Political Quotes

“Mr. President, this article, as I said, is from the Sunday Telegraph, and the headline is ``Axe falls on NHS services.'' This is dated July 24, and it talks about some of the most common operations performed in England, including hip replacements and cataract surgery. I am an orthopedic surgeon, so I have done many hip operations, but this is what the article says: Many of the most common operations--hip replacements and cataract surgery--will be rationed as part of attempts to save billions of pounds, despite government promises that front-line services would be protected. Patients' groups have described the measures as ``astonishingly brutal.'' An investigation by The Sunday Telegraph has uncovered widespread cuts planned across the National Health Service, many of which have already been agreed by senior health service officials. They include: Restrictions on some of the most basic and common operations, including hip and knee replacements, cataract surgery, and orthodontic procedures. Plans to cut hundreds of thousands of pounds from budgets for the terminally ill, . . . the closure of nursing homes for the elderly . . . a reduction in acute hospital beds, including those for the mentally ill. The article goes on: Thousands of job losses at NHS hospitals, including 500 staff to go at a trust where cancer patients recently suffered delays in diagnosis and treatment because of staff shortages. They are cutting 500 more staff positions there.…”