[DanaC]

I think both lippy and Livia are right actually.

There are some appalling nurses and practices within the NHS and of course the same is absolutely true of private healthcare systems. In any organisation of that size and scale (or in any deregulated industry of a similar size and scale) there will be good and bad practitioners. That said, I do think many of the changes made by successive governments have exacerbated this.

There are a number of reasons these stories are so prevalent right now. One is just a matter of timing: scandals come to light, committees examine, conclusions are reached and the findings reported on.

It isn't a news item when a hospital works properly and it isn't reported on when patients are well cared for.

The other reason for the prevalence of such stories at the moment (given that this situation has held true across successive governments and is not always in the news to the same degree) is that it is a useful narrative for people looking to privatise large chunks of the health service. There are clear and documented vested interests in this matter within the government.

There is always a flurry of these kinds of stories during times where privatisation is being aggressively pursued.

In much the same way there is always a flurry of stories about failing schools and bad teachers during periods when privatisation or deregulation of schools is being pursued. It happened during the initial and subsequent pushes for academies and free schools.