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My First Post
#1
This is my first post in terms of a thread and the first time I have engaged in some thought in terms of developing political ideas. The things that I will talk about as part of this thread are merely ideas and my current thoughts right now and I am hoping they will generate some further discussion.

The first key point I want to raise is my feelings around the NHS and the current crisis that exists. For a bit of background, I have family members who work for the NHS and have put forward similar views to that I am about to suggest. 

In my eyes the problems with the NHS are more often than not reported as problems with funding or the amount of resources that the NHS is gaining from the Government. This idea however, I believe is partially incorrect. What the NHS needs right now are two key changes. Firstly, it needs to be restructured and re-organised and made into a more centralised organisation which leads to the second point which I am suggesting and that is the use of Economies of Scale to reduce the amount of spending the NHS has to have for all its equipment and drugs etc etc. Two examples which highlights the need for these changes out of many are as followed;

One relative of mine when working in the servers department in IT installed a new set of servers for a local NHS run minor injuries unit. 2 weeks later the unit was shut down and the servers had to be taken out again. Although that is a shortened version of the actual events, it shows that there can be a lot of miscommunication or lack of communication amongst the various units and hospitals which exist. Another relates to myself where I spent around 30 mins in an appointment at a hospital where they asked my questions based on an operation I was going to have, despite the fact that I had been to that same hospital less than month earlier and was asked the exact same questions. This is a waste of the doctors time as they already know the answers to the questions and through a small change in the efficiency of the running of the hospital that appointment could have been given to someone who needed it more desperately than I did at the time. 

An example to prove the benefits of economies of scale is that n the area I am from there are 3 towns which are all joined and these have a main hospital, a minor injuries unit and another smaller unit for paediatrics. These all use differing IT equipment and resources despite the fact they are all within the same area. This is because the individual surgeries and units have control over what they buy when really this should be left to a more centralised unit which could then use its increased size to gain discounts on products bought and therefore save money which could be re-invested in areas which are struggling such as recruitment. 

The next idea I would like to discuss is the proposed points system that Boris Johnson has put forward in his current Brexit deal/plan. This involves focusing more on ensuring that educated people come to the UK and not any Tom, Dick or Harry so to speak. This idea I believe is problematic as instead of targeting immigration based on where someone is from and how educated they are, it would be more beneficial to limit immigration based on other factors in my eyes. For example those innocent civilians caught up in wars or whose countries are in a state of turmoil such as Venezuela. It would seem a lot better if we granted these people the opportunity to reach their potential rather than shutting them out. Another point I want to raise in regards to this is the idea that what do you define as being well educated. The work a tradesman completes is just as difficult or as challenge as the degree I am currently taking. So in that sense I say we target immigration based on what jobs or roles in the economy are most needed. There is no point having 50,000 bankers arrive every year in the country if we need nurses or social workers more pressingly as we would just have an imbalance. By all means keep a points system but maybe design it in a way that would mean if we needed certain types of worker, it would be easier for them to gain a work permit/Visa. 

The final point I will make now is over the recent claims that Northern Ireland wants to charge those who served during the Troubles wit historic offences. This bothers me not because I believe the actions were at all justified but mainly because of one reason that being: The Good Friday Agreement. It is extremely hypocritical and unjustified to charge the soldiers after the UK signed an agreement to let all the terrorists from both sides go free and drop any charges. At least the soldiers that served in Northern Ireland went with the intention of doing the right thing, ok some may or may not (I don't comment on this specifically as I was neither alive nor have enough knowledge of the individual instances that occurred to come to a reasonable conclusion) but their primary aim was to save lives. The various terrorist organisations on the other hand did not have intention in doing the right thing after their initial setting up and as a consequence killed plenty of innocents and more so than the soldiers. All in all I believe we should do more to protect our soldiers rather than the current situation where the Government seems to leave them out to dry.
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#2
Welcome! I am fairly new here too. Enjoyed your post and agree.
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