Alex Salmond doesn't understand the legitimate role of government or the point of a constitution

In the lead-up to the Scottish Independence referendum Alex Salmond was interviewed on Reporting Scotland on the 13th August 2014, where he stated that he desires to protect the NHS and maintain health services "free" at the point of use.  Whilst I don't necessarily agree with that (which I realise is a very uncommon and unpopular point of view in the UK) it is a position that many reasonable people hold.  I fully understand that where people sit on this issue, and others like it, is largely the result of subjective value judgements.  However...

Salmond then went on to state his desire for a written constitution (fine - this is a goal that I can completely get on board with) and that he would work to ensure that in an independent Scotland "health services free at the point of use" were constitutionally protected as a right.

I have to be very careful here, because I don't want to understate the significance of this:

THIS IS AN ABSOLUTELY INSANE, CRAZY, WACKY, RECKLESS, OUTRAGEOUS AND DOWNRIGHT TERRIBLE IDEA!!!

Regardless of your subjective values and your opinion on whether or not you think healthcare should be provided by the state, or by private providers, or some combination of the two, the notion to protect this as a "right" is a total nonsense.

You cannot have a "right" to healthcare that's free at the point of delivery just as you cannot have a "right" to housing or watermelons or education or yachts or mortgage advice or courier services that are free at the point of delivery.  What all of these things have in common is that they cost money to provide - in order to receive them they first must by produced (at some cost) by someone else.  You can't have a "right" to them because that would put an obligation on someone else to provide them at their own cost.

A "right" to free healthcare for you is an obligation to provide free healthcare on your Doctor.  You don't expect to go to work and get paid nothing for your labour so why should your Doctor?

Dentists, cancelled appointments and unfair charges

Whilst every other blogger in the UK is probably blogging on today’s general election, I thought I’d reserve comment until the results are in.  I’ll be away for a long weekend, so this means I’ll post my thoughts on the election results next Tuesday.

I’ve just returned from a check-up with my (NHS) dentist and I’ve got a minor grievance with the service they offer (which means this post is likely to just be a personal rant).

This is what happened:

I was supposed to have an appointment for this routine check-up last Wednesday (28th April).  Now, my dentist is located a little way out of town, because there are a limited number of NHS dentists in my area and, at the time, was the only one I could find that was taking on more patients.  Also, I do not drive, so rely on public transport to get to/from the dental surgery.

So, having made the 30 minute trip to the dentist, via combination of bus and walking, I was a little annoyed to find that the dentist was unavailable.  I was told that he was called away on an emergency, which of course I understand cannot be helped.  The receptionist informed me that they had tried to contact me and on returning home later (another 30 minute trip) I discovered I had two voice-mails on my home phone from the surgery.  This wasn’t of much use however, as I’m out at work during the day – not sitting around the house waiting on calls from my dentist.

The problem I have is this:

If I had done the same to them as they did to me, they would have charged me £15 for wasting their time.  I know this because it says so on the little appointment cards* they hand out.  My girlfriend was personally subject to such a charge despite repeated attempts to contact the dental surgery to cancel a previous appointment – what do you do if their phone lines are constantly engaged (presumably with people phoning to complain about being unfairly charged)?

The charges themselves are perfectly reasonable.  I understand that their purpose is to discourage people from making appointments that they can't keep or cancelling at the last minute - taking up an appointment that could have been used by someone else and wasting the dentist's time.

But, is my time, and that of other patients not also valuable?  Surely by the dental surgery’s own rules I should be entitled to charge them for an hour of my time (the length of time for my pointless round-trip)?  Maybe it’s for the greater good though – if everyone did this it could put a lot of dentists out of business – my rates are considerably more than £15 per hour.

* “Please give at least 24 hours notice of cancellation Otherwise a fee will be charged.”

** On the upside my dentist has told me that my teeth are in such good condition that I don't need to come in for a 6 monthly check up all the time and I now only need to visit the dentist's once a year.