Hunt for the NHS

Jeremy Hunt isn’t just an unscrupulous toerag – we knew that. He’s now Health Secretary, despite believing that:

• Homeopathy works*

That this House welcomes the positive contribution made to the health of the nation by the NHS homeopathic hospitals; notes that some six million people use complementary treatments each year; believes that complementary medicine has the potential to offer clinically-effective and cost-effective solutions to common health problems faced by NHS patients, including chronic difficult to treat conditions such as musculoskeletal and other chronic pain, eczema, depression, anxiety and insomnia, allergy, chronic fatigue and irritable bowel syndrome; expresses concern that NHS cuts are threatening the future of these hospitals; and calls on the Government actively to support these valuable national assets. (EDM 1240 in support of Homeopathic Hospitals, 2007, h/t Tom Chivers)

• No, really, the actual Health Secretary in charge of the actual NHS for England and Wales actually does think homeopathy works**

I understand that it is your view that homeopathy is not effective, and therefore that people should not be encouraged to use it as a treatment. However I am afraid that I have to disagree with you on this issue. Homeopathic care is enormously valued by thousands of people and in an NHS that the Government repeatedly tells us is “patient-led” it ought to be available where a doctor and patient believe that a homeopathic treatment may be of benefit to the patient. (letter to constitutent, following EDM)

• He also believes women shouldn’t have the right to choose abortion – yes, England now joins Northern Ireland in having an anti-choice “prolife” man in charge of health services:

  Forget the US religious mysoginists, this is Northern Ireland’s fucking HEALTH minister!twitter.com/bbcnireland/st…

  — Sarah Tonner (@crazycolours) August 24, 2012

  [Update – 5th October]

  Times: Hunt backs 12 week limit on abortions #tomorrowspaperstoday twitter.com/hendopolis/sta…

  — Neil Henderson (@hendopolis) October 5, 2012

  The Times Hunt/abortion story has kicked off on my timeline so here’s some more from the paper #tomorrowspaperstoday twitter.com/hendopolis/sta…

  — Neil Henderson (@hendopolis) October 5, 2012

  And Nadine Dorries is already off the mark:

  @timgattitvDelighted Will re-introduce my 2008 amendment to reduce to 20 weeks this session 3/4 of all GPs want a reduction from 24 weeks

  — Nadine Dorries MP (@NadineDorriesMP) October 5, 2012

  Like Prochoice Britain on Facebook.

• And he believes that the NHS should be dismantled, because it “fails to meet public expectations” and is “no longer relevant in the 21st century”.

Jeremy Hunt is one of the co-authors of a book, Direct Democracy, published shortly after the 2005 general election, which calls for the NHS to be replaced by “a new system of health provision in which people would pay money into personal health accounts, which they could then use to shop around for care from public and private providers. Those who could not afford to save enough would be funded by the state.”

* Homeopathy does not work.***
** Really, not.

*** Look, there’s a 2009 report from the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee explaining that homeopathy doesn’t work:

The committee went beyond simply stating that homeopathy does not work, and revealed impressive insight into the ethical, practical, and scientific problems caused by NHS support for an implausible and ineffective pseudoscience.

David Cameron, Tory party conference, 2006:

For me, it’s not a question of saying the NHS is ‘safe in my hands.’

My family is so often in the hands of the NHS. And I want them to be safe there.

Tony Blair once explained his priority in three words: education, education, education. I can do it in three letters. NHS.

We will serve and support the National Health Service. We will always support the NHS with the funding it needs. But we will make sure that money is well spent.

Oh, how we laughed.

Pro homeopathy health minister Jeremy Hunt vows to cure NHS by diluting budget to 1p

Interesting times: imminent launch of @nhaparty, where doctors stand against MPs to protect the future NHS.

— Tom Riddington (@DrTomRiddington) September 5, 2012