Health Direct
2007 News.
Mixed
sex broken promise 27 Dec 2007
Prostate
Cancer a NHS disservice- 17 Dec 2007
NHS professionals protest
at staff sacking- 10 Dec 2007
NHS Postcode lottery gets
worse- 3 Dec 2007
Labour wastes tax payers
money on NHS- 26 Nov 2007
Labour
loses the plot- and data as hospitals are full- 19 Nov 2007
Labour
U Turn on NHS funding- 12 Nov 2007
NHS patients give up on labour's
18 week wait promise- 5 Nov 07
Record
number of NHS patients avoid dirty hospitals by going abroad- 29 Oct 07
MRSA,
C difficile debate moves from labour to conservatives- 22 Oct 07
MRSA,
C diff and superbugs- a plane crash kills every month- 15 Oct 07
Health
professionals under fire for Dept of Health errors- 8 Oct 07
Fake
photo- another labour spinner MP gets caught- James Purnell- 1 Oct 07
Gordon
Stalinist Browns fails MRSA test- 28 Sept 07
Labour
muddle on NHS direction- 21 Sept 07
Ben
Bradshaw- 18 week waiting times shambles- 14 Sept 07
NHS
cradle to grave ethos failing- 3 Sept 07
Strokes,
Measles on the rise- 31 Aug 07
Labour
NHS red tape costs another £140 million- 24 Aug 07
NHS
Choices website- another £14 million wasted down the drain- 13 Aug
07
Brown's
grip on NHS purse strings tightens as patients loose out- Aug 6 07
Brown
penny pinches NHS drugs to salvage his pride- 30 Jul 07
NHS Choices- a £14m
waste of money- 23 Jul 07
Red
rate managers benefit as Doctors suffer- 16 Jul 07
Labour
govt makes people mad- official MPs report- 6 Jul 07
Alan
Johnson- NHS's new captain aka Titanic deckchair rearranger- 25 June 07
Conservatives slowly seeing NHS sense- 18
June 07
Hewitt wastes golden
opportunity claim doctors- 10 June 07
More
than half of patients wait more than 18 weeks for treatment- 4 June 07
Hewitt's
dodgy NHS finances to be investigated- 29 May 07
Out
of hours doctors coverage has systemic failures- 21 May 07
Half
Accident and Emergency units face axe under new labour plans- 14 May 07
Health
Direct reviews Tony "purer than pure" Bliar saving the NHS-
7 Apr 07
Tony
Bliar- 10 wasted years of opportunities for the NHS- 30 Apr 07
MTAS
IT fiasco as Doctors personal data is left insecure - 23 Apr 07
NHS
hospitals worse than Indian health services- 16 Apr 07
PFI
NHS market rigged as Labour tries to hide cash and charges- 9 Apr 07
Patricia
Hewitt's still birth promise and apology to Doctors- 2 Apr 07
NHS
staff shun Labour's NHS follies- 26 Mar 07
Labour's
not fit for purpose, irrational, arbitrary drugs policy attacked again-
19 Mar 07
NHS
workforce falls by 11,000 as cash cuts bite- 12 Mar 07
Junior Doctors'
recruitment MMC MTAS IT fiasco- 5 Mar 07
Labours
NHS cash cutbacks mean that three out of four patients are denied treatment-
26 Feb 07
MRSA
and Clostridium Difficile up 50 per cent- the proof of Labour's failure-
19 Feb 07
MRSA
and C Difficile- the "tough choice" that labour is failing-
12 Feb 07
Patricia
Hewitt thinks that bed closures are good for the NHS- 5 Feb 07
Final
nail in NHS's coffin as all treatments are devolved to private health
care sector- 29 Jan 07
Labour
wastes £23 billion on PFI NHS profits- 22 Jan 07
Public
sick of Labour's spin as Brown tries to sell the NHS off- 15 Jan 07
MRSA out of control-
Labour more concerend with spin than cleanliness- 8 Jan 07
The
Happy New Year message to NHS staff is 36,000 job cuts predicted by the
Labour Govt 2nd Jan 07
Mixed
sex broken promise 27 Dec 2007
Labour
U turn on mixed sex hospital wards
Fri Dec 28 2007- Labour has abandoned its key manifesto pledge
to eliminate the controversial practice of mixed sex wards, it has emerged.
Doctors
quit dirty NHS for India
Thu Dec 27 2007- The influx of thousands of Indian doctors into
the National Health Service is going into reverse. Hospitals in India
are now said to be cleaner and better equipped than many in Britain and
doctors are quitting the NHS to work there instead.
Prostate
Cancer a NHS disservice- 17 Dec 2007
Patricia
Hewitt cashes in on health post
Fri 21 Dec 2007- Patricia Hewitt, the former health secretary
who left the government six months ago, has been offered jobs with at
least five companies with links to the health sector
Ministers
back GP plan that sidesteps contracts
Thu 20 Dec 2007- Family doctors face working unorthodox hours
in so called super surgeries under a radical pilot scheme that could turn
into a nationwide blueprint for medical care.
NHS
threat to halt care for cancer patient if she pays for her own drugs
Wed 19 Dec 2007- A woman will be denied free National Health
Service treatment for breast cancer if she seeks to improve her chances
by paying privately for an additional cancer drug.
Prostate
Cancer- a health disservice
Tue 18 Dec 2007- As 2007 draws to a close it is sad to contemplate
that during the year another 10,000 men in the UK will have lost their
lives to prostate cancer, and that 10,000 families this Christmas will
be grieving the loss of a loved one as a result.
NHS
U-turn on prostate cancer treatment by NICE
Mon 17 Dec 2007- A life saving treatment will be denied to tens
of thousands of victims of Britain's most common male cancer after a U-turn
by the NHS rationing body NICE.
NHS
professionals protest at staff sacking- 10 Dec 2007
NHS
frequently leaks patients' records personal medical data
Fri 14 Dec 2007- Patients' confidential medical records are regularly
being accessed by people who have no right to them, research by the BBC
has revealed. Figures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act reveal
that in the last year there have been several data security breaches in
the West of England.
NICE
U-turn on eye drug will save the sight of thousands
Thu 13 Dec 2007- Thousands of people will be saved from going
blind following a U-turn by the government's drug advisory body NICE-
which will allow them to get an expensive new treatment on the NHS.
Core
health standards being missed
Wed 12 Dec 2007- Both private sector and NHS-run organisations
are failing to meet core minimum standards for patient care, with neither
outperforming the other, says the UK health sector’s inspectorate.
Quango
advisers hit out on NHS wasted cash
Tue 11 Dec 2007- The advice of a high powered board of business
people set up to counsel the labour government on working with the private
sector was systematically ignored by ministers and civil servants, according
to a resignation letter seen by the Financial Times.
Nurses
hold silent protest at sacking of colleague for talking to the media
Mon 10 Dec 2007- Thousands of health workers from across Britain
have held silent protests against the sacking of a Manchester nurse. Members
if Unison took to the streets wearing gags a month after psychiatric nurse
Karen Reissmann, who criticised NHS cuts, was fired for speaking to the
media.
NHS
Postcode lottery gets worse- 3 Dec 2007
50,000
people denied insulin pumps in the UK by NICE's postcode lottery
Fri 7 Dec 2007- The charity Diabetes UK is calling for more access
to insulin pumps for people with diabetes as new research shows they are
more effective in improving blood glucose control and reducing hypoglycaemic
episodes than traditional insulin injections.
NHS
patients face humiliating treatment- whatever happened to Dignity?
Thu 6 Dec 2007- Hospitals are still failing to treat people with
dignity and respect as complaints reveal patients left unwashed, in soiled
bedding and in humiliating open-backed gowns, the Healthcare Commission
has said.
Strokes-
postcode lottery for stroke scans costs lives
Wed 5 Dec 2007- Thousands of stroke victims die unnecessarily
every year because access to the best care is subject to a "postcode
lottery", campaigners have said.
UK
among Europe's worst for cancer funding and cancer deaths
Tue 4 Dec 2007- The UK is lagging behind "nearly every other"
European country when it comes to investment in cancer services and has
some of the poorest survival rates for the disease.
NHS
ignoring human rights of people with learning disabilities
Mon 3 Dec 2007- The NHS is holding thousands of people with learning
disabilities in bleak accommodation with scant regard to their human rights,
inspectors warn today.
Labour
wastes tax payers money on NHS- 26 Nov 2007
Ward
cleaning is only reassurance spin admits Alan Johnson
Fri 30 Nov 2007- The £50m a year that the labour government
is to spend on routinely deep cleaning hospital wards is being spent to
reassure the public rather than as a provenly effective way to tackle
hospital acquired infections like MRSA admitted Alan Johnson the Health
Secretary.
One
in 10 suffers hospital harm as blunders kill 90,000 patients
Thu 29 Nov 2007- Accidents, errors and mishaps in hospital affect
as many as one in 10 in-patients, claim researchers. The report in the
journal Quality and Safety in Health Care said up to half of these were
preventable. Checks on 1,000 cases in just one hospital found examples
of fatal surgical errors, infections and drug complications.
Dirty
ambulances spread MRSA superbugs infections
Wed 28 Nov 2007- Ambulances may be spreading infections because
they are not being cleaned properly, union leaders warn. An investigation
by Unison found large variations in cleaning practices at ambulance trusts
in the UK.
Last
minute private operations cost NHS more when broken targets loom
Tue 27 Nov 2007- NHS hospitals and primary care trusts are paying
private hospitals excessive prices because they treat patients at the
last minute, the industry says. This is despite the availability of more
than 120 independent hospitals and surgical centres that will treat patients
at NHS prices or just above.
NHS
underspends by record £1.8bn
Mon 26 Nov 2007- The NHS is heading for a record £1.8bn
underspend this financial year, Health Direct can reveal.
Labour
loses the plot- and data as hospitals are full- 19 Nov 2007
Ambulances
queue at full hospital at Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital
Fri 23 Nov 2007- Paramedics are treating patients in ambulances
outside the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital and ambulances are
queuing outside the hospital because of a major alert which has left it
with no beds available to new admissions.
NHS
database will weaken patient security MPs learn
Thu 22 Nov 2007- The man in charge of setting up the NHS medical
records database has admitted that "you cannot stop the wicked doing
wicked things" with information. Richard Jeavons, director of IT
implementation at the Department of Health, said there were instances
where staff "abuse their privileges".
Shocking
labour incompetent data misuse as 25 million parents exposed to risk of
ID fraud
Wed 21 Nov 2007- Health Direct asks if you remember
all those labour MPs who supported the national ID card scheme, the DNA
database and the NHS IT system? They said we had nothing to fear.....labour
said that your data will be safe with them.
Doctors
revolt at anti white bias political correctness of labour's nanny state
Tue 20 Nov 2007- One of Britain’s most eminent consultants
has claimed white male doctors are being denied bonuses because of politically
correct “reverse discrimination” by the National Health Service.
NHS
must keep taking the tablets- Financial Times Editorial on labour's costly
private sector U turn
Mon 19 Nov 2007- The Financial Times last week criticised labour's
health services incompetent U Turn. Health Direct reproduces
the Editorial.
Labour
U Turn on NHS funding- 12 Nov 2007
Private
sector sees NHS role slashed
Fri 16 Nov 2007- Alan Johnson, the health secretary, yesterday
slashed a long planned expansion of the private sector’s role in
the National Health Service, in effect confirming that contracts originally
meant to be worth about £6bn for surgical treatments and diagnostic
services are likely to amount to well under half that sum.
Housing
blow for junior doctors in new recruitment fiasco
Thu 15 Nov 2007- Junior doctors beginning their training in hospitals
will no longer have their accommodation found or paid for, Health
Direct reveals today.
NHS
deficits leading to quality divide for patients as red tape costs soar
Wed 14 Nov 2007- A deepening divide is emerging between NHS organisations
that are managing their finances well and the nearly one third that remain
in poor financial health, the Audit Commission has warned.
Private
sector role in pioneering healthcare scheme to be slashed
Tue 13 Nov 2007- A pioneering £700m a year labour government
scheme to buy surgical treatment centres and diagnostic services from
the private sector is set to be more than halved by ministers.
Labour's
nanny state wants us to stop eating and drinking
Mon 12 Nov 2007- A new inquiry into lifestyle and cancer has
issued several stark recommendations. They include not gaining weight
as an adult, avoiding sugary drinks and alcohol, and not eating bacon
or ham. Everyone must also aim to be as thin as possible without becoming
underweight.
NHS
patients give up on labour's 18 week wait promise- 5 Nov 07
Labour
tries to move 18 week hospital waiting promise goalposts
Fri 9 Nov 2007- Ben Bradshaw is trying to break the labour promise
that no patient should wait more than 18 weeks from seeing their GP to
completing their hospital treatment as new figures confirm that they will
fail to keep their word.
Case
studies in foreign health services
Thu 8 Nov 2007- Following Health Direct's post
last month Record
numbers go abroad for health treatments, we profile
a number of case studies where UK patients have given up on the NHS and
experienced foreign health services.
Tory
health bill challenges Labour on NHS improvement plan
Wed 7 Nov 2007- The health service would have a clear divide
between purchasers and providers with ministers and the Department of
Health having much less day to day involvement in its running under a
bill published by the Conservatives.
Patients
losing faith in the NHS, claims survey
Tue 6 Nov 2007- Growing concern among the public about falling
standards in the NHS is revealed in another new health survey notes Health
Direct.
Sicko
Michael Moore film has mad view of the NHS
Mon 5 Nov 2007- The fourth estate has always had a bad name,
but it seems to be getting worse. Journalism should be an honest and useful
trade, and often still is. But now that journalism has more power than
ever before, it seems to have become ever more disreputable.
Record
number of NHS patients avoid dirty hospitals by going abroad- 29 Oct 07
Hospitals
failing superbug targets as 8.2pc of patients acquire bug
Fri 2 Nov 2007- Hospital superbugs are endemic in Britain's wards
and the Government is failing to meet its targets to reduce them, new
watchdog figures have disclosed. Cases of Clostridium difficile increased
by seven per cent in hospital patients over the age of 65 from 51,829
in 2005 to 55,620 last year – an extra 3,791 cases.
Targeted
cleaning is key to defeating MRSA superbugs
Thu 1 Nov 2007- Targeted cleaning to tackle MRSA hotspots is
the key to reducing hospital infections, an expert says. Microbiologist
Dr Stephanie Dancer said cleaning should focus on objects which people
frequently touch rather than on "catch-all blitzes".
Only
44pc recall hospital choice watchdog finds
Wed 31 Nov 2007- Further evidence that the Labour's "choice"
policy is struggling as a means of driving reform in the National Health
Service has come from the latest Healthcare Commission survey of how far
it is being offered to patients.
Experts
criticise NICE drugs advisory body
Tue 30 Oct 2007- Labour's drugs advisory body NICE is issuing
poor quality guidance because it excludes experts from the drafting process,
doctors told MPs.
Record
numbers go abroad for health treatments
Mon 29 Oct 2007- Record numbers of Britons are flying abroad
for medical treatment to escape NHS waiting lists and the rising threat
of hospital superbugs. More than 70,000 Britons will have treatment abroad
this year, a figure that is forecast to rise to 200,000.
MRSA,
C difficile debate moves from labour to conservatives- 22 Oct 07
Tories
on attack over MRSA, C diff hospital superbugs
Fri 26 Oct 2007- Labour ministers knew about the findings of
a report into 90 patient deaths from Clostridium difficile at Kent hospitals
months ago, the Conservative party claimed this week.
Labour
rewards drug addicts as only 6pc of users are free of drugs each year.
Thu 26 Oct 2007- Heroin and cocaine addicts on the labour government's
treatment programme are being given drugs as a reward for clean urine
samples, Health Direct has learned.
Ministers
bury bad news report on MRSA, C Difficile superbugs since May
Wed 24 Oct 2007- Once again Health Direct learns
that labour's ridiculous health targets are resulting in many NHS patients
having an early death and or unnecessarily pain. The Financial Times discovered
that there is a direct correlation between be occupancy rates and incidents
of patients contracting MRSA, C Difficile and other superbugs.
DIY
dentistry- lack of access to NHS Dentists leaves people having to pull
their own teeth
Tue 23 Oct 2007- Problems with getting an NHS dentist are leading
some people to pull their own teeth out. If that's not enough to make
you wince, then the potential pitfalls will be. There are people out there
pulling their own teeth out with pliers.
Nanny
state burns £500m on failed anti smoking campaigns
Mon 22 Oct 2007- The National Health Service has spent almost
£500m on services to stop people smoking but with no discernible
impact on either the proportion of the adult population that smokes or
the numbers smoking
MRSA,
C diff and superbugs- a plane crash kills every month- 15 Oct 07
Quarter
of NHS trusts are failing on C Difficile, MRSA superbug infections
Fri 19 Oct 2007- A
quarter of hospital trusts in England are failing to meet new standards
on infection control, a survey by the Healthcare Commission has found.
Forty four trusts were not complying with one or all aspects of the hygiene
code, standards seen as key after the recent deaths from hospital infections.
Health
efficiency gains data uncertain claim MPs on PAC
Thu 18 Oct 2007- Up
to three quarters of the £13.3bn efficiency gains the labour government
claims to have made may be based on unreliable and inaccurate estimates,
a committee of MPs has found.
NHS
shakes up £12bn NPfIT IT programme
Wed 17 Oct 2007- A
big revamp of the National Health Service’s £12bn IT programme is under
way that will see NHS trusts given more choice of how systems are installed
and which software they get.
Hospitals
overlook superbug infection guidelines as preventable deaths grow
Tue 16 Oct 2007- The
outbreak of Clostridium difficile at the Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells
NHS Trust, in which at least 1,100 were infected and between 90 and 330
died, carries one clear lesson for policymakers and patients alike.
Superbug
boss Rose Gibb has record of dirty hospitals
Mon 15 Oct 2007- Asked
what she intended to do about the filthy wards at her hospital, Rose Gibb
insisted she had introduced an "action plan" that would "address the issues"
of inadequate cleaning.
Health
professionals under fire for Dept of Health errors- 8 Oct 07
Superbug
hospital may face criminal charges over 331 C difficle deaths
Fri 12 Oct 2007- Hospital
managers could face criminal prosecution for the worst ever recorded outbreaks
of the superbug Clostridium difficile which killed at least 90 patients.
Junior
doctors' training still under fire over DoH's MMC MTAS disaster
Thu 11 Oct 2007- The
Department of Health yesterday reverted to more standard recruitment practices
for junior doctors seeking training posts for next year after the chaos
that the caused with the MTAS IT application system this year.
NHS trusts are failing to handle complaints
Wed 10 Oct 2007- Almost
a third of complaints about NHS standards are not being handled properly,
according to the official health watchdog. The Healthcare Commission claims
in a report released today that many hospital managers, doctors and nurses
do not listen to complaints or learn from their mistakes.
Labour
in crisis as staff shortage blamed for £665m payout in birth errors
Tue 9 Oct 2007- Childbirth is claimed to be safer than ever.
Yet the price paid by the NHS for deliveries going catastrophically wrong
has risen 59 per cent to £259m – enough to fund the consultants
and midwives needed to save thousands of babies and mothers from harm.
Jane
Tomlinson widow asks for cancer drug review to end drugs postcode lottery
Mon 8 Oct 2007- Fundraiser Jane Tomlinson's husband and the NHS
trust that treated her have called for a review of the availability of
advanced trial drugs. Mrs Tomlinson's husband Mike said she found it "distressing"
that she could not get access to Lapatinib, when it was available elsewhere
in the UK.
Fake
photo- Another labour spinner gets caught- James Purnell- 1 Oct 07
New
£100m Innovation health quango setup
Fri 5 Oct 2007- A £100m innovation quango is to be created,
with half the money, to be spent over five years, coming from the Wellcome
Trust. It marks the first adoption of a recommendation from junior health
minister Lord Darzi’s review of the NHS.
Tony
crony Lord Darzi's health review targets GPs and MRSA superbugs
Thu 4 Oct 2007- Lord Ara Darzi, Health Minister and author of
the interim report on the NHS says that every patient who stays in hospital
will be screened for the superbug infection MRSA and at least half of
GP practices will open on Saturday mornings or one or more evenings per
week.
Unhealthy
signs- Financial Times editorial on Labours NHS actions
Wed 3 Oct 2007- The Financial Times recently reviewed the labour
government's actions towards the NHS and questioned their muddled directions.
Health Direct reproduces their Editorial.
NHS
rated as mediocre only 17 compared with 29
Tue 2 Oct 2007- The UK and other centralised health systems with
a single funder perform worse than those financed by multiple insurers,
according to a consumer focused survey of European healthcare.
James
Purnell fake photo- new labour spin controversy
Mon 1 Oct 2007- James Purnell, the Culture Secretary, came under
increasing pressure over a fake photo last night, after two Labour MPs
revealed they planned in advance for it be altered. The MPs, who featured
alongside Mr Purnell in the doctored photograph, revealed that they had
discussed how he would be merged into the shot after he failed to turn
up for a photocall on time.
Gordon
Stalinist Browns fail MRSA test- 28 Sept 07
Stalinist
Brown's superbug plans ignore scientific evidence claims Lancet
Fri 28 Sep 2007- Labour government plans for tackling superbugs,
such as MRSA, have been condemned by a leading medical journal for not
being based on scientific fact. The Lancet said there was little evidence
to support hospital "deep cleans" or short sleeves for medical
staff as recently mentioned by Health Direct.
Allergy
epidemic gets poor care in the UK
Thu 27 Sep 2007- Poor care and confusing advice is being used
to deal with an allergy epidemic in the UK, experts have said. The House
of Lords Science and Technology Committee warned there were not enough
specialist services and that food labelling was inadequate.
Gordon
Stalinist Brown pledge on NHS funding and MRSA superbugs
Wed 26 Sep 2007- Hospitals are to use new “deep-clean”
techniques in which wards are stripped and subjected to steam cleaning
and high-strength disinfectant in an attempt to reduce outbreaks of MRSA
and C difficle superbugs.
Foundation
trusts increase cash as patient care declines
Tue 25 Sep 2007- Foundation trusts, a flagship of the labour
government’s National Health Service reforms, are building a growing
cash mountain that they appear unable or unwilling to invest in improved
services. The sums involved are up by more than £300m from about
£1bn at the end of the last financial year to £1.32bn in the
first three months of this year.
NHS
is facing £4.5bn compensation bill over babies damaged at birth
by hospital blunders
Mon 24 Sep 2007- The NHS is facing £4.5bn in compensation
claims over alleged blunders by midwives and doctors that have left babies
suffering severe brain damage, The Observer and Health Direct
reveals.
Labour
muddle on NHS direction- 21 Sept 07
Stalinist
Brown bounce wanes on public services says another poll
Fri 21 Sep 2007- Labour's "Brown bounce" in the polls
has receded as far as public services are concerned, according to polling
by Ipsos Mori.
Sex
virus carried by 1 in 10 girls under 16 years old
Thu 20 Sep 2007- One in 10 girls aged under 16, the age of consent,
has a sexually transmitted disease that could lead to cervical cancer,
a government agency has found.
Labour
govt overpays private groups £222m for outsourced NHS treatments
Wed 19 Sep 2007- The Labour government is overpaying private
hospital operators by more than £200 million to carry out surgery
for NHS patients. In an effort to cut waiting lists, labour launched a
programme in 2005 to outsource some routine surgery to the private sector.
Labour
lead halved as voters feel pinch
Tue 18 Sep 2007- Gordon Stalinist Brown’s opinion poll
lead has halved in the space of a month, making an early election much
less likely, according to the latest Sunday Times-YouGov poll of more
than 1,800 people.
MRSA
to force ban on doctors' white coats
Mon 17 Sep 2007- Doctors will be banned from wearing their traditional
white coats as part of a drive to protect patients from contracting MRSA
and C Difficle superbugs in hospital, Alan Johnson, the Health Secretary
announces.
Ben
Bradshaw- 18 week waiting times shambles- 14 Sept 07
Ben
Bradshaw is confident of achieving 18 week target
Fri 14 Sep 2007- Ben Bradshaw was forced to defend the incompetence
of his Department of Health this week after a detailed analysis by the
Financial Times found that fully a quarter of the population would have
to wait longer than the basic 18 weeks between referral by a GP and treatment
which labour promised.
A
terrible way to treat our doctors- Financial Times Comment on MMC
Thu 13 Sep 2007- Modernising Medical Careers (MMC) is a suitably
Orwellian name for a Stalinist new system for training doctors in the
National Health Service. The phrase is a perfect example of newspeak.
To oppose a "modern" system is to be a conservative, if not
a reactionary.
Gordon
Stalinist Brown's careless health spending will end up wounding the PM
Wed 12 Sept 2007- The amount of taxpayers' money spent on the
National Health Service has more than doubled in the last five years.
The annual cost of our system of universal public healthcare is now approaching
£100bn - more than £1,500 a year for every man, woman and
child. But is our money being spent wisely?
Man
who helped NHS to spend £46bn says it wasted the money and needs
more
Tue 11 Sept 2007- Sir Derek Wanless says billions of pounds poured
into the NHS has not made it more efficient. The money poured into the
NHS has failed to produce a more efficient service, or to reduce unhealthy
lifestyles. As a result even more cash will be needed in the future.
NHS
to miss 18 week treatment waiting times targets- by the proverbial country
mile
Mon 10 Sept 2007- The National Health Service is set to fall
well short of its target of ensuring that no one waits more than 18 weeks
from seeing a family doctor to completion of treatment, latest official
figures predict.
NHS
cradle to grave ethos failing- 3rd Sept 07
The
NHS is a service, not a business
Fri 7 Sept 2007- From the letters section of the Financial Times:
Sir, Margaret McCartney's view would be endorsed by the majority of the
medical profession, and shows the hollowness of the labour government's
stated policy of a "patient-led NHS".
NHS
Postcode lottery to be challenged in the courts
Thu
6 Sept 2007- The European Commission has been asked to investigate
whether a local health authority can refuse to pay for drugs when funding
is available elsewhere. Tory MEP Chris Heaton-Harris claims the so called
NHS postcode lottery breaks European anti-discrimination laws.
Dental
students will shun NHS when qualified
Wed 5 Sept 2007- Almost one in five dental students plans to
shun NHS work completely, a study has suggested. The results suggest that
the new contract which was designed to make NHS work more attractive has
had limited success.
New
NHS complaints service launched by the Citizens Advice Bureau
Tue 4 Sept 2007- A new NHS complaints service is being launched
by the Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) and will be rolled out across Scotland
ahead of a national roll-out of the service. The confidential scheme helps
patients take forward grievances about the NHS.
5,000
extra midwives are needed to cope with the increase in birthrate RCM find
Mon 3 Sept 2007- Nearly 5,000 more midwives will be needed by
2012 if the Government is to meet its target for maternity services, the
Royal College of Midwives said. The college has increased its target from
3,000 because of a rising birthrate, which has exceeded government estimates,
and a reassessment of present shortages..
Strokes,
Measles on the rise- 31st Aug 07
Measles
cases triple with no backup MMR vaccine stocks
Fri 31 Aug 07- Parents are being urged to give their children
the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) jab before the start of the new school
year after an unprecedented surge of measles cases was recorded over the
summer holidays.
UNICEF
blasts labours breastfeeding nanny state
Thu 30 Aug 07- The long term health of mothers and babies is
being put at risk by UK hospitals that have failed to introduce pro-breastfeeding
policies, the United Nations says UNICEF, the UN children's fund, today
releases a report showing that four out of 10 maternity hospitals have
not implemented guidance from the National Institute for Curbing Expenditure
(NICE) that was published a year ago.
Nurses
don't report abuse of the elderly
Wed 29 Aug 07- More than half of nurses would not report the
abuse of an elderly person in their care, according to a survey published
today. The poll of NHS and private sector nurses, conducted for Help the
Aged, found that a lack of training, heavy workloads and fear of confrontation
or of upsetting the victim all prevent nurses taking action.
NHS
deaths could be halved say doctors as 10,000 die needlessly every year
Tue 28 Aug 07- More than 10,000 people are dying needlessly each
year after being denied intensive care treatment, according to senior
doctors. They have written to the Health Secretary Alan Johnson, warning
that many patients are dying after routine surgery because of a failure
to identify them as high risk cases.
UK
stroke treatment is worst in Europe with hundreds needlessly dying every
year
Mon 27 Aug 07- The UK has the worst outcome for strokes in western
Europe despite spending the same amount or more on care as other countries,
a leading article in the British Medical Journal warned.
Labour
NHS red tape costs another £140 million- 24th Aug 07
Labour's
latest NHS red tape shake up costs another 140 million Pounds
Fri 24 Aug 07- The reorganisation of strategic health authorities
(SHAs) in England has seen the NHS pay out more than £80m in redundancy
costs, Health Direct and the BBC has learned. More than 700 staff lost
their jobs in last year's shake-up, which saw the number of SHAs reduced
from 28 to 10. The cost of the average redundancy package for senior managers
was more than £350,000.
New
nurses, doctors and physios left jobless by labours NHS budget squeeze
Thu 23 Aug 07- Thousands of newly qualified nurses are facing
unemployment because of labour's NHS hospital cutbacks, with recruitment
vacancies at their lowest for 10 years. New National Health Service figures
have revealed how difficult it is for nurses, physiotherapists, scientists
and doctors to find jobs.
Cancer
survival rates- 7000 UK patients are dying needlessly every year
Wed 22 Aug 07- Cancer survival in the UK is still below the European
average, despite recent improvements, a report says. Survival rates in
lung, breast, prostate and colorectal cancer were lower in the UK compared
with everywhere except eastern Europe.
GPs
given ultimatum to open at night and weekends as DoH bullies BMA
Tue 21 Aug 07- Having disastrously fouled up the GPs' service
contract last year the Deptartment of Heath is now aggressively bullying
GPs to work weekends again. Family doctors have been warned that unless
they agree to open at evenings and on Saturdays, private companies will
be contracted to take over their practices.
Cameron
promises a bare knuckle fight to save NHS District Hospital services
Mon 20 Aug 07- David Cameron the Conservative leader, attempted
to regain the political initiative today by promising a "bare knuckle
fight" with the Government to save local NHS hospitals from closure.
NHS
Choices website- another £14 million wasted down the drain- 13th
Aug 07
Psychiatric
wards at crisis point, says doctor
Fri 17 Aug 07- The crisis facing Britain's mental health wards
is laid bare. Speaking exclusively, a senior consultant psychiatrist,
who cannot be named, painted a picture of a service at breaking point.
The wards are overcrowded, staff are overstretched and seriously ill psychotic
patients are often forced to sleep on a sofa because beds have been cut
to balance the books elsewhere in the NHS.
NHS
dentists can cost more than private dentistry
Thu 16 Aug 07- Patients are paying less for some private dental
treatment than they do on the NHS because of controversial untested changes
introduced by the labour Government last year. The price for a filling
on the NHS is now £43.60 but some private surgeries charge just
£35, Health Direct reveals.
Health
Direct- official NHS staffing data shows we are right about health professionals
cutbacks
Wed 15 Aug 07- Official NHS staffing data shows that the number
of National Health Service workers fell last year for the first time since
comparable records began in 1996 – a year before Labour came to
power which confirm that Health Direct's count of job cuts last year were
right.
Scandal
of filthy hospital kitchens
Tue 14 Aug 07- A searing indictment of the cleanliness of UK
hospital kitchens is revealed in research showing that almost half are
plagued by vermin, risk infections by storing food incorrectly or employ
staff with poor personal hygiene.
NHS
Choices- massive inaccuracies mar GP patient website
Mon 13 Aug 07- NHS Choices the Department of Health's flagship
website is to ask primary care trusts and GP practices to correct widespread
mistakes on the Department of Health's flagship NHS Choices website. Half
of the NHS Choices website's information on GP opening hours and a third
of practitioners' names are thought to be incorrect, Health Direct and
HSJ can reveal.
Brown's
grip on NHS purse strings tightens as patients loose out- Aug 6 07
NICE's
Alzheimer's court win condems thousands to more suffering
Fri 10 Aug 07- NICE has thwarted campaigners who have failed
in their High Court bid to force the NHS to fund Alzheimer's drugs in
people with early stage disease. However, the National Institute for Curbing
Expenditure (NICE) has been told to rewrite guidance on how the disease
is assessed.
NHS
Dentistry access is not improving
Thu 9 Aug 07- A shake up in NHS dentistry in England has failed
to increase access to services, labour government figures show. A Department
of Health report showed 28.1m people had been to an NHS dentist in the
previous 24 months. This was 50,000 down on the figures on the eve of
the changes in April 2006. The number of dentists in the system has also
fallen.
Private
surgery deal shows Labour hypocrisy
Wed 8 Aug 07- A London hospital is to become the first in Britain
to privatise all surgery, prompting charges of "rank Government hypocrisy"
from supporters of the NHS. Kingston Hospital, in south west London, is
to hand over control of its operating theatres to a private firm under
a 10-year contract which has alarmed staff.
Whistleblower
Surgeon breaks cover over NHS beds crisis
Tue 7 Aug 07- Specialist wards full to breaking point. Patients
with serious injuries are denied care and a health service paralysed by
arguments about funding. Martin Bircher, one of Britain's most senior
consultants, speaks out.
NHS
managers blocked 75pc of GP referrals
Mon 6 Aug 07- Three quarters of GPs who referred patients to
hospital have had their decisions blocked, a poll for The Sunday Telegraph
reveals. Family doctors say that new "referral management" systems,
set up to allow primary care trusts (PCTs) to overrule decisions taken
in the surgery, are being used to delay and cancel hospital care, and
to divert patients referred to a hospital consultant to cheaper clinics
in the community.
Brown
penny pinches NHS drugs to salvage his pride- 30 Jul 07
Junior
doctors still jobless in MTAS hospitals chaos
Fri 3 Aug 07- Hundreds of operations in hospitals across England
will be cancelled in the chaos as 30,000 junior doctors start new jobs
this week. The British Medical Association said that because of the scramble
to fill posts ahead of Wednesday's deadline after the collapse of the
recruitment system, consultants have been left unable to plan theatre
time.
NHS
pay deal cost more and brought less than planned
Thu 2 Aug 07- The introduction of the most ambitious pay reform
in the National Health Service's history cost far more than expected and
failed to deliver the intended increases in productivity, a study by the
King's Fund health think-tank has found.
Hypocrite
Stalinist Brown cuts £50m from drugs rehab budget
Wed, 1 Aug 07- The flagship labour government scheme for treating
drug addicts faces swingeing budget cuts of £50 million. Plans to
slash total funding by more than 12 per cent, outlined in an email leaked
to The Sunday Telegraph, come less than a fortnight after Stalinist Brown
tried to show off his anti-drug credentials by signalling his desire to
reclassify Cannabis from Class C to the more serious Class B. The Conservatives
accused the Prime Minister of hypocrisy.
GPs-
Quarter of patients can't book in advance £12 million patient survey
finds
Tue 31 Jul 07- A quarter of patients still cannot book advance
appointments with their GP - more than two years after Tony Bliar promised
to solve the problem. The results from an "unfair and biased"
£12m survey of more than two million people about services at their
GP surgery found doctors are still manipulating their appointments system
to hit targets.
PFI-
Time to set the record straight claims Financial Times
Mon 30 Jul 07- Off balance sheet accounting has a long and often
dishonourable history. Just think of Enron. The Treasury now has a chance
to fix one of the most inconsistent and problematic examples of its use,
in the way the private finance initiative is accounted for, by using the
introduction of International Financial Reporting Standards as a chance
to bring all PFI projects on to the public balance sheet.
NHS
Choices- a £14m waste of money- 23 Jul 07
MTAS
disaster- Labour's botched NHS plan
Fri 27 Jul 07- The Medical Training Application System (MTAS)
junior doctors appointment fiasco still produces fury in the health profession.
Why? And how did labour's defective system get passed in the first place?
Johnson
blocks new wave of private health clinics
Thu 26 Jul 07- The health secretary, Alan Johnson, yesterday
vetoed plans for a third wave of independent sector treatment centres
to compete with NHS hospitals.
C
Difficile and MRSA hospital bugs remain a problem
Wed, 25 Jul 07- The number of cases of the potentially dangerous
Clostridium difficile (C Difficile) is thriving, figures show. A review
by the Health Protection Agency showed hospital MRSA cases had fallen
by 10% in the first three months of 2007 compared with a year ago. But
rates for C. difficile, which mainly strikes the elderly, rose by 22%
this quarter.
Anger
over NHS plan to give addicts iPods
Tue 25 Jul 07- Drug addicts are to be offered gift vouchers and
prizes on the National Health Service under plans by the labour government’s
medicine watchdog NICE to encourage them to stay clean.
NHS
Choices criticised for out of date, utterly dishonest, trite and patronising
information
Mon 23 Jul 07- NHS Choices the Department of Health’s new
£14 million "flagship" website contains GP practice information
which in some cases is at much as six years out-of-date, Health Direct
and EHI Primary Care has learnt.
Red
rate managers benefit as Doctors suffer- 16 Jul 07
NHS
manager's payout is nearly £1m
Fri 20 Jul 07- An NHS manager has been given a redundancy package
worth almost £1 million in what was described as "a lottery
win rather than a payout". David Johnson, the former head of a regional
strategic health authority, was one of about 70 staff who left the organisation
when it was abolished as part of a restructuring programme.
Hospital
cases treble since labour's extended drinking pub hours laws
Thu 19 Jul 07- Overnight visits to hospital emergency departments
for alcohol related problems have trebled since the introduction of new
licensing laws, according to a scientific journal the Emergency Medicine
Journal. The EMJ has published research showing that significantly more
people have needed hospital treatment for alcohol-related issues since
pub hours were extended in November 2005.
Junior
doctor shambles threatens the NHS eminent Doctors warn
Wed 18 Jul 07- Last week a labour ministerial statement confirmed
that almost half this year’s applicants under the junior doctors’
career and appointments system have had their careers in UK medicine abruptly
cut short.
NHS
IVF clinics to help lesbians get pregnant
Tue 17 Jul 07- An NHS IVF fertility clinic is proposing to treat
single women and lesbian couples who have no medical problems. The reproductive
medicine unit at University College London Hospitals (UCLH) NHS Trust
believes it would be discriminatory to refuse artificial insemination
to women who cannot conceive because they do not have a male partner.
Do
not give local authorities control of healthcare warns the Financial Times
Mon 16 Jul 07- In the name of devolution or "the new localism",
a crime may be about to be committed. Despite promises from Alan Johnson,
the new health secretary, of no new structural reform to the National
Health Service "for the foreseeable future", labour ministers
appear to be considering giving local government a bigger say in, maybe
even control over, the NHS
Labour
govt makes people mad- official MPs report- 6 Jul 07
Dementia
victims being failed by NHS- NAO reports
Fri 6 Jul 07- Hundreds of thousands of elderly people suffering
from dementia are being comprehensively failed by the labour government
and the health service, Whitehall's spending watchdog warns. Far too few
people are being diagnosed as suffering from dementia - or are being diagnosed
much too late - and even then drugs and other treatments are not widely
available.
Thousands
of new nurses still job hunting
Thu 5 Jul 07- Almost a third of nurses - some 4,000 - had not
found jobs six months after qualifying last year, according to official
statistics. More than half of physiotherapists and one in five midwives
were also still unemployed half a year after completing their studies,
the Department of Health admits.
Hopes
fade over private sector role in NHS
Wed 4 Jul 07- Private sector hopes of a sustainable role in delivering
National Health Service care are receding, judging by a study commissioned
by the NHS commercial directorate. The 2004 study estimated the NHS needed
to buy 450,000-500,000 procedures a year if the market that has attracted
overseas health groups as well as UK operators such as Bupa and Nuffield
was not to "stagnate and ultimately collapse".
Seven
NHS doctors held over al-Qaeda bomb plot
Tue 3 Jul 07- The suspected al-Qa'eda terrorists
behind the attempted car bomb attacks on Britain were almost all foreign
doctors working in the NHS, it was disclosed today. It comes as an eighth
person - also a foreign doctor who has worked in the UK - was arrested
in Australia in connection with the attacks.
Cynical
Stalinist Brown cut budget for English hospitals- but kept Scottish health
budgets
Mon 2 Jul 07- Gordon Stalinist Brown quietly slashed by a third
this year’s hospital building and equipment budget in one of his
last acts as chancellor. Prompted by the tightness of the public finances,
the new prime minister, who has placed the NHS as his “immediate
priority”, cut the capital budget of the English NHS for 2007-08
from £6.2bn to £4.2bn. The move could delay the labour government’s
hospital building and reconfiguration programme in England.
Alan
Johnson- NHS's new captain aka Titanic deckchair rearranger- 25 June 07
Stalin
Brown's new Health Secretary Alan Johnson signals a union friendly approach
Fri 29 Jun 07- Stalin Brown's appointment of Alan Johnson as
the new Health Secretary appears to signal a more union friendly approach
to the management of public services and possible disappointment for companies
looking to offer healthcare services.
Labour's
NHS reforms pushed hospital chief to suicide finds coroner
Thu 28 Jun 07- A hospital manager jumped 100 feet to her death,
driven to suicide by the stress of NHS reforms. Morag Shedden Wilson,
32, stabbed herself with a kitchen knife and then jumped from a motorway
bridge on the M60 into the Manchester Ship Canal. An inquest heard that
Miss Wilson, who was head of dietetics at Wythenshawe Hospital, was under
pressure because of reforms introduced by the Agenda for Change, a labour
Government review.
BMA
Doctors' survey finds public unhappy with NHS reforms
Wed 27 Jun 07- Doctors' leaders this week said the public was
as disenchanted with NHS reforms as the medical profession, releasing
a survey showing that only a third of patients were happy with the changes
of the last 10 years. On the eve of its annual meeting in Torquay, Devon,
the British Medical Association (BMA) released a study suggesting that
only 34% of the public thought a decade of reform had made the NHS any
better, while 42% thought there had been no improvement.
NICE's
Alzheimers drug ban is abhorrent the High Court is told
Tue 26 Jun 07- The health watchdog NICE's decision to deprive
100,000 mild Alzheimer's victims of a £2.50 a day drug that can
delay the onset of the disease was condemned as "abhorrent and disgusting"
in the High Court yesterday.
NHS
Choices- Labour wastes £14 million on another useless website
Mon 25 Jun 07- Patients are being asked to rate and comment on
another NHS services website launched which they launched last week. The
Department of Health is ludicrosly comparing the NHS Choices site to tripadvisor.com,
which publishes travellers' holiday reviews.
Conservatives
slowly seeing NHS sense- 18 June 07
David
Cameron kills health 'passport' idea
Fri 22 Jun 07- David Cameron has put the final stake in the heart
of the Conservatives' proposal at the last election for a "patient
passport", which would have allowed patients to use National Health
Service funds to contribute towards the cost of private operations.
Labour's
Whitehall advisers now cost £2bn a year
Thu 21 Jun 07- The increased use of external consultants by the
labour government is costing the taxpayer nearly £2bn a year and
is failing to ensure value for money, according to the public accounts
committee. In a report published on Tuesday, the PAC estimates that in
the past three years, spending on consultants in the public sector has
risen by a third from £2.1bn in 2003-04 to £2.8bn in 2005-06,
with central government accounting for £1.8bn, largely to increases
in the NHS.
NHS
Software suppliers may seek compensation as IT chief Grainger leaves
Wed, 20 Jun 07- The NHS could face pressure from its big three
IT suppliers- BT, CSC and Fujitsu- to change the £6bn contracts
they have signed, following Richard Granger's departure from the helm
of the world's biggest civil NPfIT project.
Hospitals
losing fight to defeat MRSA, C Difficile superbugs- health watchdog warns
Tue 19 Jun 07- One in four NHS trusts is failing the latest labour
government targets on cleanliness and tackling superbug infections. Figures
released by the Healthcare Commission show that six out of ten trusts
in England have reported failing one or more of the twenty four “core
standards” on all aspects of care, on which they are assessed by
the NHS watchdog.
NHS
service cuts urged at non PFI hospitals
Mon 18 Jun 07- Primary care trusts wanting to reconfigure services
were given a stark message in an economic analysis prepared for the NHS
in London: financially, it will make sense to cut beds and services at
non private finance initiative (PFI) hospitals.
Hewitt
wastes golden opportunity claim doctors- 10 June 07
GPs
have no confidence in Patricia Hewitt
Fri 15 Jun 07- Family doctors delivered an overwhelming vote
of no confidence in the labour Government's handling of the NHS yesterday.
GPs accused ministers of "wasting a golden opportunity" to transform
the health service by "squandering millions of pounds of taxpayers'
money".
Cruel
watchdog NICE condems 20,000 to blindness to save money
Thu 14 Jun 07- Twenty thousand people will be condemned to blindness
each year following a "cruel" and "appalling" decision
by the health watchdog NICE, campaigners said today. The National Institute
for Health and Clinical Excellence (aka National Institute for Curbing
Expenditure) has come under intense pressure to approve the drugs Lucentis
(ranibizumab) and Macugen (pegaptanib) for use on the NHS.
Baby
boom stretches midwives as labour underfunding continues
Wed 13 Jun 07- Midwives are delivering almost 25% more babies
than experts believe is appropriate, figures released by the Conservative
Party suggest. The Tories say the government's failure to anticipate a
big rise in the birth rate in England has left midwives under intense
pressure. They argue this could derail labour ministers' commitment to
offering all women a choice of where to give birth by 2009.
Concerns
raised over accuracy of PCT benchmarking
Tue 12 Jun 07- Doubts have been raised over the accuracy of the
latest quarterly hospital episode statistics following reports of problems
with data collection. There are concerns that primary care trust benchmarking
decisions and information on patient numbers, which informs payment by
results, may be out of date as third quarter results (October-December
2006) were not published until mid May.
Lung
patients 'let down by NHS' BLF claim
Mon 11 Jun 07- Many people with lung diseases believe there are
not enough NHS lung specialists to help them cope with their condition,
a survey suggests. The British Lung Foundation questioned 3,200 patients
and found many are disillusioned with what they see as the low priority
given to their care. Death rates from respiratory illness in the UK are
almost double the European average, says the charity.
More
than half of patients wait more than 18 weeks for treatment- 4 June 07
NHS
trusts fail on waiting times as more than half wait over 18 weeks
Fri 8 Jun 07- Less than half of NHS patients are receiving hospital
treatment within the labour government's flagship waiting time target
of 18 weeks, new figures revealed. Only 48% of patients in England are
treated within 18 weeks and 12.4% have to wait more than a year for treatment,
according to figures published by the Department of Health.
NHS
figures show £510m annual surplus
Thu 7 Jun 07- | 
