Health and education are the main areas where politicians see choice as the best way of improving services.卫生和教育是主要的地方政客见选择的最佳方法，改善服务。 Choosing where and what treatment to have and which school to send your children to are policies which both the Labour and Conservative parties are pursuing.选择在哪里和什么待遇有哪些学校要发送您的孩子是政策，劳资双方和保守政党都追求的。 This year’s Darzi review made patients’ rights the focus of change, proposing that patients’ views on the quality of care should have an impact on future funding, with bonuses for those GPs and hospitals providing the best services.今年的darzi检讨病人权益的焦点变化，建议病人的意见的护理质量应该有一个影响，对未来的资金，奖金为那些全球定位系统和医院，提供最佳的服务。 Furthermore, the results of patient satisfaction should be published creating a form of NHS league table allowing patients to choose at which GP or hospital they wish to receive their treatment.此外，结果病人满意度应公布创造一种形式的国民保健服务联盟表，让病人选择在哪个家庭医生或医院，他们希望得到他们的治疗。

Parents are continually told that by being able to choose which school to send their children to they are getting a better deal from state education.家长正在不断说，由于能够选择哪个学校把他们的子女送到他们获得更好的处理由国家教委。 Government ministers eulogise choice as the best way to match a child’s educational needs to the school that is best placed to cater for them.政府部长eulogise选择的最佳方式，以配合儿童的教育需要向学校，是最理想的，以应付他们。

Choice as prescribed by this government, however, leads to centralisation, destruction of communities, privatisation and the marginalisation of the poorest from the process.选择由这个政府，但是，导致集中，破坏社区，私营化和边缘化最穷的从进程。 Their legacy of choice will be less choice.他们遗留的选择将是较少的选择。

Polyclinics are a perfect example of this.分科是一个完美的例子。 Patients are told that these super-surgeries will lead to more choice but one key choice will be removed: the choice to go to your community hospital or GP.病人说，这些超的手术将导致更多的选择，但一个关键的选择将被删除：选择到您的社区医院或GP的。 Elderly patients, who frequently need to seek medical advice, will see their relationships with their doctor destroyed and will be forced to travel impractical distances.年老的病人，谁经常需要请教医生，会看到他们的关系与他们的医生，摧毁和将被迫旅行是不切实际的距离。

NHS league tables, while appearing to increase patient choice, are in reality just another way of imposing more targets. 国民保健服务排名表，而出现，以增加病人的选择，是在现实中只是另一种方式施加更多的目标。 Moreover, if patients do utilize them to make decisions about which hospital to go to they will find that choice is removed.此外，如果病人不利用他们作出的决定，关于医院去，他们就会发现，选择是删除。 A hospital which scores poorly in the table will receive less funding, therefore their results will get worse and fewer patients will choose them.一家医院的得分很差，在该表将获得较少的资金，因此其成果将得到更坏少的病人会选择他们。 As this spiral continues services will have to be closed down as they will no longer be efficient and then you no longer have a choice.由于这螺旋继续服务，将要倒闭，因为他们将不再有效率的，然后你不再有选择。

Choices can also be confusing, stressful and in the end you can always make the wrong one.选择，也可以造成混乱，压力和在年底您可以随时作出错误的。 When it comes to medicine my knowledge is possibly not as comprehensive as that of a qualified and experienced practitioner.当谈到中医药据我所知，可能是不全面的，因为一个合格和有经验的医生。 I would, therefore, rather know that all hospitals and surgeries are clean and friendly and then allow my GP to refer me to the nearest one where I could receive the required treatment.因此，我知道，而不是所有医院和手术的是干净和友好，然后让我的家庭医生转介我到最接近的一那里我可以得到必要的治疗。

The government’s promise to give every parent a choice of secondary school for their child was proved a myth again this year with figures showing the number of pupils getting their first choice of school has dropped.政府的承诺，让每位家长都选择中学为他们的孩子被证明是一个神话，今年再次与数字显示，学生人数，获得他们的第一选择，学校有下降。 As parents understandably clamour to get their children in to schools high up the league tables the idea of going to your local school is becoming a nostalgic notion, with over half of children not going to their nearest school.作为父母可以理解的叫嚣让他们的孩子在学校高了排名表的想法去您当地的学校正在成为一个怀旧的概念，与超过半数的儿童不打算在其最近的学校。 Commuting to school is detrimental to community development and the environment.通勤上学，是不利于社区发展和环境的影响。

Worse still any benefits of the current policy are going to the wealthiest.更糟的任何好处，目前的政策是要到最富有的。 A report by Bristol University found that disadvantaged families miss out in the current system and even in the same postcodes poorer families end up at the lower-performing schools.一份报告，由布里斯托大学，发现弱势家庭成员的错过了在现行的制度，甚至在同一个邮政编码贫困家庭，最终在效果较差的学校。 Expanding the better performing schools may not be possible as “giving popular schools the freedom to expand does not mean they will do so.扩大效果较好的学校可能无法作为“给予受欢迎的学校可自由选择扩展并不意味着他们能够这样做。 To the extent that a school’s position in the league tables depends on the attainment of its intake, schools may be unwilling to increase and potentially to dilute the quality of their student body,” said Professor Burgess.向程度，一个学校的立场，在联赛中的表依赖于实现其摄入量，学校可能不愿意增加和潜在的稀释质量，他们的学生机构， “教授说，伯吉斯。

Whilst ‘good’ schools cream off the best pupils the rest are left with lower league table results and less people ‘choosing’ to go there.虽然『良好』学校霜起飞最好的学生，其余则是左较低的联赛表的结果和较少的人'选择'去。 Some of the best teachers may leave and in worse case scenarios the school maybe closed.一些最好的老师可能会离开，并在更糟的情况，学校可能封闭。 As with hospitals the choice is then removed.作为与医院的选择，然后删除。 Furthermore, expanding the best schools and shrinking or closing the rest as suggested will result in huge institutions where education suffers.此外，扩大最好的学校和萎缩或关闭，其余的建议，将导致在庞大的机构，教育受到影响。 American researchers are leading the way in analysing the impacts of school size.美国研究人员领导的方式，分析影响学校的大小。

Craig Howley, of Ohio University, and Robert Bickel, of Marshall University, looked at whether smaller schools could reduce the negative effects of poverty on student achievement.克雷格howley ，俄亥俄大学，和罗伯特bickel ，马歇尔大学，看是否较小的学校，可以减少负面影响，贫困对学生的成就。 They found that the correlation between poverty and low achievement was ten times stronger in larger schools than in smaller ones.他们发现，相关之间的贫穷和低成就是10倍，在规模较大的学校，比规模较小的。 “Everyone knows that there is a strong association between social class and achievement and that this association works very much to the disadvantage of economically disadvantaged students,” Bickel told Education World. “大家都知道，有一种强烈的协会之间的社会阶级和成就，并认为这协会工程十分不利，经济上处于不利地位的学生， ” bickel说，教育的世界。 “The California research, however, had the virtue of demonstrating that this disadvantage was exaggerated as school size increased.” “美国加州的研究，但是，美德，展示了这个缺点是夸大了，因为学校面积增加” 。

One in seven pupils in England are now in a secondary school with over 1,500 students and the number of pupils in schools of over 2,000 has doubled since 1997.一，在7名学生在英格兰，现在在一所中学，超过1500年的学生和学生人数，在学校，超过2000年增加了一倍自1997年以来。 Promoting choice is driving these figures ever higher.促进选择是驾驶这些数字越来越高。 If you thought a change of government would bring about a change of direction then, like in most areas, the differences between Labour and the Conservatives are negligible.如果你思想的改变，政府会带来一些变化的方向，然后，像在大多数地区，之间的差异劳动和保守派是微不足道。 In a letter this week to local residents, Philip Dunne, Conservative MP for South Shropshire wrote: ‘We believe that the best way to enhance the power of patients is through choice.在一封信中本星期向当地居民，弘邓恩，保守的国会议员南什罗普郡写道： '我们相信，最好的方法，以提高病人的权力是通过选择。

We will allow patients to choose, in consultation with their GP, where they get their secondary care.我们将允许病人选择，在谘询其家庭医生，他们在那里得到他们中学的照顾。 And we will ensure that money follows the patient so that hospitals and clinics and other care providers are paid according to the results they deliver for that patient.’ Once again, it seems, Labour equals Conservative and the public is left without an alternative.我们会确保钱跟病人，使医院和诊所和其他服务提供者支付，根据研究结果，他们提供为病人'再次，看来，劳工等于保守和公众是离开一个替代的方法。

When ministers speak of choice what they really mean is installing the practice of privatised competition in the public sector.当部长们发言的选择是什么，他们真正的意思是，安装的做法，私有化，竞争在公共部门。 Not even the most ardent free-market Tory would openly pursue a fully privatised health or education service; it would be electoral suicide.甚至不是最殷切的自由市场的保守党将公开追求一个完全私有化，卫生或教育服务;便选举自杀。 All politicians know this so instead they are doing it under the radar masked by the promise of choice.所有政治家都知道这样的，而是他们所做的，它根据雷达所掩盖的承诺的选择。

Genuine, useful choice and universal empowerment are great things which should be strived for but do not confuse them with current government policy.真正的，有益的选择和普遍的权力都是伟大的事情，应该争取，但不要混淆他们与政府现行的政策。 Next time you get excited by the prospect of politicians offering you a choice think again as it’s not always a good thing.下一次你兴奋的前景政客为您提供一个选择再想一想，因为它的并不总是一件好事。