Tag Archives: NHS

Praise for government’s approach on mental health

By Mark Pack | Tue 7th September 2010 - 8:06 pm

Over on Left Foot Forward Mark Davies, a former special advisor to Jack Straw and now Director of Communications for Rethink, praises the coalition government’s approach to mental health:

Mental health is one of the defining issues of our times. Always present, rarely talked about, people affected by mental illness represent a massive group who continue to face a degree of discrimination which would trigger street protests in any other context. Nine out of ten people with mental health problems experience prejudice…

Judging by his words, the health minister Paul Burstow recognises this. In an article published in Community Care to set

…

Posted in News | Also tagged mark davies and paul burstow | 15 Comments

Why commission a report if you’re determined to ignore its conclusions?

By Mark Pack | Wed 1st September 2010 - 8:58 am

Last August, the then Labour government commissioned a KPMG report into the future of NHS Direct (along with some other related NHS services). The report has been submitted to the current government, though not published.

So if Labour MPs and members were saying how the government must publish the KPMG report right away to see if it justifies the plans to migrate NHS Direct over to the planned 111 service, fair enough.

But for many in Labour to be demanding that the NHS Direct plans be abandoned without knowing the outcome of the KPMG report is tantamount to saying, “Who cares …

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged tom harris and tom watson | 14 Comments

Labour aren’t being hypocritical on NHS Direct

By Iain Roberts | Tue 31st August 2010 - 3:12 pm

Within milliseconds of the Coalition announcement of the plan to replace NHS Direct with a new non-emergency NHS service, Labour politicians were up in arms.

Because this plan from the Coalition obviously bears absolutely no relation to Labour’s plan, as spelt out on page 35 of the party’s 2010 manifesto.

A new national 111 telephone number will make nonemergency services far easier for people to access and book.

This, we need to understand, is totally different to replacing NHS Direct. What Labour had in mind, as they planned their £44 billion savings, must have been to keep NHS Direct just as …

Posted in News and Op-eds | Also tagged welovethenhs | 19 Comments

Burstow: “New 111 service will be better than NHS Direct”

By Stephen Tall | Mon 30th August 2010 - 4:15 pm

The news broke at the weekend that NHS Direct is to be scrapped by the Coalition Government, and replaced with a new service – 111 – a move anticipated in July’s Health White Paper, in which it was promised to:

Develop a coherent 24/7 urgent care service in every area of England that makes sense to patients when they have to make choices about their care. This will incorporate GP out-of-hours services and provide urgent medical care for people registered with a GP elsewhere. We will make care more accessible by introducing, informed by evaluation, a single telephone number

…

Posted in Voice polls | Also tagged paul burstow | 14 Comments

LibLink… Shirley Williams on the coalition: Not one bed – two beds

By Helen Duffett | Sat 14th August 2010 - 4:50 pm

The Guardian today has an interview with Shirley Williams, who at 80, continues to work full-time and is active in questioning the coalition government’s stance on academies, health and Trident:

If you give up what you most care about you start dying. It doesn’t matter what age.

Debate within the coalition on the key issues is a positive thing, insists Williams:

What we have to do is get as much as one possibly can of what Lib Dems believe into the coalition programme. It’s no good simply saying our role is to say no to everything.

Williams admits her surprise that the Liberal Democrats, of whom she was a founder, formed a coalition with the Conservative Party.

Posted in LibLink | Also tagged academies, coalition, ken clarke, nick clegg, shirley williams and trident | 8 Comments

LibLink: Paul Burstow – We can democratise health service

By NewsHound | Mon 26th July 2010 - 9:20 am

Over at The Guardian’s Comment Is Free website last week, Lib Dem minister of state for health Paul Burstow vigorously defended the Coalition’s health white paper, arguing it frames one overriding principle for the NHS – focusing on what people want, not what politicians prescribe. Here’s an excerpt:

Our consultation, Local democratic legitimacy in health, is a grand title for a simple question: how do we ensure the NHS better serves and accounts to the public for the money it spends and the results it achieves? In other words, how does the government’s localism agenda fit the NHS? …

Last year

…

Posted in LibLink | Also tagged paul burstow | 4 Comments

Nick Robinson notes Lib Dems’ “important injection of democracy” into Coalition’s NHS plans

By Stephen Tall | Wed 14th July 2010 - 10:10 pm

Mark Pack yesterday noted Lib Dem health minister Paul Burstow’s hand at work in the NHS White Paper – it’s a theme also picked up today by the BBC’s political editor Nick Robinson, who comments on his blog:

The proposals for a re-organisation of the NHS included a fundamental and little-noticed change from those contained in either the Conservative manifesto or the coalition agreement. The government now plan to give councils a major new strategic health role, examining the purchasing decisions of GPs and fitting them together with their plans for public health and social care. For the Lib

…

Posted in News | Also tagged nick clegg and paul burstow | 12 Comments

John Pugh MP asks for Lib Dem members’ feedback on health issues

By John Pugh | Wed 14th July 2010 - 11:20 am

As part of the empowerment (sorry about the cliche!) of ordinary members it might be useful if you let us in the Westminster village know how you react to unfolding coalition policy.

I’m tasked as Co-Chair for the Backbench Health Committee to ensure that distinctive Lib Dem policy on health goes into the Coalition Government equation.

So I have decided to seek party members’ views on the much-reported Health White Paper – especially from those who have a bit of hands on experience of the NHS.

Please post here or alterantively e-mail me at [email protected]

The issues are not insignificant, with …

Posted in Party policy and internal matters | 163 Comments

Paul Burstow’s hand at work in the NHS White Paper

By Mark Pack | Tue 13th July 2010 - 9:47 pm

Paul Burstow, now a health minister, has a long record of campaigning for better coordination and integration between the different services which look after people’s health. So although the government isn’t talking publicly about which part of the health White Paper has been driven by whom, you can see Paul’s influence at work, as reported by The Guardian:

The sector has long pressed for the joining-up of health and social care – and the white paper seeks to promote this, particularly through the proposed new role for local government in respect of public health.

It also sets out an increased responsibility …

Posted in News | Also tagged paul burstow | 10 Comments

Time to scrap P.E. targets for schools

By Iain Roberts | Mon 12th July 2010 - 10:20 am

The SNP government in Scotland has come under fire – again – for missing its self-imposed target that every child do two hours of formal P.E. a week. Only 35% of primaries and 23% of secondaries have achieved the two hour goal.

But why have the target at all? What’s it actually achieving? Surely it’s sensible to only impose this sort of national target when there’s clear evidence of benefit.

Will two hours of P.E. make our young people more lithe and reduce obesity? Not according to the evidence.

A study published in the BMJ journal Archives for …

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged education, holyrood and targets | 12 Comments

Paul Burstow announces more power for patients in personal health budget pilot

By Helen Duffett | Mon 28th June 2010 - 4:32 pm

From the Department of Health comes this news:

Patients will be offered more choice and control over their healthcare with the launch of the first direct payment scheme, Care Services Minister Paul Burstow announced today.

Eight Primary Care Trusts will begin to road test direct payments for personal health budgets. This will allow Primary Care Trusts to give the money for someone’s care directly to them, allowing individuals to decide how, where and from whom they receive their healthcare, in partnership with the local NHS.

Previously, personal health budgets could only be held by a Primary Care Trust or third party.

The cost of …

Posted in News | Also tagged paul burstow | 2 Comments

The coalition agreement: national security and the NHS

By Mark Pack | Wed 2nd June 2010 - 10:20 am

Welcome to the fourteenth in a series of posts going through the full coalition agreement section by section. You can read the full coalition document here.

The national security section is brief, outlining the creation of a National Security Council, the commencement of a defence review and a promise to “deny public funds to any group that has recently espoused or incited violence or hatred. We will proscribe such organisations”. The pledge on deportation is carefully balanced: “Britain should be able to deport foreign nationals who threaten our security to countries where there are verifiable guarantees that they will not be …

Posted in News | Also tagged coalition agreement, david cameron and nick clegg | 1 Comment

Nick Clegg’s speech to the Royal College of Nursing

By Mark Pack | Tue 27th April 2010 - 8:50 pm

Earlier in the week it was Gordon Brown addressing the nurses but today it was Nick Clegg’s turn. As journalist Paul Waugh put it:

Ooh, Matron. Clegg going down a storm with at nurses’ RCN conference. Better ovation, more laughs at his gags than Brown.

Here’s the speech which got this reaction:

Thank you so much for inviting me to speak to you today. It is a real honour to be here.

You don’t need me to tell you that the job you do is one of the most important jobs there is.

You are the lifesavers as well as the shoulders to cry …

Posted in News | Also tagged nick clegg, paul waugh and royal college of nursing | 1 Comment

Test your knowledge of health policies

By Mark Pack | Thu 8th April 2010 - 6:50 pm

The Kings Fund has a fun little online quiz to test how well you know the health policies of the different parties. Good for a few minutes of relief from campaigning: www.kingsfund.org.uk/generalelection2010

Posted in Online politics | Also tagged kings fund | Leave a comment

The Liberal Democrat plans for the NHS

By Mark Pack | Wed 7th April 2010 - 2:50 pm

A few days ago Liberal Democrat spokesman Norman Lamb (aka the man who beat Iain Dale by 10,606 votes in 2005) kindly gave up some time to be interviewed about the party’s plans for the NHS.

Having previously pointed out that the party’s “four steps to a fairer Britain” doesn’t include how we will improve public services, I started by asking him how the Liberal Democrats would improve the NHS.

He explained that whilst the four steps are a plan to transform Britain, for the NHS the priority over the next few years would be “making sure it doesn’t get destroyed” …

Posted in Party policy and internal matters | Also tagged norman lamb | 3 Comments

Children’s operations cancelled over non-transferable CRB checks

By Helen Duffett | Fri 26th February 2010 - 3:23 pm

A report by the Royal College of Surgeons, published today, reveals that children’s NHS operations are being cancelled because of the chaotic introduction of new Government safeguarding regulations. From the report:

Overzealous interpretation of the requirements by NHS Trusts and long delays in the system mean that NHS surgeons cannot move between Trusts quickly enough to deal with rare cases, of which there are many in children, and to cover absences. The RCS is calling for immediate roll out of passport-style arrangements that allow NHS staff who have already received an enhanced Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) check for one Trust

…

Posted in News | Also tagged norman lamb, royal college of surgeons and vetting and barring scheme | 5 Comments

Evidence-based policy – MPs call for an end to homeopathy on the NHS

By Prateek Buch | Wed 24th February 2010 - 12:50 pm

It isn’t often that Members of Parliament are praised, vilified as they are over their expenses, point-scoring and deference to vested interests. Yet this week has seen a moment of real clarity in Westminster, a true demonstration of how our elected leaders can exercise critical thinking and formulate policy based on objective, rational evidence – and all this over some tiny sugar pills.

Monday saw the publication of Evidence Check: Homeopathy, a report by the House of Commons Science and Technology committee (full report available as a PDF here). This report followed months of taking …

Posted in News and Op-eds | Also tagged ben goldacre, edzard ernst, evan harris, homeopathy, phil willis and placebo | 43 Comments

LibLink: Nick Clegg on Lib Dem cancer policies

By NewsHound | Tue 23rd February 2010 - 4:45 pm

Over at Cancer Research UK’s science update blog, Nick Clegg asnwers questions about the Liberal Democrats plan to do to help beat cancer. Here’s an excerpt:

Britain’s cancer survival rates are worse than many of our European neighbours – what are the Liberal Democrats planning to do to tackle this?

Nick Clegg – Early detection is key. It simply doesn’t make sense for people to be turned away from screening programmes because they’re thought to be too old or too young, so we’d scrap age limits on screening for a start. And we need to get more people to go and get

…

Posted in LibLink | Also tagged cancer, cancer research uk and nick clegg | 2 Comments

Opinion: A Liberal NHS

By Prateek Buch | Wed 17th February 2010 - 12:50 pm

As people who know me well will tell you, I’ve always been something of an idealist, daydreaming about some abstract political philosophy whilst everyone else deals with more pragmatic concerns – or ‘living in the real world’ as I believe it’s known. I make this point as what I’m about to write alludes to an apparent confluence – potentially at least – of strands of abstract political thought and practical everyday policy that I believe should gain prominence as the general election approaches.

First of all let’s deal with the practicalities (unusual for me but there you go…). Earlier this month …

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged allyson pollock, norman lamb and pfi | 8 Comments

Daily View 2×2: 8 February 2010

By Stephen Tall | Mon 8th February 2010 - 10:20 am

Happy Monday morning, everyone. Let’s plunge straight in …

2 Must-Read Blog Posts

What are other Liberal Democrat bloggers saying? Here’s are two posts that have caught the eye from the Liberal Democrat Blogs aggregator:

Blah blah who would you do a deal with blah blah blah.. on Steph Asley’s Dib Lemming blog.

Really, really, REALLY tired of every time a Lib Dem has any airtime, the only thing the interviewer keeps asking is what the party would do in the event of a hung parliament.

Why don’t the Conservatives trust local democracy? on Nich Starling’s Norfolk Blogger.

Why should an

…

Posted in Daily View | Also tagged kirsty williams, mick bates, nich starling, norman lamb, pfi and steph ashley | 17 Comments

LibLink: Norman Lamb – A healthier Health Service

By NewsHound | Thu 4th February 2010 - 7:15 pm

Over at The Guardian’s Comment Is Free site, Lib Dem shadow health secretary Norman Lamb argues that instead of slashing NHS budgets, we can get smarter services by devolving power to patients and professionals. Here’s an excerpt:

Opinion polls suggest that satisfaction with NHS has never been higher. The challenge facing all political parties is to sustain that support in an era of reduced public spending. The NHS is facing a perfect storm of rising costs due to our ageing population, a range of lifestyle conditions and a constant flow of expensive new treatments, but there will be no significant new

…

Posted in LibLink | Also tagged norman lamb | Leave a comment

Lamb urges tighter rules for foreign doctors

By The Voice | Thu 28th January 2010 - 6:45 pm

The Telegraph reports Lib Dem shadow health secretary Norman Lamb’s proposals to tighten rules on the employment of foreign doctors after the death of a 70-year-old man treated by a doctor from Germany:

Norman Lamb, the party’s health spokesman, called for a series of reforms including a national language and competency test for every doctor wishing to work in Britain.

The demand comes after David Gray, from Manea, Cambridgeshire, died after he was given more than 10 times the recommended daily dose of diamorphine by Daniel Ubani, a locum doctor from Germany.
Dr Ubani, 67, had been on his first

…

Posted in News | Also tagged norman lamb | 7 Comments

Tip: if you want to be credible, avoid claiming the NHS is a Nazi/Communist plot

By Iain Roberts | Tue 26th January 2010 - 11:40 am

There are times when it’s difficult to get a handle on where a pressure group is coming from. Do they have sensible ideas (even if you disagree with them)? Are they based on good evidence and research? Is there an intelligent debate to be had?

On other occasions it’s just that little bit simpler.

Say you wanted to reform British healthcare. Fair enough – you’d be hard-put to find anyone who thought it was perfect.

So you and your colleagues, full of reforming zeal, get together for a bit of brainstorming.

“How shall we get our message across, and persuade …

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged nurses for reform | 4 Comments

Daily View 2×2: 24 January 2010

By Mark Pack | Sun 24th January 2010 - 9:00 am

It’s Sunday. It’s 9am. It’s time for one of Microsoft’s best adverts (no, really) and the bicycle lane of the week but first the news.

2 Must-Read Blog Posts

What are other Liberal Democrat bloggers saying? Here’s are two posts that have caught the eye from the Liberal Democrat Blogs aggregator:

Really interesting health discussion: Sandy Walkington doesn’t got for hyperbole in his description of a public meeting addressed by Norman Lamb but do read through to the end – which has an excellent account of the problems facing anyone trying to come up with policy for the NHS.
Snow joke: Residents demand grit bins as Labour stop debate: Haringey councillor Richard Wilson is on the case to get more grit bins so residents can do more to take care of their own streets during future snow falls. Haringey Labour’s response? Waffle. (Words rather than food, that is.)

Spotted any other great posts in the last day from blogs that aren’t on the aggregator? Do post up a comment sharing them with us all.

2 Big Stories

‘Sarah’s Law’ sex offender alert scheme may be expanded

Posted in Daily View | Also tagged alexis rowell, haringey council, ichiro ozawa, japan, microsoft, norman lamb, richard wilson and sandy walkington | 1 Comment

Daily View 2×2: 21 January 2010

By Alex Foster | Thu 21st January 2010 - 8:30 am

Good morning and welcome to Daily View. If you submit a tax return, there are hardly any days left to get on with it.

On this day in 1908, New York City voted to ban women from smoking in public. Two years ago, Black Monday did a number on the world’s stock markets.

In birthdays, we sing a song to Commander in Chief star Geena Davis and Christian Dior, who were born today.

And in deaths, we remember George Orwell – and use him as an excuse to pimp this link – a cartoon that fears that when it comes to dystopias, it was Aldous Huxley who nailed it, rather than George Orwell.

2 Big Stories

Stop the presses!

Men are wearing shorts in the snow in New York.

Posted in Daily View | Also tagged #fab10, aldous huxley, charles masterman, christian dior, geena davis, george orwell, james graham, jonathan calder, liberal england, new york, smoking, snow and sullivan ordinance | 5 Comments

What the papers say…

By Robert Dobson | Sat 9th January 2010 - 2:20 pm

Brown sees off the plotters…just – The Daily Telegraph, 7.1.10

“Gordon Brown was forced to rely on lukewarm backing from senior Cabinet colleagues last night to see off an attempt to oust him as Prime Minister.

“By last night, the attempted coup, which had begun at lunchtime, appeared to have failed as no senior figures were prepared to back it. But while every senior minister issued a statement condemning the letter, few voiced strong support for Mr Brown.”

MPs could be in line for £15,000 pay rise – Daily Mail, 6.1.10

“MPs could receive a big pay rise to compensate …

Posted in News | Also tagged alistair darling, david blunkett, david cameron, george osborne, gordon brown, lord adonis, matthew oakeshott, steve hilton and vince cable | Leave a comment

Dizzy Thinks for me

By Mark Pack | Mon 4th January 2010 - 7:50 pm

I was going to do a post about the inconsistencies in the Conservative Party’s health manifesto (it’s got something for everyone: more targets, fewer targets; more political control, less political control) but Dizzy Thinks has pretty much written it for me already. So to find out why I’m not impressed with the Tory plans go and read a Tory blogger.

Posted in News | Also tagged conservative party and dizzy thinks | 1 Comment

NHS IT – has Labour wasted £12 billion?

By Iain Roberts | Mon 7th December 2009 - 11:45 am

The NHS is part way through one of the world’s biggest IT projects, a colossal £6.2bn programme which won’t be completed until the end of the decade.

So said Business IT website Silicon.com back in January 2006 – nearly four years ago when it reviewed the nine projects making up the Government’s NHS IT revolution, from Choose and Book to the NHS Spine.

As the end of the decade approaches, not only are the NHS IT projects far from completion, but the cost has more than doubled to over £12 billion.

We now hear that the project is to be scaled back, …

Posted in Op-eds | Also tagged norman lamb | 4 Comments

Daniel Hannan back talking about the NHS

By Mark Pack | Wed 11th November 2009 - 8:11 pm

Liberal Conspiracy has the story:

Dan Hannan slams NHS in new video for Ron Paul…

The video starts off with talking about the establishment of the NHS with images from the Second World War and that of Hitler.

Anthony says:

Did you enjoy the frames of Hitler when he was talking about the establishment of the NHS? Very stylish and clever. Remember, healthcare reform in the US is Nazi- lots of people say so like these people and these. Nicely done, Campaign for Liberty.

Hannan calls the NHS a remnant of a system from “war time planning”.

You can watch the film and read the …

Posted in News | Also tagged daniel hannan | 4 Comments