Government to ditch disastrous NHS ‘reforms’
11 February 2021
The government is to reverse the central thrust of the 2012 NHS reforms. Central planning is back on the agenda, finally.
Health
Health
Covid-19: Russian lessons for British schools
7 February 2021
Russia’s main opposition party is campaigning for the “natural right” of children to go to school in the face of widespread closures.
Call to double medical school places
10 January 2021
The Royal College of Physicians has set out plans to double the number of medical school places, planning for Britain’s needs for the next ten years and beyond.
Devolving health: it doesn’t make sense
For Britain to persist with devolved health services is a nonsense – economies of scale are being lost and during the current health crisis efforts are being dissipated. A look at Scotland indicates the scale of the problem…
NHS - Getting ready
The NHS is preparing for winter and a predicted second wave of Covid-19 infections. The service must also look at how it has dealt with patients referred for investigations and treatment for other conditions.
NHS recruitment: self-sufficiency is the answer
10 October 2020
It is unethical for health services to rely on imported workers, as they have done for too long. Workers can take responsibility by challenging international recruitment.
NHS prepares
11 September 2020
As well as preparing for winter and a second wave of Covid-19, the NHS must look at how it has dealt with other conditions and plans for the future.
Dexamethasone saves lives in Covid-19 patients
9 July 2020
Britain leads research to combat novel coronavirus Covid-19 across many areas. One strand has already produced great results that will save lives.
We need a discussion, not a postmortem
Covid-19 has revealed the evil effects of the criminal fragmentation of Britain’s health and social care. The so-called internal market has failed. Workers must ensure that we never again face such a calamity…
Student nurses - call to scrap tuition fees
Unions representing nurses, midwives and allied healthcare professionals are calling on the government to improve support during their training.
Brussels bids to take charge of health services
The European Commission is making a concerted power grab to give itself the right to intervene in member states’ health systems.
Yes, it’s a crisis. And time to ask hard questions
Workers in the NHS, and all of us who use it should insist that never again can it be allowed to face such an epidemic with such limited resources…
A questioning generation
The British working class has a good history of “doing the 24-hour job” and asking the questions at the same time – during the Second World War, for example.
Union reps take responsibility to keep ambulances running
Media descriptions of “health heroes” often stops at doctors and nurses. At the front of the front line, though, are the ambulance services.
Unison reps take responsibility to keep ambulance services running
14 April 2020
London’s ambulance service has been under heavy strain. But it has not buckled. Key to its resilience has been the acceptance of responsibility by the main trade union, Unison.
Over-60s: Malnutrition on the rise
The number of over-60s diagnosed with malnutrition has more than trebled in the past decade, says NHS Digital
NHS training body still looking outside Britain
30 May 2019
The body responsible for educating and training the NHS workforce in England is still fixated on importing labour from abroad.
Reunite the NHS
18 March 2019
There are positive signs that fragmentation of the NHS in England is coming to an end. Professional bodies, unions and others are unanimous that the 2012 Health and Social Care Act should go.
'Austerity' alive and well as government dodges responsibility
11 February 2019
Millions around the country are experiencing every day the consequences of a political system that has washed its hand of the people and handed control over to the European Union, the market, or both.
NHS plan: still not fit
15 January 2019
The government's NHS Long Term Plan for England came out on 7 January. It includes significant spending and opportunities to improve the service. But there are also critical weaknesses for NHS workers to deal with.
Call for more student doctors
Britain needs to increase the number of student doctors, says the president-elect of the Royal College of Physicians.
Journal pans device regulation
An editorial in the British Medical Journal – not noted for a pro-Brexit line – points out the weaknesses of medical device regulation in the EU.
NHS workers must remain vigilant
1 October 2018
In June the government asked NHS England to make a 10-year plan, and guaranteed real funding increases over the next 5 years. NHS workers must remain vigilant to take advantage of the opportunity to repair damage done to the service.
Child health: teachers helping out
The hygiene levels of a growing number of primary schoolchildren are so bad that teachers are having to provide basic items of personal hygiene to large numbers of them, says a charity.
Unison accepts NHS pay agreement
Members of Unison, the largest union in the NHS, have voted overwhelmingly to accept the latest pay agreement.
NHS staff consider pay offer
It’s bad enough that the NHS has been lagging behind inflation for seven years but take the rise in travel costs, accommodation and food into account and the gap between the pay “rise” and RPI becomes even starker.
Health - Avoidable deaths
Across Britain an average of 229 avoidable deaths was recorded for every 100,000 people between 2014 and 2016 – a total of around 138,000 people a year.
Scarlet fever makes a comeback
6 January 2018
The rise in the number of cases of scarlet fever shows no sign of tailing off significantly, with a record 544 cases recorded in England in the week before Christmas.
Carillion on the brink
16 October 2017
Carillion, a British company running construction and facilities management services across the globe, posted a £1.5 billion loss in the first half of 2017. This has been followed by a retreat from outsourced and private contracting across the Middle East, North America and Britain.
Nurses: time to take charge - shorter version
With 40,000 nursing posts vacant in England, it’s time to refocus on the real causes of the staff crisis.