by Dr Steve McCabe
WHEN I attended medical school in the mid-1980s we still had a Department of Health and Social Security (DHSS). But Margaret Thatcher was in power and she had a secret agenda – the dismantling of the welfare state. Documents released under the 30 year rule in 2012 showed that Margaret Thatcher and her Chancellor, Geofrey Howe, had a plan to charge for State schools, introduce private health insurance and create a system of private healthcare facilities that would “mean the end of the NHS”.