It's All Mouth at No. 10

"Promises! Promises! Or maybe it's 'pie in the sky'!" Arturo shook his head as he mused over Cameron's various pronouncements. "Just take a look at some of these little gems." He pointed towards various screens that the interns and spads had left on.

I peered at one particularly bright screen and read:

NHS weekend: 7-day services explained

It was on the BBC site. Halfway down the screen, I read:

What does the government want?

There are two strands to the policy. Firstly, they want local GP surgeries to open on a Saturday and Sunday.

... In terms of hospitals, the focus is on extending what is already available.

Of course, this is what Cameron says he wants! So - how is it all going to be paid for?

The BMA is concerned whether it will be properly funded, saying the extra money being promised for the NHS this parliament - £8bn by 2020 - was just meant to be for keeping current services afloat.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-34150672

Ah! Ha! So where's the extra dosh, Mr Cameron? Is there any?

The Nuffield Trust expressed concern on their online site: The Nuffield Trust Chief Executive Nigel Edwards was quoted as saying:

Making seven-day working a reality may [...] mean closures or mergers of local services, such as emergency surgery or maternity units. So, this will not only cost additional money beyond the £8bn but it will also require political bravery.

http://www.nuffieldtrust.org.uk/media-centre/press-releases/nuffield-trust-responds-government%E2%80%99s-seven-day-nhs-plans

'Political bravery!' Well - that's one way of putting it! Blatant politicking is what Arturo would call it! I decided to investigate further.

The BMA unsurprisingly had views on this and expressed them on their website:

Seven days │ seven questions

#Showusthe7dayplan

The BMA has asked David Cameron seven questions about his plans for the world's first 'truly seven-day NHS'.

So far, he has only answered one.

So what were those questions, do I hear you ask? Well, here they are:

• Will the cost of a ‘truly seven-day NHS’ mean some services will have to close?
• Where’s the plan to find, train and fund the full team needed to deliver a ‘truly seven-day NHS’?
• Can the Prime Minister promise no reductions to weekday services in a ‘truly seven-day NHS’?
• A 'truly seven-day NHS' needs a truly seven-day care system: where's the plan for this?
• Can the government find the money to pay for a 'truly seven-day NHS'?
• How will the government prioritise emergency care in a 'truly seven-day NHS'?
• When will the Prime Minister define what he means by a 'truly seven-day NHS'?

What was telling was the comment the BMA made after the question:

'Can the government find the money to pay for a 'truly seven-day NHS'?

This is what the BMA stated:

The NHS is facing a £30bn funding gap by 2020. The government has pledged £8bn of additional funding - enough to keep the NHS running as is, but not enough to pay for extra care and the additional staff and resources needed to deliver it.

The government must explain how it will fund more weekend care at a time when many hospitals are in serious financial difficulty and general practice is under unprecedented pressure.

And how will they address the existing staffing shortages? It takes 10 years to train a GP, and around 13 years to train a consultant - the workforce can't simply be increased overnight.

http://www.bma.org.uk/working-for-change/doctors-in-the-nhs/seven-day-services/show-us-your-plan

So - my friends - Mr Cameron needs to be reminded of the favourite rhyme:

If wishes were horses, beggars would ride:

He seems to think that opening his mouth and promising something that is a good PR line fools the people into thinking it will happen - no pain at all - it just happens because he wishes it so! As Arturo would say: "Put your money where your mouth is, mate!"

All this talk about 'It's all mouth!' made me think of food! Well, it would, wouldn't it? So I thought - me and Arturo are partial to a bit of scampi - so we're off to the local Italian Deli. They do a nice little side dish of scampi and calamari! Yum Yum!