Health News Blog

Cleaners win parity with NHS T&Cs
Congratulations to the cleaners of Great Ormond Street hospital who were set to strike mid March over continuing inequality, have finally obtained full NHS contracts from 1 April 2022.

Private hospital again rated 'inadequate'
A mental health hospital run by Priory and that was put in special measures last year has been rated “inadequate” again following a fresh Care Quality Commission inspection.

Staff shortage causes poor patient discharging
You may well guess that this trust, East Kent, isn't the only one to too hastily discharge patients, owing to lack of trained staff; when you consider there is such a massive lack of well-trained nursing staff, that the government chooses to ignore.

Delays for hospital care will last for years
The government ...."has overseen a long-term decline in elective and critical cancer care that is dragging our National Health Service and the heroic staff down,” said the chair of the parliamentary accounts committee.

And while the NHS is buckling under the strain ...
A new private hospital in London to prey on our NHS. The director of the Centre for Health and the Public Interest said: “The worry is the two-tier health system.  An estimated £1 billion investment in a single hospital is a sign of how strongly foreign investors are betting against the NHS being able to meet the future health needs of the population."

Hundreds of surgeries closed in the last 8 years
Responses to freedom of information requests show that  between 2013 and 2020 a total of 778 practices shut their doors owing to a shortage of GPs and high workloads.

NHS waiting times now longest on record
Shielded by the pandemic, the government have allowed waiting times, across the board, to increase to record levels. Cancer waiting times targets have fallen to their worst ever level, and the number of people waiting for operations such as hip and knee replacements has risen again to just over 6.1 million. No wonder SOSNHS is calling for £20 billion emergency funding.

Petition for NHS emergency funding
This petition, for £20 billion extra funding plus 2 other key demends, has attracted over 100,000 signatures. Please sign up and pass on to others to get to 200K, and share on social media.

There'll be no increase in funding for workforce
There's the usual HSJ paywall here, but in essence Javid has said any investment to increase NHS staffing levels recommended by the forthcoming long-term workforce plan will need to be funded from within existing budget. In other words, current staff shortages will continue.

NHS vacancies: 39,652 nurses and 8,158 doctors
Here's the latest report from NHS Digital. The staffing crisis is the number one NHS issue, and the government ignores it while pumping money into the private health sector.

Scandal of NHS charging pregnant women
Vulnerable migrant and asylum-seeking women with no recourse to public funds are being issued huge bills ahead of giving birth or aggressively pursued for payments during their pregnancy.

Privatisation: Johnson lies, then the truth
Watch a short video of, firstly, johnson saying "absoultely, there will be no privatisation of the NHS", and then evidence of the increasing privatisation of the NHS since the notorious Health and Social Care Act 2010.

Number of 12 hour waits set to rocket
The HSJ article is behind a paywall. However, changes set out in the NHS Standard Contract for 2022-23 will see 12 hour waits measured from point of arrival instead of decision to admit will expose the true number of long waits hidden by current reporting rules.

NHS ombudsman: "flaws in NHS Bill"
The ombudsman said the NHS Bill would force an investigation into healthcare scandal to “operate behind a curtain of secrecy” and undermine his investigations into lapses in patient safety and could deny grieving families the full truth about why a loved one died.

400 staff a week are quitting the NHS
A record number of more than 400 workers in England have left NHS every week; reasons cited are burn out and post traumatic stress disorder. There are now concerns that the exodus is impacting the quality of care.

No requirement for ICB to give emergency care
The NHS Bill does not require an Integrated Care Board (ICB) to provide emergency care for everybody in its area. This will mean more bureaucracy and potential arguments as ICBs bill each other for people who are visitors and who require A&E care.

Centene GP take over: it's not unlawful
The High Courts did not rule that the decision by North Central London Clinical Commissioning Group to allow Operose Health (Centene by another name) take over the London GP chain ATMedics Ltd. was unlawful. Patients have demonstrated outside their surgeries; they do not want their practice taken over by an American corporation.

NHS contract removed from PCR rules
The Public Contracts Regulations of 2015 (PCR 2015) ensure that environmental, social, and labour legislation is taken into consideration when public contracts are arranged. The NHS Bill permits PCR2015 to be excluded in commissioning NHS contracting arrangements. A government consultation on this subject is linked here.

Covid contracts: Serco's profits surge
The so-called "NHS" test and trace system - actually entirely run by private companies - was described by the National Accounts Committee as failed despite its "eye watering' budget of £37,000 million of our money. Serco benefited through a £623 million contract to manage Covid testing sites and operating contact-tracing call centres. Now we hear that Serco has paid out £100 million to its shareholders.