Category Archives: Health Reform

The Government has commited itself to reforming the current health service in a manner that many find confusing and potentially very dangerous. Few ideas seem to have been tested apart from in the mind of Andrew Lansley (Health Secretary)

What did you do with your data Daddy?


In yesterdays Telegraph, Sir Nick Partridge who is the deputy chair of the Health and Social Care Information Centre wrote about the way in which the NHS has dealt with our data. “We must make sure there are no surprises for the … Continue reading

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The men who stripped the roof


One of the regular phrases applied to the Brown/Blair Governments by the coalition when first arriving in office was that they failed to mend the roof whilst the sun was shining. The incomers made these accusations filled with confidence (or … Continue reading

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Health on 2 Wheels


Although there are a number of public places where cyclists can lock up their vehicle under cover or even in cycle racks without a roof, the extent to which health agencies have embraced this idea seems to be rather limited. Despite the substantial … Continue reading

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Rural Health Services


Having spent a wonderful week on the Isle of Harris, and with visits to Lewis I was struck by the stories from residents of how their NHS care is delivered. If the same sense of priority and focus was available … Continue reading

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Lies, Damned Lies, and Political Promises.


The promise in the 2010 coalition agreement to “stop the top-down reorganisations  of the NHS that have got in the way of  patient care.” and the various promises beforehand were cynical lies. This is clear for two reasons. The first is that the changes were introduced within weeks of the agreement being announced and the second … Continue reading

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Happy Birthday Flo


194 Years ago today Florence Nightingale was born. Today as well as celebrating her Birthday, we can also acknowledge International Nurses Day.  One way of doing something practical is to register your own opposition to a proposal to raise the cost of … Continue reading

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Norman the roof is about to collapse


Norman Lamb is the Minister for Care and Support Services for the NHS a post he has held since September 2012. He came into office at the end of a year when the NHS mental health trust for the area in … Continue reading

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Is this the transparency we seek?


This mornings news that a Labour Peer is calling for a £10 monthly ‘membership’ charge to be added to the Council Tax bill to help fund the NHS has a number of implications. Quite apart from the organisational challenge presented to … Continue reading

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Pass the bedpan


According to at least one interview yesterday, Jeremy Hunt is still keen to ensure that the pay of staff such as Nurses and Doctors needs to be linked to how well they care for their patients, and presumably how quickly … Continue reading

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A vital pause


If this logo is not familiar or at least recognisable, then you have probably not seen the leaflet which the Government commissioned to tell us about their data sharing scheme known as Care.Data. Further details on the scheme can be found … Continue reading

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