Doctors fear if they lose this battle, the Tories will have a free rein on NHS policy

In nationalistic politics “beating the drum and flying the flag” is using the same soundbites and icons to get out a core vote. It’s saying what has always been said before. It’s safe politics. It’s the politics of stalemate. The risk is minimum; the rewards are imaginary. It’s lazy, unambitious and often denotes a paucity of depth of thinking.

It’s currently what Labour does with the NHS.

And I say that as a tribally loyal Labour member and activist, who happens to be an NHS doctor.

‘Renationalising the NHS’ isn’t just beating a drum. It’s the London philharmonic orchestra on methamphetamines. For the average voter that doesn’t think about politics until two weeks before they enter a polling booth, it sounds great for that momentary soundbite. But then that voter has to choose who they will reward with their vote and the next question is always asked – what does it mean for me? My family? My country?

It’s always easier to point at the Tories and scream “Privatisation”, than address the Korean 38th parallel minefield of crises awaiting the next Labour health secretary. But as we saw in the general elections of 2010 and 2015 beating a drum and flying a flag will not sway the millions of swing voters. Frankly, if how you’re going to vote is based solely on a socialist view of the NHS, you’re probably already voting Labour. They’re the low hanging fruit of safe seats, not the swing marginals that determine who makes up Her Majesty’s Government.  

In my experience, a patient that has a poor NHS experience first blames the surrounding health care professionals and then the government. There is no attempt at differentiation between a doctor paid by an NHS trust or by Virgin Care. They both use the NHS logo. Renationalisation doesn’t make their experience better, it doesn’t empower them in navigating the vast complex megastructure of the NHS. Patient centred reforms will.

A pensioner waiting for their hip replaced on a waiting list (once almost obliterated by the previous Labour government) doesn’t care if the hip is replaced by the current NHS or Labours Renationalised NHS. They care they don’t have to wait too long, they don’t get an infection and they get the best post op care. To get that pensioners vote you pledge to bring down waiting lists, not a renationalising ideology.

A parent that can’t get their child to see a GP due to the recruitment crisis (of this governments making) will not make an automatic link between a non-specific renationalising pledge and more GP’s to see their child. You want their vote, tell them how you’re getting them more GP’s.

Almost on a daily basis we hear of the A&E crisis, and it’s not even winter yet. Labour once abolished these headlines, and now they’ve returned under Tory watch. How does the renationalisation of the NHS bring back the experienced doctors and nurses that have left? How does it entice new trainees into the profession?

Do not see any strike action by junior doctors in isolation. Front line NHS staff have a 360-degree view of the Tory mismanagement – systemic underfunding, ward closures, service withdrawals, the plummeting staff morale, haemorrhaging of experienced staff. This feels like one battle in a prolonged war. Many doctors feel that if they are beaten on this issue, the Tories will have a free unopposed rein on health policy. And this terrifies us.  

The next authors of the difficult but necessary health reforms will bear more than scars on their backs, but it is the constant evolution of the NHS that has it consistently ranked 1st in many world health indices. Evolution is not a process of survival of the fittest, but one of who can successfully adapt to change. The health needs and services required for the 1940’s are manifestly different to those of the 2040’s. Labour needs to be the author of this adaption. It is how Labour will be judged, not by empty slogans.

An opposition beats a drum and flies a flag, a government in waiting convinces people they can do better.

Dr. Mike McLaughlin is a Labour member and A&E doctor