30th August 2024

The MAPS dilemma
Here’s a well-written assessment of the issue.  There’s a new role into the health service, the medical associate professional (MAP). MAPs are usually degree holders who have undergone a two-year condensed and abridged programme of clinical studies. But is it safe? Does it actually reduce costs? Is the quality of care maintained? How much supervision is required and how can it be funded?

Labour must deal with social care crisis
Labour cannot avoid it, there’s a crisis in UK care homes. Private equity has seen the profits to be made out of care homes while the wages of 1.6 million care workers are at rock bottom; half of them are below the legal minimum wage. A typical urban local authority has at least 40% less money to spend on social care than it had in 2010.

Another A&E death
Inga Rublite, 39, died after being found unconscious on the floor under a coat eight hours after arriving at A&E at Queens Medical Centre in Nottingham. The Labour government must resolve the under-funding of our health service. The signs are too stark to ignore.