Well, look on the bright side. If you'd have been ranked as consistently 'Excellent', then some bright spark in the halls of power would have drawn the conclusion that you're probably overfunded and would cut the budget. At least with the lower rank the LAS can justifiably call for more resources to meet the targets.... As far as Nationalised health care goes, I'd admit that the system in the UK is broken (don't get me started on the s**t that my Mum goes through). However, private health care doesn't really work either - just look at the system in the US. What's irritating is that the US could take what they spend in Iraq for just ONE WEEK and pay the cost of healthcare premiums for everyone who can't afford them. Priorities are just out of whack.