Health News Blog

Why is the NHS in crisis?
This article lists the reasons why the NHS is in crisis. "Why has this government failed to provide any NHS workforce plan for 12 years? Why did they cut 4,000 nurse training places in 2010 and suspend medical school expansion? Why did they end the NHS student bursary in 2017? Why did they deliberately underfund and understaff the NHS to the point where there are 132,000 vacancies?"

Nurses announce strike dates
For the first time in its history Royal College of Nursing has announced that nurses will strike on 15th and 20th December. The average experienced nurse is around £10K per year worse off now than in 2012. RCN boss said "My offer of formal negotiations was declined and instead ministers have chosen strike action. They have the power to stop this by opening serious talks that address our dispute."

Brexit caused shortage of doctors
Official figures show that Brexit has worsened the UK’s acute shortage of doctors in key areas of care and led to more than 4,000 European doctors choosing not to work in the NHS.

Ambulance service in meltdown
Ambulance officers warned that patients were dying every day because of the delays. The service could no longer perform its role as a safety net for people needing urgent medical help.

NHS budget compared to EU countries
Over the past decade the UK has spent less on both day-to-day care and investment spending on health care compared with the average EU14 countries. This is mirrored by lower capacity and fewer physical resources. If the UK had matched EU levels of spending day-to-day running costs would have been £39 billion higher each year.

4 hour A&E target retained
The goverment has ditched any change in A&E targets. Trusts will continue to be regulated against the existing four-hour standard as well as 12-hour trolley waits.

Nurse: "Here's why I'm going on strike"
"Everyone now appears angry and focused..... Staff are witnessing first hand a catastrophic breakdown of services with vacancies hitting 135,000 and patients in danger." "Enough is enough".

UK has second highest maternity death rate in EU
Mothers in the UK are three times more likely to die in pregnancy compared with those in Norway.

NHS set up to fail by under resourcing
Between 2010 and 2015 the NHS budget grew by an average of just 0.9% a year creating an unprecedented squeeze when rises of around 4% were needed to keep pace with population needs and advances in treatment and technology.

NHS staff 'petrified' of the coming winter
Staff fear services will not be able to cope with a combination of flu and a resurgent Covid. This against the backdrop of a record 7.1 million people waiting to start treatment.

Nurses vote to strike as pay is 'laughable'
Mental health nurse - 'The only option is to withdraw labour'; staff nurse 'We've been undewrpaid for years'; senior nurse 'We're striking for patients'.

Nurses amongst foodbank users
Nurses, shop assistants and youth workers are among large numbers of people in low-paid jobs forced for the first time to accept charity food parcels.

Hunt 'knows' but will still make NHS cuts
The man most responsible for the dire state of the NHS now as Chancellor says there must be more 'efficiencies', aka cuts.

NHSE demands ICS board signoff of over £50K
NHS England has set out a raft of new conditions that over-spending trusts must follow, including sign-off from their integrated care board for all revenue investments over £50,000. Doesn't that mean all expenditures?

NHS steals nurses from places of desparate shortage
A quarter of all new nurses in the UK were trained in poorer countries with more severe staffing shortages. Shouldn't we train our own? And shouldn't we reinstate a proper nurse bursary - please sign this petition?

Nurses vote to strike
"It's time to pay nursing staff fairly" is their slogan, and it certainly is! A historic "yes" vote was recorded by the Royal College of Nursing in their fight for fair pay and safe staffing. Strikes will take place before the end of the year at hospitals where legal requirements have been met.

Why the need for agency staff?
NHS data suggests every integrated care system is set to bust the cap placed on their agency spending, many by over 50 per cent. Who is responsible for the shortfall trained NHS staff, leading to the need  to employ agency staff?

Government loses fight to keep Covid lessons secret
The government has backed down in its fight to keep secret a “lessons learnt” review of the Covid pandemic.

Private cleaning firm given the sack
An acute trust has publicly accused its cleaning contractor of failing to meet nationally set cleaning standards, and said this has contributed to a “large spike” in hospital-acquired infections.

Historic change of ideology for running the NHS?
It seems they've seen the light. NHS supplies will be handled by .....the NHS Supply Chain. Whereas the procurement of many products was managed by outside organisations, the revised plans will bring the purchasing of all clinical products in-house. All we now need is the common sense realisation that, for high quality comprehensive health services, public provision minimses administration costs and health outcomes more effective.