Markets will never work

The obscene spectacle of a rich country overproviding-and then presumably culling-services and expensively trained staff to drive competition when most of the world is starved of basic health care The marginalisation of people with chronic disease-the main "consumers" of health care in an ageing post-industrial society-as financial liabilities The inevitable rigging of evidence of "market efficiency"-anyone can make independent providers look more efficient when they can cherry pick their patients and avoid staff training costs The demoralising effect on staff of a system that discourages collaboration and assumes that cash alone will motivate them to work harder for patients.