Beware those who advocate a new wave of volunteering as a solution to the NHS.
We need to be aware and to beware of what the privateers in their private conferences call the “Indian” model.This model means bringing in volunteers (read family) to do personal care, feeding, laundry etc to make health care cheaper to provide.

It will damage the employment of health care assistants and porters even some admin workers.
There is no need for this. The UK can afford health care. A fully funded, fully staffed NHS, is necessary and achievable within a budget similar to that which most advanced countries spend on health. A service fully funded from taxation and not for profit system will be more cost efficient and more effective both in individual treatment, in population level health out comes, and professional development for staff.

They would have us believe that comprehensive health care is unaffordable. It is not.However you will see programs and newspaper articles that argue this unaffordability time and again.

Volunteers in a fully funded system will add to the whole health and social care system
But if health is to be permanently put out to commissioned services, and, through the ACOs being pushed remodeled brought now, changed to resemble l regional rail franchises, then we will have to use the Indian model to help these privatised enterprises make profit

Volunteering will be press ganged by an understanding that without the volunteers our people will suffer individually when most in pain.

We can’t afford those who take profit from sickness.We can afford the NHS fully funded from taxation and not used for profit.