Health News Blog

Why we have huge NHS waiting lists
A Health Foundation report says "The roots of the growth in the waiting list lie in avoidable failures including a decade of underinvestment in the NHS, a failure to address chronic staff shortages and the longstanding neglect of social care."

Sign petition to stop Palantir
The government wants to hand US spy tech firm Palantir a £480 million contract to run a "Federated Data Platform" - a database of all our health information. Sign this petition to stop Palantir getting its hands on our data.

There are 250 fewer GPs than a year ago
GP numbers continue to fall year-on-year as new NHS workforce data shows that there are 254 fewer fully-qualified GPs than last year.

Cost of workforce plan underestimated
A group of influential MPs have warned that the ‘unfunded and uncosted’ NHS long term workforce plan risks building on ‘unsustainable’ financial pressures.

Private children's homes £300 million profit
Council spending on privately-run children’s homes in England has more than doubled in six years. Yet the biggest private providers of children’s homes in England made profits of more than £300m last year.

Strikes: Suddenly the government wants talks
Having insisted that their offer is independently assessed and final, the government has agreed to meet junior doctors for talks aimed at ending the strike.

A clear analysis of NHS underfunding
"It’s quite clear that unless Labour increases NHS spending it will find itself in charge as performance in some areas slumps even further, buildings crumble and collapse and there is an exodus of burnt out and demoralised staff". John Lister of Keep Our NHS Public gives the figures that identify the crises, NHS service by NHS service, and tells of the primary cause - chronic deliberate underfunding.

A vision for a National Health Service
"The NHS model has not failed the population; it is the Government that has failed the NHS".... "stop the diversion of billions to private hospitals and fund the NHS to succeed."

Cash crisis in ICBs
Integrated Care Boards that now run local NHS services are in a deep financial mess. With few exceptions ICBs, and acute hospital trusts, are facing huge financial problems, forcing consideration of ever-larger scale “efficiency savings”, outright cuts and "unpalatable measures" as they struggle to stretch inadequate budgets to meet tough targets.

Wes Streeting solution for the NHS
The Labour health secretary said only primary care would receive any available extra funding in a new Labour government. Keep Our NHS Public response is that the NHS as a whole, is now dealing with the dire consequences of over a decade of severe underfunding - all services in the NHS need extra funding, especially hospitals.

NHS bosses dismiss Streeting's waiting list claim
Health leaders and unions reply to Streeting that Labour could clear 7.7 million from the NHS waiting lists without a significant increase in funding. A future government "...will not get record patient waiting lists down while the NHS is short of tens of thousands of nursing staff" said the Royal College of Nursing.

It was clear the NHS would be overwhelmed
Prof Medley, professor of infectious disease modelling and a member of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) told the Covid inquiry that it was clear by February 2020 an epidemic was about to hit us. The government permitted mass gatherings in the first part of March 2020, including a Six Nations  match and the Cheltenham horseracing festival.

Carillion 6 years on ...nothing has changed
The collapse of Carillion left hospital construction unfinished. Carillion had exposed the big four auditors as a “cosy club incapable of providing the degree of independent challenge needed”. Where is the promised new financial reporting regulator?

Mental health service is a national emergency
A post Covid surge has created a national emergency in mental health. Funding in real terms has been cut since 2010. The service is so stretched that patients in dire need end up in acute hospital beds.

NHS charging would raise only a small sum
Tories have repeatedly called for charging for NHS services. But an Institute For Government report has concluded that charges would be difficult to administer, would raise only small sums for the NHS and would stop some patients seeking medical help.

Why are GPs so stressed?
It's due to the number of contacts in the day - high in England. Also, UK GPs do more to a greater degree of complexity than in any other country. Most GPs across the world don’t, for example, do paediatrics or maternity.