Let's hear it for the customers.

Yesterday I wrote about the problems of the NHS, noting that more spending was not the solution. Today this Scotsman editorial makes the same argument:

The NHS will not be reformed through management from the centre or through massive public expenditure increases alone. This recipe has already been tried in Scotland to no avail.

Only by empowering the patient, and then letting hospitals and primary care units respond to customer direction, will the NHS improve delivery.

I think that we'll wait a hell of a long time before hearing Scottish Labour using the word "customer" in the context of the NHS.