22nd August 2024

How to rescue the NHS
It seems the new government is determined to echo the Tories’ grim commitment to austerity, while allowing the super-rich and corporations to get even richer. Regarding the NHS, no amount of ‘reform’ (code for privatisation) will avoid the need for substantial investment for Starmer’s Labour to make real progress.

Findings of Health Foundation report
1) The public’s views of the standard of NHS care and expectations for the future are already low; 2) waiting times of routine services to get worse in coming year: 3) Top priorities for the NHS are reducing the number of staff leaving the NHS by improving working conditions and making it easier to get appointments at GP practices.

Privatisation of mental healthcare
More than £1.4 billion has been spent on private mental health beds between 2019 and 2024 by the NHS in England. In that time, spending had risen by 68%.

Trust ‘Too compassionate’ to run services
…so East Suffolk and North Essex is out-sourcing its cleaning, catering and portering services. It plans to replace kindly and reasonable management with tough privatised exploitation. So staff are striking over the plan to privatise their jobs; please sign a petition of support.