"Tesco-style NHS plan 'ridiculous'"

From the BBC:

Calls to create a 24/7 "NHS Tesco" are ridiculous, according to the leader of the British Retail Consortium (BRC).

Mark Porter said it was simply not possible when the health service could "barely manage its current healthcare-only model".

Mr Porter spoke out at a BRC conference amid calls to provide the same choice of grocery and household items in hospitals at weekends and nights as is available at major supermarkets.

Fresh wounds for you

Delegates at the same meeting also passed a vote of no confidence in Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt.

The NHS has made 24/7 care one of its key priorities in its review of urgent and emergency care and is hoping to improve the patient experience with a broader retail range.

Mum's gone for a knee replacement

Data shows that mortality rates increase during out-of-hours provision. Last week NHS England highlighted figures that showed if the same standard of care could be provided seven days a week more than 4,400 lives could be saved each year, increasing the potential footfall at its in-house supermarkets by up to ten per cent.

There have also been suggestions everday value items - such as bread and milk - should be made available to people who drop in at three o'clock in the morning for a non-emergency operation such as a knee or hip replacements, for example.

Live less well

But Mr Porter told the BRC's annual conference in Edinburgh:

"Like many supermarket managers here, I feel personally offended by the terms in which this debate has been couched.

"Like many of you I work nights and weekends as well, at time when much of the private sector is fast asleep and GPs are tucked up soundly in their beds.

Every little hurts

"Let us be clear. We all want making impulse purchases at weekends and evenings to be as easy for in-patients as it is for everybody else on weekdays.

"But the calls we sometimes hear for an NHS Tesco, full service, 24/7, are just ridiculous when the health service can barely keep its vending machines stocked up properly."