the difference being that private sector organisations raise their own money, decide for themselves how much is profit and how much is ploughed into the business, and if they go bankrupt then they carry the can and the business is dissolved. The NHS on the other hand gets its money from the government, eg from taxes, and is a vital service that CANNOT be allowed to dissolve. The person responsible for the mess cannot simply say "oops, made mistakes, going to cut our losses, make all our staff redundant, sell off the assets and call it a day for the business". So management spend and waste money like they're private sector managers with a big profit to disperse, when in fact they are in debt and should be looking at realistic ways to save. I haven't said this well I know.