Health News Blog

Private sector can't solve the waits
John Lister summarizes how the use of the private sector can only have only a limited impact on tackling NHS backlog.

Fortunes earned on PPE contracts
This businessman has made a fortune supplying PPE during the pandemic even though the NHS may be unable to use millions of the gowns his company delivered. And here's a US banker who was paid a £73 million dividend in 2021 after his firm won hundreds of millions in Covid contracts.

A fair analysis of Starmer's NHS policy
There's some promise but a) he reiterates a commitment to private sector delivery b) there must be a substantial funding increase and c) to deliver on increased staff numbers he must offer restorative pay increases. 

Barclay admits to 40 new hospitals lies
He admits not all the hospitals are "brand new", and some are merely new wings or refurbishments. Many won't be built by 2030 as promised.

Capitalism and the rise in mental illness
We live in a social and economic system at odds with both our psychology and our neurology ....what if it's not us who are sick but a system at odds with us as social beings?

23000 deaths in A&E's in 2022
Here's the facts for 2022: 1. more than 1.5 million people were left waiting in A&E for over four hours; 2. nearly 350,000 had to wait more than 12 hours; 3. 23,000 people had died, an increase of more than 20% on 2021, and nearly 40% on 2020.

Third of ICSs fail to balance their budgets
Integrated Care Systems (ICS) are first and foremost about making organisations within an ICS work together in order to reduce patients’ use of NHS services and save money. Under the Health and Social Care Act 2022 each ICS must submit financial plans to NHS England to meet the funding NHSE provides. A third of the 42 in England have failed to do so.

NHS still waiting for £1 billion promised in 2017
In 2017 the NHS was promised £2.7 billion for capital spending, primarily on buildings. Now 5 years later, the NHS is still waiting for more than half of it. Still, it got a media headline, didn't it!

Hancock: emails reveal Tory donor contacts
WhatsApp messages and emails between Tory donors and Matt Hancock reveal the extent of ministerial access they enjoyed when government Covid contracts were being awarded.

Nurse: 'Here's why I'm striking'
Been a nurse for 40 years, Carol is "..striking because l am tired, frustrated, and exhausted. The emotional and traumatic pain of working every day without many things you need to do a good enough job is so hard".

'Patients are getting sicker with waiting'
Prof Kamila Hawthorne, the chair of the Royal College of GPs says she has serious concern that some patients see their health deteriorate as a direct result of the delay in accessing hospital care.

Another privisation failure
The parliamentary and health service ombudsman, responsible for investigating patients' complaints, has been warned repeatedly about problems with Sciensus, a private company paid millions to deliver vital medicines. Want to read more privatisation failures, go here.

Maternity crisis: Babies are dying
A joint report by two baby loss charities says the government is failing in its stated aims. Stillbirths are increasing, babies dying before and during delivery are rising and rates of newborns dying within the first four weeks of birth are also rising. Staff are working in an increasingly under-resourced and overstretched system.

"Where are the 40 new hospitals?"
Dr Ruth Charlton, chief medical officer of Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust, writes "Only last week we had to close one of our wards because the lift wasn’t working. When our lifts break down we can’t even get the parts to repair them because they are no longer manufactured."

UK is the sick man of Europe
Michael Marmot, with his usual clarity, tells us "since 2010, improvements in healthy life expectancy have stalled, health inequalities have been increasing...even Margaret Thatcher increased NHS funding at a higher rate than the Conservatives in the 2010s".

NHS dispute: Why not arbitrate?
The Academy of Medical Royal Colleges has called for third-party arbitration to break the impasse on a pay dispute between junior doctors and the government. Is it because the doctors really do have a justifable case? Their pay really has fallen in the last decade?

The new "Illegal Migration bill"
Here's a brilliant analysis of the medical consequences of the new Bill. Healthcare in immigration removal settings is largely inadequate and there is no access to specialist services for complex mental health conditions. Increasing detention will result in more people experiencing devastating suffering.

Integrated Care: make-believe plans
The idea that by screwing down on ICS finances we can still provide a comprehensive health service is fairy-land planning. Guidance states integrated care systems have a statutory duty to break even, an impossible goal if adequate comprehensive healthcare is provided.

NHS data: opposition to Palantir expected
David Davis, the Conservative former Brexit secretary has serious privacy concerns about Palantir’s bid. Exactly how is the data is being used within the Palantir software, what types of analysis are being done, how many users there are and how privacy is being protected? You can say "No to Palantir" here.