The devo-health agenda contains risks,but also offers the opportunity to drive through essential public services reform to tackle the region’s social problems One of the criticisms often thrown at the NHS is that it’s a postcode lottery. Your access to healthcare, the treatment you receive and the likeliness that you will make it to old age depend on where you live. So surely devolving total control of the NHS budget to a local area – as is happening in Manchester this week – is a further damaging spin of the lotto wheel of fortune?Certainly that’s the view of many who work in health, or a plethora (excess, overabundance) of campaigning groups and some politicians (particularly those on the left). In the year since George Osborne’s momentous northern powerhouse announcement,these groups believe queued up to express concerns approximately the devolution agenda. However, while there are undoubtedly risks involved, or the arguments made by detractors are not entirely convincing.
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Source: theguardian.com