Health News Blog

12 questions on GP 'data grab' answered. From ‘who owns my data?’, ‘can government force GPs to hand over data?’ to the misleading claim that opting out will affect your medical care, OpenDemocracy gives the answers.

“NHS” – a logo for partially privatised healthcare. The principles underlying the creation of the National Health Service exemplify solidarity: comprehensive care for all, without charge, publicly owned and provided, funded from taxation. Now we have an underfunded system bent on saving money and denying care. How did we get here? 

NHS 73^rd birthday protests. NHS campaigners call for end to underfunding. Chair of KONP said “The weakened NHS has been stretched to breaking point by Covid and the population has suffered. Staff are underpaid, overworked and their health put in danger. The new health bill threatens further large scale private contracting.”

Open letter from BMJ to Sajid Javid on pandemic. The British Medical Journal published an open letter advising our new health secretary on handling Covid. Llifting restrictions is a “colossal natural experiment which will put wave three into a super-exponential growth phase”, and the “chaos and waste that has been NHS Test and Trace show no sign of abating, with the government refusing to properly support people who need to self-isolate”.

Mass infection is not an option. A letter in the Lancet explains population immunity is unlikely to be achieved without much higher levels of vaccination than can be reasonably expected by 19^th July 2021. More than 17 million people have no protection against Covid, particularly we must do more to protect the young.

NHS England to control ICS procurement
This gives us an insight into how ICS will operate. The article is behind a paywall but tells that NHSE considers many ICSs are "struggling to make key changes ....[owing to] the scale and complexity of the change required for ICS procurement."

Outsourcing experiment proves a failure
This article is behind a pay-wall, but in essence, a fifth acute hospital in London has brought hospital cleaning and catering in-house - time and again privatisation gives a poorer service with staff exploited on poverty wages. Sign a petition in support of workers in Airedale hospital demanding their trust brings sub-co cleaning and catering workers in-house.

Open letter on GP data grab
Here's an open letter to all GP Practices working in the NHS to highlight data concerns that have been planned by NHS Digital. Patients should be aware of the how their data is used. It questions whether NHS Digital has publicised the data transfer, what will actually be shared and with whom?

Is a Tory storm brewing over new NHS bill?
An assistant editor to The Spectator tells us that the new NHS bill with give huge new powers to the Health Secretary, he can control NHS England, interfere in local reconfigurations and abolish arm’s length bodies. And is it going to integrate health and social care as formerly claimed? Where's the plan Johnson?

Nurse's petition for a decent pay rise gets three quarters million signatures
Matthew Tovey works in the Cwm Taf health board and started the petition to raise support for a 15% pay increase for health workers across the board. So far it has amassed three quarter of a million signatures.

Number of doctors retiring early trebles
When you hear government claims about the number of doctors joining the profession, ask yourself is this a net increase? While 401 GPs and hospital doctors took early retirement in 2007-08, that number had soared to 1,358 in 2020-21 – an increase of 239% in 13 years. Doctors who quit before they are due to retire are also getting younger, the average age is now just 59