Where the cuts are coming from
Currently with the dawn of the emergency budget that is being released by the coalition government on the 22nd of June, no industry is safe from cuts. And in the opinion of the British Chamber of Commerce, health should be taking as big of hit as the rest.�
The argument is that if any sectors are to be fenced off from spending cuts without a clear reason for doing so, it will force more drastic cuts elsewhere. This country is very precious about their NHS, and going near the budget with an ax is a quick way to get a black spot in the publics eye, however the BCC points out that in the 1990 Canadian consolidation, health and aid budgets were cut and thus prevented ‘slashing and burning’ elsewhere.�
However, the BCC is keen to prevent taxing payroll, income, or profits, ‘If tax rises are unavoidable, they should be targeted at consumption taxes,’ according to the director general of the BCC, David Frost.�
So it looks as if the only thing the healthcare industry can do now is sit and wait until June 22nd with the rest of us.