Why I'm backing Reform on the NHS - cancer expert Karol Sikora | SpectatorTV 

I cannot, in any good conscience, bring myself to vote for a party which is “Conservative “ in name only. My vote goes to Reform.

The NHS is broken, the NHS needs REFORM

VOTE REFORM

VOTE REFORE, SAVE OUR COUNTRY 🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧

I am voting Reform, the only party offering real change on anything. Some constructive criticism for Kate Andrews: try and make some of your questions more concise.

I have already posted my Reform vote along with my husband. They are our only hope.

First step, stop wasting money on the DEI grift

Vote Reform to get our country back and teach the Tories and Labour a lesson they will never forget

Karol was a shining light during Covid 🔥🔥

He's one of the wisest voices on NHS reform on the airwaves.

The numbers don’t add up Kate because you haven’t even attempted to look at Reform’s methodology for raising that money from other means . Such as abandoning the madness of net zero .

Its not funding. Its not understaffing. Its management. They are NOT underpaid. The NHS has record funding. It has nearly twice as many Doctors per 100,000 as Norway and. Atleast 50% more nurses. (Edit: this depends on where you look. The data on the internet varies wildly, but the worst values for Doctors/Nurses put the UK at about average). HCAs are the nurses. They have plenty of funding for DIE courses. Lose thousands of man days per year on disciplinary actions, mostly getting pronouns wrong. The big problem with the NHS is the hands off mob. it needs root and branch reform.r

I’ve been a nurse in the NHS for 16 years, i’ve seen it failing for my entire career and every year that has gone by it has gotten worse. We need someone to completely tear down the NHS and rebuild it…not tinker around the edge every 5 years, throwing money at a wasteful, toxic organisation. I love my job, but i won’t be able to do it much longer if things don’t change because i can’t look after my patients the way they deserve to be. (I’m a District Nurse). I give 5hrs unpaid overtime a week that i’m not allowed to be paid for. All i get is “you aren’t managing your time properly”

Me and my family are all voting reform!

Vote REFORM the only Party to offer the voter “People Policies”!!

Reform also saying if you stay working Within the NHS for 10 years then your student dept gets written off.

I’m voting Reform, so is my brother, his partner, my daughter and my mother already has via postal vote.

Uncle Nigel and REFORM have my vote.

It would help if Kate had noted that Reform have repeatedly said there would be an exemption on the net zero immigration policy for NHS and care staff.

I’d happily pay £10 if I could get a quick appointment with my GP.

Its got to be Reform UK .

For many years I enjoyed reading and listening to some brilliant conservative journalists. Iain Dale, Iain Martin, Tim Montgomery and Fraser Nelson. But for some unknown reason all that changed around 2019. The same thing happened with Andrew Neil a man I grew up watching, listening to and reading. With Mr Neil he went on about Boris who was a former employee and on top of that Mr Neil turned into a moan, whiny anti GB News critic. But back to the others, all of them hated Boris so were huge Boris critics, even though he had a massive 85 seat majority, they criticised him constantly, it was sheer hatred. Between them they had joined the anti tory bandwagon that our legacy media loved. In the end an insurrection within the tory party saw the demise of Boris, they quickly turned on Truss. Even though much of what Truss wanted to do has since been proved to be the right thing to do, and indeed the BoE proved to be the main issue and at fault for our stumbling economy. This didn’t seem to matter as these doyens of conservatism aimed their guns at Truss, a PM the party members voted for in huge numbers. So thanks very much you so-called conservative voices, you actually moved from conservatism to one nation/libdemism You were a huge part of the reason the Conservative Party I Has died, well done and I know you all hate Farage and Reform, but maybe if you had backed conservative voices who were drowned out when telling you what was about to happen. Priti Patel, Braverman, Jenrick, Kruger, Cates and JRM your party would still be in power. Shame on you all

Reform only 👍

Reform voter = common sense

I completely agree with training some medical staff on the job. Nursing training used to start with learning how to care for patients; washing them, changing beds with patients in etc before moving onto dispensing drugs, medical care etc etc. Now RGN’s have to have a high standard of education to be accepted for academic training. I really believe in having specialist nurses who can study for degrees but not for all nurses. I see no problem with the best nurses and paramedics going on the train as Doctors.

The fact we need immigrants in the nhs is in of itself a problem! We have to incentivise our own population to work in important jobs. At the moment they don’t want to because the wages are too low because there is always someone from abroad who will come and work for less. Shut the border, incentivise young young people to work in healthcare (tax breaks like reform are a start) and let the market take effect. We might have short term shortages but if it means long term having British citizens treating and looking after other British citizens then that’s great. Old, ill and vulnerable people shouldn’t be relying on people from abroad. It’s shame on us as a country

A bottom up training programme makes way more sense than the current system. You would find people who were good at the job and had the desire to do it that way. instead of privileged kids who do it cos it brings social prestige and who don't really care about their patients

Both my kids are doctors and both buggered off to Australia for a better standard of living, sunshine and decent pay with shorter hours and took their professional spouses with them too. We are losing all our qualified.

I will vote for ANY party that: - isn’t the WEF Uniparty - will go medieval on Islam and mass immigration. It’s very simple to me - I want my country back.

Karol Sikora is wiser than ANY UK politician.

Labour subcontracted the nhs out in section departments!! Subcontracted/privitised??? Is their a difference

We are screaming out for doctors yet we have a cap on the number of doctors we train. We have thousands of foreign medical students being trained here. If capacity in universities is the problem then we should up the capacity or reduce the number of foreign students. As foreign students are probably profitable upping the capacity would seem the logical way to go.

Thank you for talking about policy intelligently instead of emotionally!

As long as the health service is in shambles the benefits system will be under pressure. Fix health care and you start to save in other places too

I spent 7 months in the Uk having scans and attempted diagnosis for the ongoing loss of the use in my legs I even went Private,I came back to Thailand went to my local hospital which took 22hours to diagnose me with suspected spinal cancer they scheduled me for a spinal biopsy 7 days later but the surgeon couldn't carry it out because a build up of fluid in the spine blocked his view of the Tumour so it was to dangerous health care in the Uk is now probably some of the worst in the World.

My daughter just graduated from med school and will start as a junior doc next month. However. Some of her year cohort who also graduated have been unable for find a position in the nhs and will now be forced to wait and hope to get a job in a year. I understand its similar for RNs. And yet i keep hearing there is a shortage of doctors and nurses.

I had friends who failed to get into medical school in the late 70’s. Even with 3xA’s you would be very lucky to get in. Seems crazy that we never trained enough and instead import medics from low grade medical schools from places like Pakistan instead.

The NHS is used as a political token by both Labour and the Tories but neither party really gives a toss about it until it comes to election time.

Reform UK does not have a cap on immigration for health and social care.

Interesting to get this inside perspective

It is a travesty that each year we turn away so many bright passionate British students with 4/5 A levels (A*) who want to study medicine. Vote REFORM!

I experienced the German health system as a student for a minor ailment and a dental check-up. It covered 85% of the cost and was extremely fast and well-equipped; spare beds on wards to allow for outbreaks. No idea if that has since changed due to open borders and mass influx.

He's so right, having medical kit that costs £5 million idle for 2 days every week and 16 out of 24hours is insane. The airline industry gets this - high capital cost airliners cost £millions and they don't sit idle - it would be poor use of the investment. Most have transited through airports at 5am or midnight and everyone from terminal staff to engineers, cabin crew & pilots are working to keep the aircraft flying 24/7. If we can turn up for a flight at 5am, we would surely turn up for a CT to MRI scan if we had suspected cancer.

What Kate Andrews fails to mention is that net zero spending madness is not present in Reform's "contract" and this gives a significant amount of financial wiggle room that Labour and Conservative have committed not to have.

We have to invest in the UK population and make it easier to get into medicine and health care

I haven’t needed NHS myself for a long time, but I think our NHS nurses and doctors are the best people in the world. I have friends whom I visited in hospital and I have been more than impressed by the kindness and compassion of the nurses and doctors.

The NHS gives a very low salary to its IT staff compared with industry - but has always got money to give to DEI staff. It needs to concentrate on essentials

Exellent interview...love this forthright obvious debate..... Now this os the NEW MINFSET.. THANK YOU BOTH FOR YOUR PROFESSIONALISM

Bit of a long read, but I think that you will find it interesting - please let me know your thoughts. The effects of uncontrolled migration are seen in: - increase of people on benefits. See the government's data of unemployment by ethnicity - despite the image fed to us, white British have the lowest unemployment rate compared to all other ethnicities. - artificially lowering the minimum wage due to an abundance of cheap imported labour. We have parts of the indigenous population that rely heavily on low paid low skilled jobs, and they are having to compete with people who are used to earning below the poverty level of Africa, Indian Subcontinent, etc - increase in house prices and rental prices - which also impacts the birth rate of the indigenous population, as they will avoid having children if they can't afford them. - building on protected Green Belt land due to the housing pressure - more building on existing buildings, and conversions into houses of multiple occupation (HMO), all causing social tension as people live cheek by jowl. - increase in violence and crime. Some of which is specific to certain ethnicities. Knife (and machete) crime is more frequent, however whilst it captures the headlines, many other forms of crime, not typical to the indigenous population are flourishing. The Indian subcontinent grooming gangs rap_ing/assaulting/drugging white children. Shoplifting epidemic. violent clashes between different migrant groups! - increased demand for extra policing and prison officers, in the tens of thousands, and prison buildings (look at the prison population, where there is again a disproportionately higher number of foreign criminals. We are already releasing criminals early, and not imprisoning others, due to a lack of prison places! And the increase in taxes to pay for these. - increased demand on the judiciary. Our courts are blocked with massive queues, and everything is done to delay cases going to the CPS or going to court. We have a lack of staff and buildings. Very serious cases are rarely reaching the CPS or courts, or take years to go through the system. This causes a lack of justice, an increased risk to the population as criminals continue to live amongst us, and it encourages crime (justice needs to be swift to act as a deterrent). - the loss of our capital city London. It is now predominantly populated by people who self identify as belonging to an ethnic minority. You rarely hear English spoken! This will impact London's tourism - a £14,000,000,000pa industry! - greater difficulty in seeing a healthcare professional, especially one that speaks intelligible English, be it a GP, Consultant, or dentist - hospitals declaring emergencies as their A&E queues of ambulances with patients stuck in them grow longer. Even hospitals, in areas with a vast majority of white British population, if you go to the A&E it will be full of people from the middle east, Indian subcontinent, and Africa. Often you won't hear English being spoken! - increased burden of disabled children, on healthcare, special education needs, and state benefits (both for disability, and for the unemployed parents that stay at home caring for their disabled children), unnecessarily caused by cousin marriage, from people from the Indian subcontinent - lack of school and university places. Pressures to change what is being taught, in particular to suit Muslim, and other minority religious populations - the enormous congestion on all of our roads. Even country lanes! - religious and social tension, especially from ethnicities that are not interested in integrating - increased suffering of female children subjected to FGM and child marriage - increased distortion of UK elections, as women from the Indian subcontinent lose their vote to their husbands. And various members of parliament campaign for a specific religious interest, eg Islam, or about conflicts in Gaza or Kashmir! - loss of money spent in the UK economy, as migrants send it back to their countries of origin MORAL QUESTION Is it morally right to import cheap labour to be exploited? And what about those skilled migrants, eg nurses and doctors, that are actually needed in their own country. Is it morally right for the UK to benefit from poorer countries paying to educate and train skilled workers? MENTAL HEALTH BURDEN The effects of a lot of the above pressures, are seen in a rapid increase in mental health problems across all ages, but especially in the young working adults, adults who should, if anything, be the most resilient of society. FINANCIAL BURDEN The UK National Debt is over £3 trillion! Watch it growing in real time: www.nationaldebtclock.co.uk BIRTH RATE FALSE THEORY Some people believe in the theory, that we need to import people because of our lower birth rate, and that there is certain work that we don't want to do. This ignores the fact that we need to increase productivity, especially with automation/robotics/AI (Artificial Intelligence), because other countries will certainly be investing in this, and all of these REDUCE job vacancies - there will be fewer jobs in the near future! Our population might not apply for very low paid jobs, eg picking fruit, or nursing the elderly, but that is because the rates of pay are ridiculously low. Pay a fair wage in an economy that doesn't tilt the table by importing cheap labour! Young indigenous couples, avoid having children because they cannot afford to have them, or don't have the economic and housing stability that they need. This responsible approach to reproducing, is not shared by migrants coming to the UK - they are prepared to live in poverty, and have their large families subsidised by the UK taxpayer. Whilst also importing their sick and elderly relatives. WHAT CAN YOU DO? Vote Reform UK! Whoever you decide to vote for, please vote, and encourage others to vote. More people didn't bother to vote (2,496,468) than voted (1,088,225) for Sadiq Khan. More people didn't bother to vote (47,533) than voted (12,335) for Galloway. More people didn't bother to vote (15,553,935) than voted (13,966,454) for the Tories at the last general election. If you don't vote, or you spoil your ballot, then that simply means that Fatima/Mohamed's vote counts - and their interests, eg Islam and Sharia law, might not align with what is best for us and our nation.

The NHS is completely broken. Im a Paramedic and my sister is a Pharmacist in a Hospital setting. The NHS Hospitals struggle to attract Pharmacists due to pay and conditions. The NHS pays a salary for a Pharmacist that is a third less on average than working within a community setting on the High Street. There are so many people exploiting services and taking things for granted without any regard for others. Charge an affordable charge to see a GP to stop missed appointments or appointments that are wasteful. As a Paramedic I've been called to idiots who have called me out for ridiculous situations, such as picking up TV remote controls off the floor, collect alcohol as ran out, take me home because I have no money, I called because it's free to call 999 and I have no mobile credit..........The list is endless tbh. Charge for services/appointments that are unattended (with not cancellation) and abused. Maybe a ban/limited access enforcement as a deterrent if a proflific abuse is noted?

Listen to this guy ! He knows what he's talking about.

Excellent interview.

Appreciate the argument made about needing overseas staff for the NHS to run. Its does now, but in reflection such high and continuos immigration to the UK played a big part in that. And without dealing with it, so brings many thousands more potential patients in the future.

Yep. Nigel is right. I live in France and the health care system here is definitely the way to go for U.K. The speed with which you are dealt with, if an urgent diagnostic is required is brilliant, both in terms of seeing G.P., then onwards to scans, MRI’s etc, which you usually get the results for straight away or the very next day, same for blood work and then the consultants. Admittedly, in the 30 yrs I’ve lived here though, mass immigration has certainly put a strain on the French health service as it has elsewhere in Europe. And France doesn’t seem to have the need to employ anywhere near the amount of foreign doctors as the U.K. does.

Look at the interviewer's face when he said he was endorsing Reform. Nearly tears from then onwards. Wow.

Let's stop pretending that shovelling more money into the NHS will make things better. It's not about the money spent. It is about the way it is structured and the way it is run. As it is, there simply isn't any reason for its bureaucrats to care about delivering good services at a reasonable speed and cost.

The key phrase here was 'You don't need to use money'. Exactly. There is plenty of money in the system. The problem lies in the mindset of those within the system, especially those who run the system. This applies to all areas of public life and most large corporations.

My sister is in hospital having broken her hip. Her bed mates just complain all the time behind the nurses backs, about silly things, e.g. one complained there were no biscuits and when there were that she couldn’t open the wrapper. Poor staff!!

This gentleman is totally correct, France’s Health Care System is fantastic I was in France a few years ago having terrible pains in my chest and was admitted to A&E I was tested, monitored, their care is exemplary, within four hours I had been discharged with a correct diagnosis and we had a bill of €115. Thankfully nothing serious. I believe Reform have a sensible and pragmatic approach to the vast problems in the UK, we need to break the grip of Labour and the Conservatives.

I would like to see Kate Andrews wearing a nurses uniform. She could get me to take my medicine! 🎉

Do you know how much it cost a medical student in education. My daughter is still paying off loans. Help the medical students with their educational cost

All in all seemed to be Kate's pitch for a job at the BBC.

I think the tax break for lower earners is a great incentive to get young people into health care, schools etc

Reform have also said they intend to make the Management of the NHS accountable for the ridiculous money they spend on things that don't work.

Apologies for another post!! We've recently had an 86 year old lady with late stage dementia a total knee replacement. Why? This is not fair on anyone involved. Obesity also a major issue. Having to pay and man ambulance specifically for obese patients (allowing for larger sized individuals with a greater weight exertion on equipment). Bariatric beds (beds for clinically obese patients who would exceed the 'normal' weight limits) are currently hired in for £1200 per day per patient. It's absolutely mind blowing!!!

Cut taxes, increase spending, when's that ever gone wrong...

600,000 people leave the country every year. 100,000 health and care workers come to the country each year. We could run at negative 500,000 people a year and still let all the health and care workers we need in. What people aren't talking about, is most of those who leave every year are British citizens, and they don't lose their right to the NHS when they move abroad. This means that even with net zero migration, the number of people the NHS serves will continue to rise by over half a million people every year! This is completely unworkable!

Wow! What a radical idea.., incentivising young people. Honestly, our leaders have been disgustingly abysmal over the last couple of decades.

Kate Andrews dutifully doing her bit for Neil and Nelson's agenda

If you need more money for health, try negotiating wars instead of fighting them endlessly.

The NHS needs reform, but we as recipients of the NHS to take ownership of our own health and not become patients wherever possible. That would be the 2 to Reform's power punch

It may be considered of little importance in the scheme of things but, truly, NHS administration and its patient interface is dire. I'm 72 but reckon that my stone-aged skills (including Pitman's shorthand!) might yet be put to good use - and you wouldn't find me irritatingly whooping it up on the picket line.

Why do journalists make statements about issues they clearly have not researched. Reform have said several times that the migration restrictions DO NOT apply to healthcare workers.

Change politics forever, VOTE FOR THE REFORM PARTY UK 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿👏👏👏👍

>Liz Truss mini-budget >Tomlinson Talks with _Liz Truss_ you had one job, Spectator

Cheaper to temporarily export patients, especially in the winter months to warmer climes, for treatment rather than permanently bring in many people with a minority of them serving & a majority adding to the burden.

The system was much better when it was implemented as this Gentleman is discussing. There was a nurse cadet training scheme. Nothing is better than learning on the job and gaining invaluable hands on experience. Nurses are now expected to lay out at least £60,000 for a Degree to qualify, but many are referred to as "being too posh to wash". This stance is detrimental to both patients and team morale. Everyone member of staff should be willing to muck in and get the grubt work done.

What about bringing in a system similar to NHS dental charges? Means tested benefit people get free care and others pay a tiered capped charge?

I lived in France for six years , full medical insurance for any eventuality was 96 euro a month . Could see a GP within three days , always if not sooner . My wife needed bone scan , this was booked by GP in office , scan was four days later , also consultant read scan and gave diagnosis within 1/2 an hour ….. no delays and no fuss . Dentistry in France is another story and next to being unavailable . God forbid you get a problem as dentists are very hard to get to see , as in uk . Now in Spain and health system is excellent and monthly private charge is about 100 euros , also dentistry in Spain is very very good and lots of private dentists who charge less than NHS fees . I had a superb implant …. All work 600 Euro vs 3000 euro in uk , uk dentists are scandalously over charging . A white filling in Spain inc drilling , anaesthetic Is 40 euro .

12:04 if you believe in individual agency, that doesn’t rule out setting up incentives or disincentives

It appears Kate hasn't actually read the Reform contract. There is a lot on how to pay for the policies.

Got my postal vote, x against reform ,sent it off.

You need enough experienced doctors genuinely interested in teaching and supporting the training of new doctors...you have to create that capacity.

Do away with GPs, have domiciliary staff that work for the hospital, for the elderly, disabled and young children. Keep it all under one roof. Streamline referrals etc.

That is not true...the 2 week wait has not stopped. I have just been through this with a close family member and they were referred under the 2 week wait prioritisation and were seen in 2 weeks. So, are there some Trusts/Health Authorities that have abandoned it and not others or is this chap just not explaining the whole picture?

GIVE THEM THE CHANCE. VOTTE REFORM TO SAVE OUR COUNTRY AND OUR LIVES

Yeah reform first idea was Brexit which we can all agree has been a resounding success. Let’s vote them in for more of that….

Anyone who has used our health service knows it is completely unfit for purpose. Why are we still pretending it is "an envy of the world"? I personally dread needing to see someone now.

The NHS in its present form is not able to be saved it requires radical surgery to save it.

Spot on Karol.

Good man Dr Sikora.

What! Invest in your own people... what is this madness?

I the French system is superiorrmally but you have to make a small contribution to costsbut it works, there’s are no waiting lists, no strikes, and you can have a scan or blood test immediately you don’t have to make a doctor’s appointment and normally you are seen within 30 mins. We should pay more , when40% of tax revenues go to the Nhs there’s is something wrong because the current system is not working,14000 beds are blocked because there is no social care

Can the New Statesman please recruit Andrews so we no longer have to suffer her Lib/Dem prattle here?

French system sounds sensible

I say we take on a German system of healthcare. Seems to work alot better than the NHS.

Immigrants = magical creatures that only add to the supply but not the demand. 🙄

What you do mean pay for something you get for free ? I've been paying national insurance for 30 years.....i am paying as is everyone. You mean you'd like me to pay twice ?

Karol i work in the NHS, and i must agree with many of your points. However we are overloaded with people from the 3rd world. They are often under qualified, sometimes i even wonder if they actually ARE qualified at all. My dept went from a majority british 15 years ago which operated with half the staff, with outdated diagnostics and yet we had a great morale and sense of teamwork. Now its a dept with 4 white men out of 57! We have double the staff, better diagnostics, but the place is barely functional, riven with in fighting between various minority interests, no trust, no teamwork, as well as the issues we have with qualifications surrounding these "new to the parish". Managers heads are so far in the sand, they might aswell be in Australia. When improvements are suggested i get an instant pushback from management, at one point being told what i said was a good idea but theyd have to change the SOPs! The inspection agencies such as MHRA, CQC, HCPC are completely unfit for practice and are unable to point to the very obvious problems...instead layering on yet more paperwork, unsuitable and often over complicated "fixes" to problems which dont even touch the main issues. Theres no saving this behemoth of stupidity and inflexibility.

Another person with sense.