Health News Blog

Call to renationalise our NHS
Keep Our NHS Public calls for an end to a) privatisation, b) the myth that privatisation brings efficiency and c) the diversion of NHS funding into private hospitals. The model of a comprehensive NHS, when publicly provided, was ranked the best health care systems in the world - but no longer.

Privatised equipment supplier blamed
NRS was awarded the contract last April. Both Whittington Healthcare Trust and South East London ICB complained saying people awaiting hospital discharge were receiving the wrong equipment or seeing it delivered late.

Hospitals are leaving more patients in corridors
More and more UK hospitals are leaving patients in corridors due to a lack of bed space. A patient counted 13 other patients alongside him on a corridor at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital.

Half of nurses plan to quit
Almost half of nurses in England plan to quit or are considering it. Excessive levels of pressure and pay are the issues prompting the 45% of nurses surveyed by the Roayl College of Nursing say they are considering quitting.

Private equity's profiteering
Social care directors and campaigners accused businesses of profiteering from children’s social care. With councils on the verge of bankruptcy it's revealed that 863 homes providing care for vulnerable children are owned by investment companies, including private equity, venture capital and foreign funds.

Non-surgeon removed a gall bladder
The Royal College of Surgeons has expressed alarm that a non-surgeon has removed patients’ gall bladders at Walsall Manor Hospital. A research paper shows that 175 surgeries were carried out by a Surgical Care Practioner at the hospital during a four-year period.

Cost cutting in the NHS
A cost-cutting project is replacing paediatricians with medically unqualified "associates". A secondary care doctor has been suspended for inadequately supervising a physician assistant.

PAs and GP employment crisis
The government has failed on a manifesto pledge to deliver 6,000 new GPs  by 2024, but has allocated £1.4 billion to fund other roles in primary care like physician associates. The replacement of qualified doctors with PAs has resulted in locum GPs unable to find work.

NHS funding lags behind election pledge
In 2019 the Conservatives pledged to increase spending by £34 billion a year by the end of the parliament. The Institute for Fiscal Studies said increases in funding from the government had been eaten up by higher than expected inflation.

Kings Fund: "You get what you pay for"
Siva Anandaciva, Chief Analyst at the Kings Fund: "We spend below average on our health service compared to our peers, so it’s not surprising that we have fewer hospital beds, doctors, nurses, MRI/CT scanners."

Killings spotlight poor mental health services
The Hainault tragedy is the latest in a series of high-profile killings that have focused public attention on the adequacy of mental health treatment and care. NHS mental health services are struggling to cope with resource shortages and increasing demand for care.

Cuts will result in patient deaths
After recruiting staff to address the increasing waiting lists hospital trusts are being forced to cut medical staff, threatening their ability to care for patients, senior health leaders have warned.

Private company in contract breach
Private providers requested authorisation for a change of control and a due diligence exercise began to assess the new owner, but they went ahead anyway without it.

Hospital ceiling falls in
Ceilings have fallen in at two key units of an NHS hospital, forcing it to evacuate patients and cancel X-rays and scans. Stepping Hill hospital in Stockport is plagued by leaks and major structural defects, prompting claims it is dangerous for both patients and staff.

NHS crisis: its causes and its remedy
A university proferssor tells us "...The [NHS] crisis is manufactured by the government... advocating real cuts in wages and public services....The healthcare crisis is a political choice not an economic necessity. Governments which can fund wars, bailout banks and subsidise corporations can also save lives and improve the quality of life of their citizens."

Private equity & NHS privatisation
Private equity, partnerships of rich investors who buy and manage companies for a relatively quick return, run over half the NHS inpatient beds for children and teenagers with mental health problems, and almost all of the secure beds for adults.

"Only Labour can restore the NHS"
...says Dan Poulter, Labour's new MP. But will it? From what Wes Streeting says it seems unilkely. Here are two recent comments by Streeting "NHS uses winter crisis to ask for more money" and "Labour will use private healthcare" and criticised 'middle class lefties".

The way physician assistants will be used?
Such is the state of our education service that teaching assistants regularly cover for teachers. Is this how physician assistants are, or are going to be, used?