This was the penultimate event in the hospital’s centenary. Invites had been sent to health professionals in the NHS, independent and private sector and others with around 90 people coming to join in the healthcare debate ‘This country should no longer provide free healthcare for all’.
The Rt Hon Ann Widdecombe, MP introduced the evening which started with a vote from guests whether healthcare should continue to be funded in its current form or change. There was a large majority in support of a state funded system through taxation.
The debate commenced with Roy Lilley giving a stirring argument why the current system should change. He argued that change would only be possible if patients became customers. Lord Norman Warner categorically refuted this direction and used comparisons of other systems (USA and Europe) to prove his point. Questions were then asked from the floor, challenging the panel’s views and adding their own comments.
Having listened to the arguments, Professor Aronson talked about his own experience as a Consultant Gynaecologist working in America with a cautionary warning to be careful what we wish for – the grass is not always greener. Professor Gilmore, President of the Royal College of Surgeons and practicing Physician in the NHS concluded by adding to Lord Warner’s fears that people would suffer should control be taken away from the State.
Further views were gathered from the guests but a second vote failed to change the majority opinion that the current system should remain in place.
Having been an impartial chair through the evening Ann Widdecombe then added her own view, stating that those who could afford their own healthcare should be encouraged to do so.
The event concluded with a buffet supper where discussions were able to continue in a less formal setting. Throughout the evening there had been great banter and humour – it was very obvious old adversaries were battling it out yet again. Clearly this is a debate that will rumble on for a long time yet and certainly into the next century at Benenden Hospital and beyond.