Author Topic: "Sell-Off" - The Abolition of Your NHS  (Read 85027 times)

Offline saoirse08

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Re: "Sell-Off" - The Abolition of Your NHS
« Reply #200 on: October 12, 2015, 04:43:33 pm »
Just to hammer home the point: the NHS achieves amazing outputs in regard to the resources we put in. Look at this market system hospital (in US) versus a socialised system here in England. It has many flaws, but even when underfunded, it does many good things for less.




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Offline rob1966

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Re: "Sell-Off" - The Abolition of Your NHS
« Reply #201 on: October 15, 2015, 08:47:23 pm »
Jurgen, you made us laugh, you made us cry, you made Liverpool a bastion of invincibilty, now leave us on a high - YNWA

Offline Trada

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Re: "Sell-Off" - The Abolition of Your NHS
« Reply #202 on: October 17, 2015, 05:08:51 pm »
Well done the Young Doctors today keep up the pressure.
Don't blame me I voted for Jeremy Corbyn!!

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Offline Twelfth Man

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Re: "Sell-Off" - The Abolition of Your NHS
« Reply #203 on: October 19, 2015, 04:15:10 pm »
The Austerity Agenda

“The boom, not the slump, is the right time for austerity.” So declared John Maynard Keynes 75 years ago, and he was right. Even if you have a long-run deficit problem — and who doesn’t? — slashing spending while the economy is deeply depressed is a self-defeating strategy, because it just deepens the depression.

So why is Britain doing exactly what it shouldn’t? Unlike the governments of, say, Spain or California, the British government can borrow freely, at historically low interest rates. So why is that government sharply reducing investment and eliminating hundreds of thousands of public-sector jobs, rather than waiting until the economy is stronger?

Over the past few days, I’ve posed that question to a number of supporters of the government of Prime Minister David Cameron, sometimes in private, sometimes on TV. And all these conversations followed the same arc: They began with a bad metaphor and ended with the revelation of ulterior motives.

The bad metaphor — which you’ve surely heard many times — equates the debt problems of a national economy with the debt problems of an individual family. A family that has run up too much debt, the story goes, must tighten its belt. So if Britain, as a whole, has run up too much debt — which it has, although it’s mostly private rather than public debt — shouldn’t it do the same? What’s wrong with this comparison?

The answer is that an economy is not like an indebted family. Our debt is mostly money we owe to each other; even more important, our income mostly comes from selling things to each other. Your spending is my income, and my spending is your income.


So what happens if everyone simultaneously slashes spending in an attempt to pay down debt? The answer is that everyone’s income falls — my income falls because you’re spending less, and your income falls because I’m spending less. And, as our incomes plunge, our debt problem gets worse, not better.


This isn’t a new insight. The great American economist Irving Fisher explained it all the way back in 1933, summarizing what he called “debt deflation” with the pithy slogan “the more the debtors pay, the more they owe.” Recent events, above all the austerity death spiral in Europe, have dramatically illustrated the truth of Fisher’s insight.

And there’s a clear moral to this story: When the private sector is frantically trying to pay down debt, the public sector should do the opposite, spending when the private sector can’t or won’t. By all means, let’s balance our budget once the economy has recovered — but not now. The boom, not the slump, is the right time for austerity.

As I said, this isn’t a new insight. So why have so many politicians insisted on pursuing austerity in slump? And why won’t they change course even as experience confirms the lessons of theory and history?

Well, that’s where it gets interesting. For when you push “austerians” on the badness of their metaphor, they almost always retreat to assertions along the lines of: “But it’s essential that we shrink the size of the state.”

Now, these assertions often go along with claims that the economic crisis itself demonstrates the need to shrink government. But that’s manifestly not true. Look at the countries in Europe that have weathered the storm best, and near the top of the list you’ll find big-government nations like Sweden and Austria.

And if you look, on the other hand, at the nations conservatives admired before the crisis, you’ll find George Gideon Oliver Osborne, son of Sir Peter Osborne, 17th Baronet of Ballentaylor and Ballylemon and Felicity Alexandra Loxton-Peacock, educated at St. Paul's and Magdalen College, Oxford, Britain’s chancellor of the Exchequer and the architect of the country’s current economic policy, describing Ireland as “a shining example of the art of the possible.” Meanwhile, the Cato Institute was praising Iceland’s low taxes and hoping that other industrial nations “will learn from Iceland’s success.”

So the austerity drive in Britain isn’t really about debt and deficits at all; it’s about using deficit panic as an excuse to dismantle social programs. And this is, of course, exactly the same thing that has been happening in America.

In fairness to Britain’s conservatives, they aren’t quite as crude as their American counterparts. They don’t rail against the evils of deficits in one breath, then demand huge tax cuts for the wealthy in the next (although the Cameron government has, in fact, significantly cut the top tax rate). And, in general, they seem less determined than America’s right to aid the rich and punish the poor. Still, the direction of policy is the same — and so is the fundamental insincerity of the calls for austerity.

The big question here is whether the evident failure of austerity to produce an economic recovery will lead to a “Plan B.” Maybe. But my guess is that even if such a plan is announced, it won’t amount to much. For economic recovery was never the point; the drive for austerity was about using the crisis, not solving it. And it still is.
« Last Edit: October 19, 2015, 08:52:01 pm by Twelfth Man »
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Offline saoirse08

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Re: "Sell-Off" - The Abolition of Your NHS
« Reply #204 on: October 20, 2015, 05:11:34 pm »
This has absolutely nothing to do with his previous work as the best health secretary private health firms have ever had...


Ex-health secretary Andrew Lansley to advise firms on healthcare reforms:

Andrew Lansley, the architect of the coalition government’s efforts to privatise parts of the NHS, has taken a job advising corporate clients on healthcare reforms despite David Cameron’s pledge to close the “revolving door” between Whitehall and the private sector.

The management consultants Bain & Company took on Lord Lansley in August. The newly ennobled Conservative peer also plans to become an active associate of a “strategic communications consultancy” set up by his wife and will advise on health and social care.

His appointments will raise eyebrows because Lansley, who was health secretary for two years until 2012, is still blamed by many in the health service for the Health and Social Care Act, which critics said increased the privatisation of the NHS.

According to documents released by the advisory committee on business appointments (Acoba), which approved the roles, Lansley’s job with Bain will involve “leading a discussion on innovation in healthcare for Bain’s clients and consultants”. He does not include details of how much he is being paid or the hours he will work in the part-time role.

Bain & Company, which has its headquarters in the US, has taken a keen interest in the British healthcare system. In 2013 it claimed that the volume of services provided by non-NHS organisations was increasing. A Bain & Company report released that year found that about Ł5.8bn of NHS work was being advertised to the private sector, up 14% on the previous year.

The firm’s website says: “Healthcare companies face dramatic changes in customer behaviour, market dynamics and regulatory demands. Bain works with healthcare companies to deliver better value for patients, fuel innovation and reduce the cost and complexity of operating systems.”

It continues: “For healthcare companies, growth is an imperative – not an option. However, many companies find it difficult to achieve sustained, profitable growth. We work with healthcare players to develop and execute growth strategies that will help them achieve full potential.”

More: http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/oct/20/andrew-lansley-advise-firms-healthcare-reforms
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Offline Twelfth Man

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Re: "Sell-Off" - The Abolition of Your NHS
« Reply #205 on: October 20, 2015, 06:43:53 pm »
NHS spending 'to fall as share of GDP by 2020'

David Cameron is likely to preside over the largest sustained fall in NHS spending as a share of GDP since 1951, an analysis by the King's Fund says.
The health think tank told the BBC the decade to 2020 would see the longest reduction in the share of the economy devoted to health spending since the middle of the last century.
Meanwhile, an NHS trust head suggested charges might need to be introduced.
The government ruled this out and said it would invest Ł10bn by 2020.
The King's Fund analysis says: "The 10 years up to 2020-21 are likely to see the largest sustained fall in NHS spending as a share of GDP in any period since 1951."


Speaking to BBC Radio 4's PM programme, its economist John Appleby said: "If we go back to the early 1950s we were spending something like 3% of GDP on the NHS and that went up to a high of nearly 8% of GDP in about 2009.
"Since then, austerity, government decisions about funding the NHS, has meant that as a share of GDP what we devote to the NHS has started to decline."
The Conservatives have promised to raise spending on the NHS above inflation at the last two elections, and have kept the promise. They have pledged an additional Ł2bn this year, and an extra Ł8bn before the election.
But the share of the economy devoted to health is set to shrink by between 0.7 and 1 percentage point between 2009 and 2020, said Mr Appleby, taking the figure back to the level last seen in 2008.
'Serious question'
He cited OECD research showing the UK had slipped down the international league table of health spending on this basis, falling behind Iceland, Slovenia and Finland.
The figures were calculated UK-wide. The vast majority of NHS spending - around 83% - takes place in England.
Some in government privately accuse the King's Fund of lobbying for extra health spending, a charge the think tank rejects.
The chief executive of the Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust Susan Acott told PM the current model for funding the NHS could be under threat if health reforms failed.
She suggested extra charges might need to be levied for healthcare in future.
Ms Acott said: "Either the income has got to go up and the efficiency has got to increase and there has to be a serious public health issue as the Simon Stevens plan suggests.
"But if all of those three parts aren't fully implemented and given the complete focus and energy that they'll need, then I think we have a serious question to ask about whether the system that we know and love can continue in a tax funding - free-at-the-point-of-use - model."
'Pay attention'
Simon Stevens is the head of NHS England and has published a five-year plan for the service which included Ł22bn in efficiency savings and different ways of working, keeping people out of hospital where possible.
Ms Acott added: "If people aren't prepared to pay through their taxes they will end up having to pay through some kind of co-payment system or personal insurance so they have a choice to make and I think they better pay attention to the debate that's going on."
A spokesman for the Department of Health said: "We are committed to the NHS and its values, so we've committed to investing Ł10bn this Parliament to fund the NHS's own plan for the future.
"The NHS must play its part in delivering efficiencies - we're taking action to help hospitals clamp down on rip-off staffing agencies and cut spending on management consultants."
The department made clear it would rule out new charges or personal insurance.
The courts, the rich, the powerful or those in authority never lie. It has been dealt with 'by the courts' nothing to see here run along.

Offline macca007

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Re: "Sell-Off" - The Abolition of Your NHS
« Reply #206 on: October 22, 2015, 08:59:08 pm »
http://www.theguardian.com/healthcare-network/2015/oct/22/nhs-doctor-surgeon-junior-contract-quit-job-stress-family-children

I'm sorry, I can't face being a doctor any more
My family and I won’t survive the junior doctor contract financially or personally – I’m giving up

My juniors tell me I’m an inspiration. They tell me that the only reason they have hope is because they can see through me that it is possible – to be a woman, have children and a career in the NHS. They tell me I’m the only reason they think they can keep going. The comments from my recent appraisal included “outstanding” and “one of the best I have ever worked with”.

I’m nearly 40 years old and I have a six-year medical degree, a BSc, an MD and membership of the Royal College of Surgeons. I also have two children, debts which make me sick with worry each month, a marriage which is likely over and a good going stomach ulcer. I work part-time but that involves a 100-mile round trip, three-hour commute and being away from my children for 48 hours every week because I can’t afford to live close enough to the hospital. I work 60 hours a week in order to make my part-time arrangement work.
 
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I can’t afford to attend the conferences and courses I need to in order to make consultant. I can’t afford the last exam I need to do. I can’t afford my General Medical Council fees, my medical defence insurance or my membership of the Royal College of Surgeons that I worked so hard to earn. I can’t afford the petrol to drive to work each day.

This year I have been screamed at, spat at and kicked. I have physically removed excrement from someone who needed that help. I have cut off people’s legs. I have told people that the most important person in the world to them is dying. I have told people that they are dying. I have told a woman her child may not survive. I have not eaten or drunk anything over a 13-hour period more times than I can remember. This year, once a week, I have woken up on the floor cold, jittery, anxious, hungry and traumatised by the things I have seen and the things I have had to do.

This year I have been so pressured and overstretched. I have several times run to theatre to do an operation to find my patient is already asleep, with me having never met or assessed them. I have had to choose which elderly sick patient I want to stay on an A&E trolley all night because there are no beds. I have been told “no” by a theatre manager when I’ve said that we need to cancel our elective surgeries because I have seven sick patients who have been waiting two to three days for emergency surgery and I’m afraid for their safety. I’ve been told we have to move a dying patient in the middle of the night because otherwise the hospital will be fined.

This year my children have been inconsolable asking why I have to look after other people and why can’t I just look after them? This year every few weeks I have not seen my children for five days straight even though we all live in the same house. This year, I have asked neighbours, friends and someone I skyped for only 20 minutes to look after my precious children.

I have been doing this for 12 years.

This year, for the first time since I was 13 years old, I have decided I can’t do it anymore. As I write this, there are tears streaming down my face because all I ever wanted to do was be a doctor and help other people. But I just can’t do it anymore. Especially when I don’t think I’m helping anyone the way I want to.

The junior doctor contract is supposed to be “cost neutral” but for someone who works part time, it means I will likely never see my salary improve. It means I could not have afforded to have either of my children. It means the female doctors who look up to me so much, will have to choose children or their careers. It will mean hospitals can make me work as many Saturdays as they like which is the only time I have left with my children – my husband has long given up on me.

It means a 30% pay cut for me from next August and anyone else who works in an emergency specialty.

It’s not cost neutral. It is at such a cost that it is now too high a price to pay. My family and I won’t survive this contract – financially or personally.

It’s time to put my children first.

So I’m sorry to all those who have supported me. I’m sorry to all those juniors who look up to me and to whom I give hope. I’m sorry to the British public for giving up on you.

I just can’t look into the future and face this any more.
« Last Edit: October 22, 2015, 09:01:42 pm by macca007 »

Offline macca007

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Re: "Sell-Off" - The Abolition of Your NHS
« Reply #207 on: October 22, 2015, 09:03:34 pm »
And yet another one

http://www.theguardian.com/healthcare-network/2015/oct/05/junior-doctors-responsibility-nhs

Junior doctors – 'no one understands the level of responsibility we have'
From listening to suicidal patients to looking after the sickest children in the UK, junior doctors are the backbone of the NHS

 ‘Junior doctors are not 18-year-old apprentices fresh out of school.’ Photograph: Michael Hitoshi/Getty Images

Junior doctors are the backbone of the NHS
I am a 45-year-old mother of four – my youngest has cystic fibrosis. I graduated from medical school in 2010 – since then I’ve had two children in my 40s – and am currently an anaesthetics trainee with at least six years of training left. I live in Bristol and commute daily to Abergavenny in Wales, which is 75 minutes each way. Every day sees me getting up at 5.45am to get the children ready. I start work at 7.45am by seeing patients due to have an operation that day. I work supervised by a consultant, putting patients under anaesthetic and managing their airway and vitals while they are asleep. I also provide on-call services, seeing the sickest patients in the hospital. I admit them to the intensive care unit, provide pain relief, attend cardiac arrests and much more.
 
No one understands the level of responsibility junior doctors have; we are the backbone of doctors, providing care 24/7. Once I was managing five critically unwell patients in resus overnight as an acute medicine doctor. I needed to make quick life or death decisions, stay calm and focused in the middle of the night.

We sacrifice family time and our own welfare to care for others. In addition, we must work in our own time on mandatory exams, courses, publications, audits and much more. Though I work in Wales, which has rejected the junior doctors’ contract, my 43-year-old junior doctor husband works in England. The proposed pay cut means that one or both of us may be forced to find different work to pay the bills. Our family debt exceeds Ł80,000. The future looks very bleak indeed and I’m worried. Every time I leave my children and go six days without seeing my husband or older daughters, or when I miss school events and find providing care for my child with cystic fibrosis a challenge, I consider leaving the medical profession. I care for patients sometimes at the expense of my family and that saddens me. This is why we cannot be pushed any further, it is not worth the cost. To say we lack vocation, altruism and professionalism is a deep and painful insult.

Sethina Watson, CT2 ACCS anaesthetics trainee, Wales

The NHS depends on junior doctors to save lives
I’m 27 and have just started specialist training in obstetrics and gynaecology. It’s three years since I left medical school. I remember one case at night where the monitor showed the unborn baby’s heart suddenly stopped beating. The mother required an immediate C-section, but was very scared and reluctant to agree to life saving surgery. The registrar was busy with another emergency so, even though I had never done this before myself, I gave the order to prepare theatre, spoke to the woman about her fears, explained the urgent need for treatment, and gained her consent for surgery. The registrar came as soon as he could and, thanks to my preparation, was able to operate within five minutes to deliver the baby. Had I not acted as I did then, that baby would have been born with brain damage from lack of oxygen. It did strike me how important my work is, how dangerous short staffing can be, how much the NHS depends on doctors at my level, and that even at 4am on your fourth nightshift, you still have to be alert and utterly professional.

I feel angry about what politicians are doing to the medical profession and, by extension, the wellbeing of patients. I also feel betrayed by David Cameron – this is not what I expected after he delivered his powerful conference speech emphasising how much the NHS meant to him personally, or pledges to reward hard work. I love my job and the satisfaction of treating patients so would not want an office job, but I would rather move abroad where I will be valued and able to work to the best of my ability. I have started applying to hospitals in Sydney.

Sam Oxley, obstetrics and gynaecology, London

I am the most senior doctor in the hospital at night, looking after the sickest children in the country
I have been qualified for 13 years and have given up so much for my career
I went to medical school in Oxford in 1996 and qualified in 2002, before the European working time directive (EWTD) came into force. I worked in east London, in an underfunded hospital in a deprived area. It was common to work over 100 hours a week. Our weekend shifts began at 7am on Friday and finished at 6pm on Monday. It wasn’t safe for the patients and it wasn’t safe for me. I chose paediatrics as a specialty, and quickly found that, in order to reduce hours in line with EWTD regulations, we moved on to punishing shift systems. For example, as a junior working in the neonatal intensive care unit at King’s College hospital in 2004, I worked seven 15-hour night shifts on the trot. I nearly crashed my car driving home on more than one occasion.

I passed all my professional exams (at a cost of Ł1,500, not including the necessary courses and books) at first attempt. After specialist training in paediatrics, I decided that I definitely wanted to train as an intensivist. The best training in the world is in the US, and I competed against a large number of highly-qualified American doctors to be offered a three-year fellowship in Harvard. This required me to take my USMLE (the medical licensing exam for the US) at a cost of about Ł3,000. I took a large pay cut in the US and had to live separately from my husband. At the end of my three years in Boston, I was offered a consultant post at the best children’s hospital in the US. I turned it down. I wanted to come back to the NHS.

I now work as a senior fellow on the cardiac intensive care unit at Great Ormond Street hospital. I look after children who have had major heart surgery, as well as those so sick they have to be on a form of heart-lung bypass or artificial hearts. I am 37 years old. I have been qualified for more than 13 years. I am still “junior”. I postponed having children until I was in my mid-30s in deference to my career. Partially as a consequence of my age, I have now had multiple miscarriages and ectopic pregnancies. I asked to go part-time and my request was refused due to “service requirements”. I work at the maximally antisocial hours that the ETWD allows. I am the most senior doctor in the hospital at night, looking after the sickest children in the country. Jeremy C*nt would like to cut my salary (by an undefined amount, and this will be non-negotiable). He would like to remove the limits on my hours. I have a mortgage. I have a family. How am I supposed to plan for the future?


New junior doctors' contract changes everything I signed up for

I am far from work-shy. I believe in seven-day emergency care of the highest quality. But here’s the thing: loyalty will not be rewarded. As a mass exodus of juniors occurs to the antipodes and Canada, the remainder will be left to pick up the pieces. We will be paid less, work more, and the care we provide will, by necessity, be of a lower quality. Morale is at the lowest I have seen in it my career across all sectors.

Why on earth shouldn’t I return to the US? My colleagues who graduated below me in my class are all earning a minimum of US$200,000 a year. They work fewer hours, have protected research time and pleasant working conditions. I love my job, but as a highly-trained and competent professional, I won’t accept the terms being imposed by Hunt. And the NHS will lose yet another dedicated staff member.

Charlie Briar, senior fellow, cardiac intensive care unit, Great Ormond Street hospital, London

Junior doctors are not 18-year-olds fresh out of school
Junior doctors are not 18-year-old apprentices fresh out of school. We have at least five years of higher education and up to 20 years of training after this. We are the doctors who you see in A&E, the ones who diagnose you and give you treatment. We perform your operations and control your pain at 3am. We work hard and we have a sense of professionalism and duty that keeps us working harder than we get credit for. We have endured over a decade of cuts to both the services supporting us and our pay. This does not just affect doctors but is merely the beginning of a much bigger plan. Nurses, physiotherapists, operating department practitioners, healthcare assistants, occupational therapists and all healthcare professionals will face the same in the near future if this gets pushed through and the NHS will not be able to cope with the loss of personel.

Last year, my days were either on call (11 13-hour days in two weeks), covering nights or on normal days, which involved working in theatre or clinic. Our on-call days started at 7.30am and involved admitting new patients to the hospital through the particular specialities we covered that day. It hits home how important my work is every time I perform an operation. I am training in orthopaedics so a lot of what I do is treating people with broken bones. A common injury is a broken hip in the elderly population. If an operation is not performed to fix or replace the hip, the patient would most likely never walk again. Whenever I’m a bit low or busy or frustrated I remind myself how much difference what we do can make for that patient.

I have worked in New Zealand for two years before and am very tempted to return. We returned to the UK as our families are here, but with the changes planned we may be forced to move back to a country that values what we do.

Simon Woods, doing a leadership fellowship between core surgical training and registrar training in orthopaedics, Yorkshire

Out of all the emotions I could feel about the junior doctors' contract, I keep returning to disappointment
I hear 10-year-olds talking about why and how they will end their life
Yesterday, I saw youths and their parents who are going through a troublesome time. Hearing the ways in which a 10-year-old will try to kill themself is a harrowing experience. The only way to treat them is to provide a safe environment for them to be able to vent. My role is to ascertain what thoughts are in place, to risk stratify the situation and, most importantly, to provide ample reassurance and support to the individuals in question.

On-calls are variable as there is one doctor who is medically responsible for three adult wards, one intensive care unit, three forensic wards, a learning disability assessment unit, a dementia assessment unit, a rehabilitation unit, support for the intensive home treatment team, and supporting a first response team. Once a patient comes into the hospital, my role is to keep them medically well so that the consultants can correct any psychiatric issue that they may have.

I was confronted with a situation yesterday that is still resonating with me now. A 21-year-old woman was pleading with me, wanting to go home. I met with both her and her mother and a flood of tears followed. I was left feeling like the tyrant stopping the one thing that they both want. This patient had psychotic thoughts about a baby that she needed to care for (and did not exist). I calmed both mother and daughter and continued to talk with the mother after leaving the ward. She thanked me for taking the time to listen to her, and that made me realise how lucky I am to be in a situation to offer that reassurance. I didn’t save a life, I helped a hurting soul when everyone was too busy to give them a chance to vent. I am thankful for that.


Would I be a fool to return to the NHS on the new junior doctor contract?
 Read more
Out of all the emotions I could feel about the junior doctors’ contract, I keep returning to disappointment. I’m disappointed that these individuals who cannot fathom my job have the audacity to impose a change to how I function. I’m disappointed that I find myself in a situation where, after training for over a decade, I am second guessing my initial decisions. Lastly, I am disappointed that I am willing to go above and beyond the limits of my job for my patients when the politicians do not.

Mohammed Al-Enbaree, psychiatry trainee, Bradford
« Last Edit: October 22, 2015, 09:07:18 pm by macca007 »

Offline Andy @ Allerton!

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Re: "Sell-Off" - The Abolition of Your NHS
« Reply #208 on: October 24, 2015, 03:26:23 pm »
Quote from: tubby on Today at 12:45:53 pm

They both went in high, that's factually correct, both tried to play the ball at height.  Doku with his foot, Mac Allister with his chest.

Offline Red Beret

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Re: "Sell-Off" - The Abolition of Your NHS
« Reply #209 on: October 24, 2015, 09:27:00 pm »
I know people don't like me talking about Russell Howard on here but he did a very good snippet on the junior doctor's protest this week.  I wont link or anything like that.
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Offline HarryLabrador

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Re: "Sell-Off" - The Abolition of Your NHS
« Reply #210 on: October 24, 2015, 10:02:36 pm »
I know people don't like me talking about Russell Howard on here but he did a very good snippet on the junior doctor's protest this week.  I wont link or anything like that.
I like Russell Howard and he is a Liverpool fan. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/russell-howard-backs-junior-doctors-over-proposed-nhs-pay-cuts-and-calls-health-secretary-jeremy-a6707336.html
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Offline macca007

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Re: "Sell-Off" - The Abolition of Your NHS
« Reply #211 on: November 8, 2015, 06:11:22 pm »
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/nov/08/jeremy-hunt-phoney-pay-rise-junior-doctors

More doctors like me will turn their backs on the UK
Nick Rhead
The health secretary has indulged in falsehoods such as blaming consultants and then junior doctors for 11,000 ‘excess deaths’ at weekends
 
When I moved to Melbourne in 2014 – to gain more experience in emergency medicine – I thought I would return home, like the majority of junior doctors before me. But the more I listen to the health secretary, Jeremy C*nt, the more I think this won’t happen.

People will differ in their views on whether Ł23,000 is an appropriate basic starting salary for junior doctors. I am aware that we are not the only professionals to work hard, long hours. But I am unaware of other professions that are tasked with the sort of responsibilities thrust on junior doctors. By the age of 25, I had told people that they might die or that their relatives had died. I had been part of a team that treated three young men who had been shot. I had witnessed a child die suddenly and helped, unsuccessfully, to resuscitate her. I have known that, following an accident, a 30-year-old would be quadriplegic before he did and watched as he was told. These, Mr Hunt, are regular experiences for junior doctors.

Yet, despite working conditions and a salary that is much more favourable in Australia and New Zealand, we are yet to see a mass exodus of junior doctors who are willing to stay in these countries for training. Therefore we can assume that, like me, most junior doctors consider the current contract conditions to be fair.

However, Hunt has decided in recent months to insult my profession by trying to enforce an unsafe and unfair contract on junior doctors and by indulging in falsehoods such as blaming consultants and then junior doctors for 11,000 “excess deaths” at weekends. He has also had the audacity to use rhetoric suggesting that junior doctors are the barriers to providing 24/7 NHS care. A lack of funding is the barrier to a truly 24/7 service.

Hunt’s most recent political game and ploy to grab headlines has been to offer a “last-minute 11% pay rise”, not in writing to our union (as one might expect), but to the media. In this, he fails to outline that he intends to classify Saturday as a normal working day and remove a large part of the on-call hours that are paid, quite rightly, at an increased rate. The result? Junior doctors working more antisocial hours for less money: not quite the 11% pay rise promised. It’s clearly an attempt to undermine the BMA and junior doctors’ negotiating position as he fears losing public opinion if junior doctors strike. However, in attempting to avoid a strike, Hunt, with his myopic politics, misses the crux of the issue.

The contract he proposes to enforce shows how little respect he has for my profession, which has lost all trust in him
Despite Australia offering nearly twice the salary for 10 fewer hours a fortnight, and much greater respect from its government, I was planning on returning to NHS England next August. That’s no longer the case and the tipping point for me has been Hunt’s constant attacks. I am not prepared to work for a government that undermines me daily. The contract he proposes to enforce demonstrates how little respect he has for my profession, which has lost all trust in him. Irretrievably. Even if a strike is avoided, junior doctors will simply leave or not come back to NHS England if this contract is imposed.

As a cabinet minister of a Conservative government, Hunt, I am sure, understands that, while the employment market of doctors is far from representative of a strictly free market, we do have options to sell our trade elsewhere and we will. The employment opportunities are many and our degrees and training are valued highly, often more so than native graduates.

Those who have families may well find a move to the southern hemisphere difficult, but Scotland and Wales have dismissed Hunt’s draconian contract, providing alternative employment opportunities closer to home. Others are seeking work outside medicine.

Junior doctors are a highly educated, skilled and motivated workforce with a multitude of transferable skills. Our opportunities for employment in private industry are many. Make no mistake, Mr Hunt, junior doctors will leave NHS England to work where they are valued and respected.
« Last Edit: November 8, 2015, 06:14:57 pm by macca007 »

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Re: "Sell-Off" - The Abolition of Your NHS
« Reply #212 on: November 8, 2015, 06:48:40 pm »
Here's the thing....


They've come back with an 11% pay rise...


You might think that this sounds quite good?

But the this would involve no extra funding....

Proof (if ever it were needed) that what was previously being offered was a massive pay cut..

In many mays this is still a huge pay cut for many of them.

What the Tories have done is decide to have a '24 hour' NHS and do it by making everyone work more antisocial hours at the same rate as their normal hours.

Now, here's the problem... Everyone wants to be a doctor don't they?

Well, it turns out that we can't get enough junior doctors, the country can't meet the demands... And that's for doctors... 
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Re: "Sell-Off" - The Abolition of Your NHS
« Reply #213 on: November 9, 2015, 11:30:37 am »
NHS spending 'to fall as share of GDP by 2020'




To those that still describe New Labour as Tory Lite, have a quick look at that graph and have a word with yourselves.

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Re: "Sell-Off" - The Abolition of Your NHS
« Reply #214 on: November 15, 2015, 05:18:50 pm »
Has to be seen...
https://opendemocracy.net/ournhs/caroline-molloy/dont-want-government-to-let-nhs-die-one-crucial-thing-you-can-do-now

Sly shites, every man jack of them. I was in Lewisham this summer. The people there had managed to stop their local hospital being closed. A high court judged that closing it would be illegal. The Tories went away, thought it over, moved the goalposts and changed the Statutes, not laws, to make it legal, not lawful.

This is the sort of snide trickery they are up to. To the best of my knowledge, there's four main hospitals in the Lewisham/South East are of London. After the Tories moved the goalposts, Jeremy C*nt said 20 million had to be saved in that area of London's health care system.

As I said, there's 4 hospitals in that Lewisham/Croydon/Deptford area. 3 of them are hocked up to the eyeballs to PFI. One isn't.  No prizes for guessing which one had to close in order to save the 20 mill.
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Re: "Sell-Off" - The Abolition of Your NHS
« Reply #215 on: November 16, 2015, 10:24:10 pm »
Hunt in charge is simply putting a Fox in charge of a Hen House
A world were Liars and Hypocrites are accepted and rewarded and honest people are derided!
Who voted in this lying corrupt bastard anyway

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Re: "Sell-Off" - The Abolition of Your NHS
« Reply #216 on: November 19, 2015, 10:07:09 am »
98% of Jr Doctors vote for strike action on a 76% turnout.
Don't blame me I voted for Jeremy Corbyn!!

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Re: "Sell-Off" - The Abolition of Your NHS
« Reply #217 on: November 20, 2015, 02:44:39 am »
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/nov/19/nhs-mandate-england-consulation-deadline


You’ve been asked to have your say on the NHS. You just don’t know about it

Ann Robinson





The government is apparently very keen to hear our views on the proposed NHS mandate. But you’d better be quick; you have until 23 November to comment. And if you’re wondering how you missed such an important opportunity to comment on the future of the NHS, you’re not alone. Critics say the Department of Health has deliberately kept it quiet, with little publicity and only a month for the public to comment since the launch in October.


The mandate’s important. In its own words: “The mandate to NHS England sets the government’s objectives for NHS England, as well as its budget.” It “sets direction for the NHS, and helps ensure the NHS is accountable to parliament and the public”. A fresh mandate has to be published every year “to ensure that NHS England’s objectives remain up to date”. A new mandate is due to be published following the completion of the spending review, to take effect from April 2016. There’s a consultation document that sets out how the government proposes to set the mandate to NHS England for this parliament. And it’s this document that we’re invited to respond to.

But Caroline Molloy, editor of campaigning publication OurNHS says the process doesn’t suggest the government is keen to hear our views. “There has been no fanfare, no public or press statements and only very lackadaisical engagement with patient groups. It’s a sham.”

Molloy says we need to be aware of the mandate and its contents. “Since the 2012 changes, government is less accountable for NHS provision at a local level. Local clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) like Devon can attempt to stop providing routine operations for people who are obese or smoke, CCGs across the country are refusing people hearing aids for both ears and stripping away a host of other NHS treatment – and the government has effectively given away its power to stop them. The mandate represents the remaining political accountability by the government for NHS provision.”

Molloy thinks the government is planning to scale back what the NHS does and doesn’t provide. “Coded policy signals suggest to me that we are being softened up for the idea that the NHS is in crisis and we can’t afford to treat people as we used to.”

In 2011 David Cameron promised “We will not endanger universal coverage – we will make sure it remains a National Health Service. We will not break up or hinder efficient and integrated care – we will improve it. We will not lose control of waiting times – we will ensure they are kept low. We will not cut spending on the NHS – we will increase it. And if you’re worried that we are going to sell-off the NHS and create some American-style private system – we will not. We will ensure competition benefits patients. These are my five guarantees.”

But Molloy is sceptical. She feels: “The message is shifting away from the NHS as we recognise it – a comprehensive, universal, publicly-funded service which is run ethically and is evidence based.”

Jeremy C*nt has been uncharacteristically quiet about the invitation to all of us to comment on the proposed mandate. He made a written statement on the launch day but as far as I could tell, doesn’t seem to have said anything much about it since. I asked the Department of Health how many responses they’d had but they responded that they couldn’t possibly say. I asked NHS England what they think about the mandate and they said: “The mandate is a matter for the Department of Health and the public (via the consultation on it) – we wouldn’t have anything to say on it.” So far, so Kafka.

Healthwatch England is a government-funded body with significant statutory powers, set up to champion consumers (that’s us) in the commission, delivery and regulation of health and social care. They get to see the mandate before the rest of us and comment on it. Last year, they liked much of what they saw, especially the moves to treat mental health with the same “esteem” as physical health. But in a letter to Earl Howe, then undersecretary of state for health, Healthwatch chief executive Katherine Rake said: “There would need to be a meaningful process of engagement with the public and a process of translating the mandate into an accessible format that would enable a productive conversation with the public.”

I searched several local Healthwatch websites and found some that are publicising the consultation (eg Oxfordshire, North Yorkshire, Leicestershire) and many others aren’t. Savvy pressure groups will rightly mobilise members to respond, like the Wheelchair Leadership Alliance that campaigns for better wheelchair provision across England. But most people won’t have any way of knowing that this chance to help shape the NHS exists.

And it doesn’t seem fair to blame Healthwatch for not spreading the word. The Department of Health wrote the mandate and invited us to respond. But it’s like one of those invitations that’s so low key you don’t realise you’ve been invited.

Does it matter if we don’t engage with the “Five Year Forward View” outlined in the proposed mandate? Is there anything in it we need to object to? There’s a lot of good stuff in there. But you may want to add something that you feel is missing, like adequate wheelchair provision, or IVF services. You may have a view about seven-day a week GP provision. Or about the Cancer Drugs Fund.

The fact is, an invitation to participate is meaningless if you don’t know you’ve been invited. The government should either storm ahead with their five-year plan and stop pretending to involve us. Or ask us properly. We’ve got four days left to respond. Let’s do it.


Take part in the NHS mandate consultation at

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/setting-the-mandate-to-nhs-england-for-2016-to-2017
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Re: "Sell-Off" - The Abolition of Your NHS
« Reply #218 on: November 20, 2015, 12:43:38 pm »
Quote from: tubby on Today at 12:45:53 pm

They both went in high, that's factually correct, both tried to play the ball at height.  Doku with his foot, Mac Allister with his chest.

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Re: "Sell-Off" - The Abolition of Your NHS
« Reply #219 on: November 20, 2015, 12:56:49 pm »
http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/nov/20/nhs-deficit-soars-to-16bn

NHS deficit soars to Ł1.6bn
English NHS trusts report worst ever shortfall and predict they will end year Ł2.2bn in deficit

The NHS’s deficit in England soared to Ł1.6bn in the first half of this year, almost double the Ł930m overspend it recorded in the first three months, new official figures reveal.

The service’s finances sank even further into the red over the summer as hospitals had to hire extra staff to maintain quality of care and deal with both rising demand from patients and large numbers of patients who could not be discharged from hospital because of inadequate social care.

That was Ł358m worse than expected and was partly because hospitals’ increasing difficulty in recruiting enough staff forced them to spend Ł900m more than planned on agency staff.

The grim picture – unprecedented in the NHS’s history – is detailed in the latest data on NHS financial performance, which has just been published by Monitor and the NHS Trust Development Authority, the bodies which oversee NHS foundation trusts and non-foundation trusts respectively.

Many hospitals which had previously posted surpluses sank into deficit, the figures show.

Based on current performance, the NHS’s English trusts are predicting they will end the year Ł2.2bn in deficit, with 156 out of 239 of them recording deficits, Monitor said.

The two regulators highlighted the damaging effect that hospitals’ inability to discharge patients who doctors believe are fit to leave – delayed discharges – was having on them delivering key NHS waiting times.

“In particular, delayed transfers of care – where medically fit patients cannot leave hospital because the care they need is not yet in place – are having a negative impact on NHS organisations meeting other standards, especially in A&E, while spending on agency staff is continuing to have an extremely detrimental effect on their financial position,” they said.

The data revealed that:

Overall, the NHS provider sector reported a year-to-date deficit of Ł1.6bn – Ł358m worse than planned at the start of 2015-16.
Delayed discharges are estimated to have cost NHS providers Ł270m over the first six months of this financial year.
NHS care providers spent Ł1.8bn on contract and agency staff – almost double what they planned.
Quote from: tubby on Today at 12:45:53 pm

They both went in high, that's factually correct, both tried to play the ball at height.  Doku with his foot, Mac Allister with his chest.

Offline macca007

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Re: "Sell-Off" - The Abolition of Your NHS
« Reply #220 on: November 30, 2015, 07:23:12 pm »
This was part of the reason why I chose to go into my profession.  If it wasn't there I don't think I could have afforded to go uni.  If anyone can go on this link and sign the petition. 

http://www.sor.org/news/130000-people-sign-petition-protect-bursaries-ahp-students?utm_source=hootsuite

130,000 people sign petition to protect bursaries for AHP students
30 November, 2015
Student bursaries
Over 130,000 people have signed a petition in opposition to the Chancellor’s decision, revealed in last week’s Autumn Statement, to cut NHS student bursaries.
The issue has now gathered enough of a response that it will be considered for debate in Parliament.
Instead of receiving bursaries to support their studies, student radiographers and other AHPs will instead have to take out a loan.
You can sign the petition here.
Richard Evans, the SCoR’s Chief Executive, criticised the proposals saying they ‘revealed a lack of understanding of the depth of the workforce crisis in the NHS’.
« Last Edit: November 30, 2015, 07:25:43 pm by macca007 »

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Re: "Sell-Off" - The Abolition of Your NHS
« Reply #221 on: December 1, 2015, 10:22:46 pm »
This was part of the reason why I chose to go into my profession.  If it wasn't there I don't think I could have afforded to go uni.  If anyone can go on this link and sign the petition. 

http://www.sor.org/news/130000-people-sign-petition-protect-bursaries-ahp-students?utm_source=hootsuite

130,000 people sign petition to protect bursaries for AHP students
30 November, 2015
Student bursaries
Over 130,000 people have signed a petition in opposition to the Chancellor’s decision, revealed in last week’s Autumn Statement, to cut NHS student bursaries.
The issue has now gathered enough of a response that it will be considered for debate in Parliament.
Instead of receiving bursaries to support their studies, student radiographers and other AHPs will instead have to take out a loan.
You can sign the petition here.
Richard Evans, the SCoR’s Chief Executive, criticised the proposals saying they ‘revealed a lack of understanding of the depth of the workforce crisis in the NHS’.

Done. Now stands at 136,374.
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Offline macca007

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Re: "Sell-Off" - The Abolition of Your NHS
« Reply #222 on: December 9, 2015, 11:17:17 am »
http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/dec/09/care-bodies-demand-crisis-talks-with-osborne-over-support-shortfall?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Facebook

Care bodies demand crisis talks with Osborne over support shortfall
Homes will have to close, say four health bodies in letter to ministers asking what has happened to Ł6bn from care-cap savings
 
Leading care and health bodies are demanding crisis talks with ministers over the unravelling of measures in George Gideon Oliver Osborne, son of Sir Peter Osborne, 17th Baronet of Ballentaylor and Ballylemon and Felicity Alexandra Loxton-Peacock, educated at St. Paul's and Magdalen College, Oxford’s spending review that were supposed to prop up the tottering social care system.

Four groups representing care and health organisations are warning of an accelerating rate of closures of care homes and companies providing homecare. Their warnings follow analysis by the two most respected NHS thinktanks which declared Osborne’s support package “another setback for people who need social care”.

In a letter to Osborne, health secretary Jeremy C*nt communities and local government secretary Greg Clarke, the groups call for urgent talks and say they want in particular to know what happened to Ł6bn that the government said in July it would save by postponing the introduction of a cap on individual care costs to 2020.

Many of those who welcomed the postponement did so on an assumption – never confirmed by ministers but equally never contradicted – that at least some of the saving would be ploughed back into the care system.


My 99-year-old grandmother’s home and wellbeing gone in just five days
 
The chancellor’s measures to support social care are based on giving local councils that commission care services in England the power to add 2% to council tax exclusively for such use. Osborne said it would bring “almost Ł2bn” extra into the system if all councils took it up.

But an analysis by the King’s Fund thinktank suggests the measure is likely to raise Ł800m at best, and in a joint letter to the Guardian this week the fund and the Nuffield Trust, another NHS research body, warned that deprived areas with high care needs would benefit least because of their low council tax bases.

The thinktanks welcomed a further move by Osborne to commit an eventual extra Ł1.5bn a year to the Better Care Fund (BCF), which supports integrated care and health services. But they said this would not start until 2017 and the main benefit would not be felt until the end of this parliament.

“These are sticking plaster solutions and no substitute for adequate funding,” the thinktanks said. “By the end of this parliament, public funding for social care will fall as a percentage of GDP.”

The demand for talks with ministers comes from the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services, the Care and Support Alliance (representing more than 75 leading charities), the Care Provider Alliance representing care companies and not-for-profit care operators and the NHS Confederation, which speaks for 85% of health service trusts and commissioning agencies.

As well as questioning what has happened to the Ł6bn care-cap saving, the umbrella groups want to discuss equitable sharing of the optional 2% council tax levy and further steps to enable payment to care workers next April of the government’s national living wage.

“Without concerted action across government and the sector, the settlement is not sufficient, not targeted at the right geographies and will not come soon enough to resolve the care funding crisis,” the groups warn. More elderly and disabled people will go without services they need and more care providers will fail.

“This is likely to accelerate fastest in those areas of the country where providers are predominantly reliant on state-funded clients. These are exactly the areas [that will] raise the least council tax.”

Social care left in crisis by spending review
 
Delay in the BCF top-up contrasts starkly with Osborne’s decision to bring forward to next year Ł4bn of extra cash for the NHS. Rob Webster, the NHS Confederation chief executive, said: “The NHS is not an island; it is part of a single system. It is counter-intuitive to talk abour front-loading NHS funding whilst not doing the same for social care.”

A spokesman for the Department of Communities and Local Government, which administers government grants for councils, said ministers were making avilable a Ł3.5bn “investment package to ensure councils can support older and vulnerable people in their area”.

The enhanced BCF would offer support councils that faced greater demand for social care services, the spokesman said. “This comes as councils will have almost Ł200bn to spend on local services over the lifetime of this parliament, a cash-terms increase and a reduction of just 1.7% in real terms each year.”
« Last Edit: December 9, 2015, 11:20:31 am by macca007 »

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Re: "Sell-Off" - The Abolition of Your NHS
« Reply #223 on: December 27, 2015, 07:12:49 am »
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/dec/26/child-mental-health-accident-and-emergency-nhs

A&Es hit by children's mental health crisis

The dire state of care for children with mental illnesses is revealed today, as figures show the numbers arriving at A&E departments with psychiatric conditions has risen to nearly 20,000 a year –more than double the number four years ago.

Experts say a chief cause is an absence of out-of-hours community care for vulnerable under-18s, with children being advised to attend A&E after 5pm. The scale of the problem is proving to be a significant extra burden on already struggling emergency departments. The NHS recorded the highest ever number of A&E attendances, and 111 and ambulance calls over the last 12 months.

According to official data released yesterday, total emergency admissions via major A&E departments have also risen by 44% between 2004-05 and 2014-15, prompting NHS England to appeal for people who can do so to stay away from A&E over the busy new year period.

Professor Keith Willett, the national clinical director for acute care, said: “A&E experiences a surge in the days following Christmas and the new year. Younger, fitter people can help our hardworking NHS doctors and nurses by only attending if it’s absolutely necessary.”

The number of attendances of children at A&E with psychiatric conditions is up 8% to 18,673 in 2014-15, compared with 17,278 last year. That is double the 9,328 total of 2010-11. The number then going on to hospital wards has also risen: last year there were 12,309 admissions of under-18s in which the primary diagnosis was “mental and behavioural disorders”, against 12,126 the previous year.

Sarah Brennan, chief executive of YoungMinds, a charity working with children with mental illnesses, said the impact on A&E departments of running down child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) should have been foreseen. “Support in the community needs to be provided for children, young people and their families when they start to struggle, so that we can prevent the intense suffering that a mental health crisis can cause,” she said. “They shouldn’t have to turn to hospital services in desperation because there is no other support available.”

The new figures only add to the evidence of the crumbling state of children’s mental health services. A YoungMinds investigation last year found more than half the councils in England had cut or frozen budgets for child and adolescent mental health between 2010-11 and 2014-15. A health select committee report last year warned that “in many areas early intervention services are being cut or are suffering from insecure or short-term funding”. This month it was revealed that the number of children being placed on adult wards because of a shortage of beds on children’s wards had increased by 10% this year.

The government says it will invest Ł143m to improve children’s mental health services in England this year, less than the Ł250m it had been expected to spend. Officials say it will make up the deficit later in the five-year parliament.

Luciana Berger, appointed to Jeremy Corbyn’s shadow cabinet as a minister for mental health, said the government had broken its promises. “It is appalling that more children are showing up at A&E with mental health problems because they aren’t getting the help they need early enough,” she said. “The government claims to be making mental health a priority, but they have already broken their promise on funding for children’s mental health services this year. On their watch, early intervention services are being stripped back, professionals are being told to do more for less, and more children are becoming so ill they need hospital care.”

Nicola Mattocks, 18, from Croydon in south London, who has been diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, recurring depression, post-traumatic stress and social anxiety, said that it had become common for community services to advise that young people attend A&E during out-of-office hours.

Mattocks, now an activist for YoungMinds, said: “I was being seen by CAMHS and they always said that if you feel unsafe, go to A&E if it is out of hours, and that happened a lot because that tended to be [when] I would feel unsafe. That is the time when you start to think about things and you are alone. The people who work at CAMHS are amazing, but they are so underfunded.”

A spokeswoman for NHS England admitted mental health services had been “the poor relation” in the past but insisted there would be a turnaround. She said: “Local clinical commissioning groups report halfway through this year that while their overall funding will have gone up by 3.7%, they will be increasing mental health spending by 5.4%, a decisive move towards parity of esteem.

“What’s more, the NHS is for the first time in 25 years planning on introducing clear waiting-times standards for mental health care, beginning in April.”
Quote from: tubby on Today at 12:45:53 pm

They both went in high, that's factually correct, both tried to play the ball at height.  Doku with his foot, Mac Allister with his chest.

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Re: "Sell-Off" - The Abolition of Your NHS
« Reply #224 on: December 30, 2015, 12:27:16 pm »
http://www.politics.co.uk/news/2013/07/19/privatised-nhs-blood-services-sold-to-mitt-romney-s-company

Privatised NHS blood service sold to Mitt Romney company

Plasma Resources UK, which provides blood supplies to the NHS, has been sold to Bain Capital, a private equity firm set up by Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney.

The move, which has angered some medical experts, is being described as a 'privatisation too far' in some circles.

"It's hard to conceive of a worse outcome for a sale of this particularly sensitive national health asset than a private equity company with none of the safeguards in terms of governance of a publicly quoted company and being answerable to shareholders," said crossbench peer Lord Owen, who helped made the UK self-sufficient in blood supplies when he was Labour health minister in the 1970s.

"Is there no limit to what and how this coalition government will privatise?"


He added: "This is a very delicate question. You get penetration in blood supplies if it's unscrupulously managed. Private equity... what control have you got?"

Even business secretary Vince Cable seemed to express uncertainty about the move this morning.

"I certainly wouldn’t want to see it undermined by any thoughtless commercial activity," he told the Today programme.

"But if the basic principles of the blood donor system are preserved I wouldn’t stand in way of government deriving some revenue from it."

Bain Capital was branded a "job destroyer" during the US presidential campaign, as the media focused relentlessly on how Romney's company shredded jobs in the American heartland.

Romney became very rich through Bain, but left over a decade ago.

The firm has taken an 80% stake in the Hertfordshire-based company with the Department of Health controlling the other 20%.

Bain has paid Ł90 million and will pay another Ł110 million in a deferred payment in five years' time.

It has promised to invest Ł50 million in the service and maintain its headquarters in the UK.

Other competitors included South Korean drugmaker Green Cross Corp and German plasma specialist Biotest.

"Bain Capital was chosen following a fair and open competitive process which looked at who offered the best deal for patients and to ensure future employment at the company," Health minister Dan Poulter said.

Devin O'Reilly, managing director of Bain Capital in London, said: "We are excited about the prospects of PRUK in the growing plasma products industry and are committed to investing in the company to help it reach its full potential in this global market."

Plasma Resources turn plasma in the blood into life-saving treatments for immune deficiencies, neurological diseases and haemophilia.

Plasma is a clear, brown-coloured liquid which acts as a 'storage area' for fluids.

But the plasma is collected from US donors because of concerns of a risk of contamination with variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, the human form of BSE.

The service is completely seperate to blood donation services in the UK, which are unaffected.
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Offline HarryLabrador

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Re: "Sell-Off" - The Abolition of Your NHS
« Reply #225 on: December 30, 2015, 12:33:47 pm »
http://www.politics.co.uk/news/2013/07/19/privatised-nhs-blood-services-sold-to-mitt-romney-s-company

Privatised NHS blood service sold to Mitt Romney company

Plasma Resources UK, which provides blood supplies to the NHS, has been sold to Bain Capital, a private equity firm set up by Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney.

But the plasma is collected from US donors because of concerns of a risk of contamination with variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, the human form of BSE.

The service is completely seperate to blood donation services in the UK, which are unaffected.

Good grief! So CJD is absent in the U S of A? That's a right load of old codswallop.
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Offline macca007

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Re: "Sell-Off" - The Abolition of Your NHS
« Reply #226 on: January 6, 2016, 08:48:48 am »
http://www.itv.com/news/granada/2016-01-05/north-west-hospitals-a-e-departments-are-full-only-use-if-absolutely-necessary/

North West hospitals: A&E departments are full, only use if absolutely necessary
 Warrington and Halton Hospital has urged patients to use A&E only if their condition is
Warrington and Halton Hospital has urged patients to use A&E only if their condition is Credit: Warrington and Halton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Three hospitals in the North West have announced that their A&E departments are too busy to accept patients that are not seriously ill.

Warrington and Halton Hospital, Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh Hospital, and Royal Blackburn Hospital have all urged people to stay away unless absolutely necessary.

On the Warrington and Halton Hospitals website it states that it has "activated full capacity protocol until further notice".

Professor Simon Constable, Medical Director at the hospital, urged patients not to attend A&E unless it is a life threatening situation.
“The first few days back after the long holiday is very busy at all hospitals but in Warrington we are receiving large numbers of extremely sick patients by ambulance and patients in the waiting room are experiencing unprecedented delays.

"Over a third of patients we have seen so far don’t need to be in A&E and should make use of other services such as their pharmacist, GP or NHS 111.

There are Urgent Care Centres at Halton Hospital and Oaks Place, Caldwell Road in Widnes which currently have short waiting times for walk in patients."

– PROFESSOR SIMON CONSTABLE
The hospital then said on its website:
"We are appealing to people to think before coming to A&E. If you don’t have an emergency, critical or life-threatening problem, then please examine your options."

– WARRINGTON AND HALTON HOSPITAL NHS FOUNDATION TRUST
Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh Hospital also announced that its A&E was full.

Mary Fleming, Acting Director of Operations said
"The A&E department at Wigan Infirmary has been extremely busy over the New Year weekend and this is continuing today. Everyone will benefit if we can give urgent and emergency care to the people most in need.

"We are therefore appealing to the public to think twice and make sure they choose the right service for minor illnesses, ailments and injuries. The public should only attend A&E if they have a serious health condition or in a genuine emergency.”

– MARY FLEMING

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Re: "Sell-Off" - The Abolition of Your NHS
« Reply #227 on: January 9, 2016, 03:25:10 pm »
Says a lot

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Re: "Sell-Off" - The Abolition of Your NHS
« Reply #228 on: January 9, 2016, 09:32:44 pm »
Living up to the c*nt title

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Re: "Sell-Off" - The Abolition of Your NHS
« Reply #229 on: January 10, 2016, 06:39:45 pm »
Not posting the rest as it doesn't copy on my phone but have a read. To do with the usual shitty rag slandering again

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Re: "Sell-Off" - The Abolition of Your NHS
« Reply #230 on: January 10, 2016, 07:46:39 pm »
This is an excellent thing indeed... 8)....well in lads




http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/jan/10/squeeze-protest-david-cameron-live-bbc-andrew-marr-show-welfare-state


The band Squeeze have staged a protest against David Cameron live on BBC television by changing the lyrics of their new song to rail against the destruction of the welfare state.

Glenn Tilbrook, one of the founding members of the band that once featured Jools Holland, sang a different version of the final verse in the presence of the prime minister to criticise those “hellbent” on destroying the UK’s social safety net.

Squeeze were invited to appear on The Andrew Marr Show on Sunday, which featured the traditional new year interview with the prime minister; they played out the programme with a live version of a song from their new album, From the Cradle to the Grave.

As the prime minister sat on the sofa watching the band, who were at the height of their fame in the early 1980s, when Cameron was a teenager, Tilbrook amended the last verse to sing:

I grew up in council housing,
Part of what made Britain great,
There are some here who are hellbent,
On the destruction of the welfare state.


At the end of the song the prime minister applauded the band, whose other founding member, Chris Difford, also appeared on the show. A BBC source said: “We were unaware that they were planning to change the lyrics.”

The band confirmed on their Facebook page that they had amended the final verse of the song as a protest against the prime minister. They said: “In case you missed our performance on The Andrew Marr Show on BBC1 this morning, complete with a third verse message for the studio guest David Cameron, check out this link.”

The band’s protest came after the prime minister told Marr of his plans to knock down and rebuild “sink” housing estates. Cameron told the programme: “I think sink housing estates, many built after the war, [are] where people can feel trapped in poverty, unable to get on and build a good life themselves.

“I think it’s time, with government money – but with massive private sector and perhaps pension sector help – to demolish the worst of these and actually rebuild houses that people feel they can have a real future in.”



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Offline macca007

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Re: "Sell-Off" - The Abolition of Your NHS
« Reply #231 on: January 10, 2016, 09:00:46 pm »
Stolen from Facebook  but I see and hear these sort of things a lot

A story about anti-social hours and NHS funding. I saw a patient with sepsis last night- at 2am to be precise (even though apparently we don't have a 24/7 NHS). They had been flagged up as septic by the ambulance crew and you get the best outcomes if all investigations are done and treatment is started within the hour. Unfortunately we were short of phlebotomists so no one had taken their blood for tests or put in a cannula before I saw them. Never mind, I can do that. Unfortunately the hospital trust doesn't give doctors the code for the in-departmental analysers, so I had to wait for one of the phlebotomists to be free to run the samples we can do in department, and the laboratory was swamped, so the other bloods took 2 and half hours to come back, instead of the 20 minutes they do when it is running well.

The patient needed an x-ray. Unfortunately we were short-staffed on porters to take them there (as the patient was too sick to walk and needed to go in their bed). Never mind, I can push them to x-ray- so I did. Unfortunately there is only one radiographer on at night and he was performing an emergency CT scan. So the patient was stuck in x-ray for 45 minutes, instead of the normal 10 minutes.

Finally the patient got back from x-ray. I know the diagnosis, he's got a line in to receive the treatment and I prescribe it. However on the night shift, we are a nurse short. Despite Jeremy C*nt's claims to care about patient safety, he has dropped the recommended safe staffing levels for nurses leaving the nurses on our shift covering too many patients. He has also decided to cap the amount agency staff get paid, and at the rates the hospital was now limited to offering in advance for the shift, no one came in to fill the shift. And Osbourne has cut bursaries to train new nurses this week, so the shortage is only going to get worse not better. The nurses who were on were doing a brilliant job, but they couldn't give my patient the medications immediately and trust policy (plus a lack of access to the IV drugs cupboard) meant I couldn't give them.

So, although delayed, the patient finally does get their treatment when the nurses are free to give it. I ask them medical doctors to admit the patient, which they are happy to do, but unfortunately there are no beds in the hospital for them. There are plenty of people in the hospital who have no medical problems and could be discharged, but thanks to huge cuts to social care in the community, we can't promptly and safely discharge them.

The patient has to stay on their not particularly comfortable trolley in A&E, and because they are in that cubicle, I can't start seeing any new patients yet as there is not a single free cubicle in the department to take a history from them or examine them in. I see some of the more mobile patients in the room we put plaster casts on (asking them to be careful not to get white dust on their clothes) but the older, frailer ones who can't negotiate their way around buckets and onto the plastering couch, so they have to wait.

The current solution proposed by the government to the above problems is to make doctors work more anti-social hours whilst cutting their pay. In the story from last night I've just told, does it sound like having two of me would have helped that patient get the x-ray they needed faster? Got the drugs into them faster? Managed to generate a bed to admit them to? The NHS receives less funding than the OECD average for healthcare, but the current government likes to pretend it is an unaffordable money drain. Instead of funding it properly, it is instead trying to vilify groups of NHS workers and forcing "fixes" that will not benefit patients and will only alienate the existing demoralised and exhausted workforce further. This is why junior doctors will be taking industrial action on 3 days in the next few weeks. Please support us, because (unfortunately) one day almost everyone reading this post will be a patient on the trolley in A&E and we need a properly funded NHS to keep us safe when that happens.

Offline Guz-kop

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Re: "Sell-Off" - The Abolition of Your NHS
« Reply #232 on: January 10, 2016, 10:33:18 pm »
This government will oversee the first doctor strike in about four decades. Congratulations.
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Re: "Sell-Off" - The Abolition of Your NHS
« Reply #233 on: January 11, 2016, 01:13:03 pm »
I came in to post the Squeeze link, they have risen in my esteem for that.
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Re: "Sell-Off" - The Abolition of Your NHS
« Reply #234 on: January 12, 2016, 11:06:42 am »
Sandwell Hospital have declared a major incident and called all their junior doctors in from strike action. It's not a major incident, it's just full with poor planning from those higher up. Fucking disgusting underhand tactics being shown!

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Re: "Sell-Off" - The Abolition of Your NHS
« Reply #235 on: January 12, 2016, 12:02:48 pm »
http://www.buzzfeed.com/laurasilver/this-moet-medic-smeared-by-the-sun-was-actually-volunteering

A junior doctor acccused by The Sun of “living the high life” after she posted this picture of her and friends to Facebook was actually volunteering at a hospital in Nepal when it was taken.
 A junior doctor acccused by The Sun of “living the high life” after she posted this picture of her and friends to Facebook was actually volunteering at a hospital in Nepal when it was taken.
Facebook
On Sunday, two days before junior doctors are due to take industrial action for the first time since 1975, The Sun ran pictures of people it claimed were British Medical Association union reps, referring to them as "Moët Medics". The story, which used pictures taken from social media accounts, was seen by many as a smear campaign.

Dr Petra Hanson, who now works at a hospital in Coventry, told BuzzFeed News: "The photo of my colleagues and I with the elephant was taken when we spent eight weeks working at a small hospital in Nepal as medical students. We were part of their clinical team helping out on ward rounds and in the out-patient clinics as much as we could.

"It was a poor hospital compared to what we have in the UK. We would run four different clinics at once and patients would be crowded around the consultation table."

In particular, she worked with Nepalese nurses to help teach patients how to manage their diabetes. "I also did a research project about diabetes and then tried to educate their allied health professionals," she said.

Hanson said that seeing how medicine worked in a poor country helped her appreciate the NHS even more. "It was an eye opener," she added.

Hanson said the use of her picture in the article made her “very angry, because I am the least likely person to live a lavish lifestyle”.
Originally from the Czech Republic, Hanson said she was able to study medicine in the UK thanks to a scholarship, while she supplemented her income with part-time work.

"In my first year at uni I worked as a dinner lady in the evening, basically serving my medical student friends their dinners," she said.

Dr Stuart Stewart, who was pictured in the article drinking champagne near a helicopter, told BuzzFeed News he had been given the ride as a thank you for babysitting his mentor’s children.
 Dr Stuart Stewart, who was pictured in the article drinking champagne near a helicopter, told BuzzFeed News he had been given the ride as a thank you for babysitting his mentor’s children.
Facebook
"It was taken four years ago when I shadowed a doctor for 10 weeks on my medical elective in Australia," Stewart told BuzzFeed News.

"He was kind enough to let me live with him and his family for free during my time there, and so naturally I looked after his kids to help out. At the end of my placement there, he paid for me to go in a helicopter for 30 minutes to say thank you for looking after his kids."

Since the dispute over junior doctors contracts began last summer, many have said they would consider moving abroad, particularly to Australia, where working conditions are considered to be fairer.

"The Sun article actually serves as a recruitment advert for what a life down under can offer a doctor!" Stewart added.
« Last Edit: January 12, 2016, 12:05:40 pm by macca007 »

Offline Mr F

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Re: "Sell-Off" - The Abolition of Your NHS
« Reply #236 on: January 12, 2016, 01:40:43 pm »
http://www.buzzfeed.com/laurasilver/this-moet-medic-smeared-by-the-sun-was-actually-volunteering

Snip

I went to medical school with the girl in the original S*n article. She was one of the hardest working, down to earth and intelligent people I've ever met. The way she has been portrayed by that article is utterly disgraceful. I didn't think my estimation of that rag could get any lower.
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Re: "Sell-Off" - The Abolition of Your NHS
« Reply #237 on: January 12, 2016, 02:56:47 pm »
This government will oversee the destruction of the NHS.



Sorry mate, had to fix that.

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Offline Mr F

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Re: "Sell-Off" - The Abolition of Your NHS
« Reply #238 on: January 12, 2016, 03:15:38 pm »
http://metro.co.uk/2016/01/12/we-cant-afford-to-let-our-nhs-go-junior-doctors-heartbreaking-open-letter-about-the-strike-5617485/

A letter written by a fellow anaesthetist I work with at The Women's.

Today, junior doctors are at picket lines up and down the country.
The strikes are the first instance of industrial action by junior doctors in 40 years.
And one doctor has put pen to paper to explain just how important our NHS is, and why it needs saving.
The letter, by Dr Amy Baigent, an anaesthetic trainee who works in Liverpool, says: ‘Dearest friends
‘I hope that you will put up with me having my five minute post-night shift rant & take a minute to read this.
‘I’m writing because in the last few months those of us working in the NHS have become increasingly worried about its future.’
The medic adds: ‘The reason I’m telling you all this is because I love my job. I wouldn’t change it for the world, I couldn’t think of a bigger privilege than what I do day-to day and I would never have even thought of telling you all this unless everything that we work for as junior doctors was being threatened.
‘We are being completely devalued and demoralised, treated like an easily replaceable workforce and presented as lazy, money-grabbing ‘juniors’ who shouldn’t complain because we went into medicine as a vocation. We want to take action against these changes, which are both unfair and more importantly unsafe.’

Dr Baigent is fearful that if the proposed contracts are forced through, working conditions, fair pay and, crucially, patient safety could take a severe hit.
‘The term junior doctor applies to anybody from day one after medical school to the day before becoming a consultant or qualified GP – this will be a minimum of 5 years , but for most of us will be in excess of 10 years. We are currently protected by the European Working Time Directive.
‘This means that our average weekly hours are limited to 48, with a maximum of 91 hours in a consecutive seven day period. This protects us from going back to the days when Doctors worked 24 hour on-call.’

The letter continues: ‘It’s stating the obvious but research has shown that over-worked, tired Doctors make mistakes. After all, would you want your relative being operated on by a surgeon who was in their 14th hour of work, or put to sleep by an anaesthetist who had been on call for 24 hours?
‘Junior doctors are just the first in a long line of cuts, if we lost this fight it will be nurses and physios and hospital porters next. A cheaper workforce is a more attractive bid for companies lining up to profit from running hospital services.
‘Our NHS is not perfect, but privatisation is not the answer. We measure our success in terms of patients, private companies measure success in terms of profits- this will mean pay cuts, staff cuts, increased pressure on those left to manage struggling wards and a demotivated and demoralised workforce. Is this where we want our friends and relatives cared for?

‘The NHS is unbelievably important, most of us were born there, it looks after our families and friends when they are sick, it looks after the vulnerable and the elderly.
‘It’s one of the best health services in the world and spending on healthcare per person is also one of the lowest in the world. Your level of care if the same regardless of wealth. This is so precious that we cannot afford to put our NHS in the hands of companies who put profit in front of patient care.
‘We cannot afford to let our NHS go.’


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Offline Guz-kop

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Re: "Sell-Off" - The Abolition of Your NHS
« Reply #239 on: January 12, 2016, 05:17:02 pm »

They will. It started before them though, just not to the same horrible deliberate vicious extent

Sorry mate, had to fix that.


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