and never will be a level playing field and there’s enough evidence to show most of the arguments are bunk.