12 June
Why we need to campaign to save our NHS in Bolton(local)
Bolton News. Cites national release sent out after election result.
[13 more stories]
NHS faces worst ever nursing workforce crisis
Daily Mirror. An inevitable consequence of making people feel unwelcome.
http://www.mirror.co.uk/lifestyle/health/nhs-faces-worst-ever-nursing-10610939
Costs of giving birth privately (local)
GetWest London
http://www.getwestlondon.co.uk/news/west-london-news/without-nhs-giving-birth-london-13173820
13 June
Can the government face down opposition on the NHS?
Guardian. Opinion piece on dented Tory resolve to push ahead with STPs post election. Don’t underestimate the persistence of arrogance, but will it be tempered by pragmatic positioning?
https://www.theguardian.com/society/commentisfree/2017/jun/13/tories-face-down-opposition-nhs
Waiting times set to increase without more money
Independent. Local health bodies’ warning.
Keeping Hunt as Health Sec shows contempt for the NHS
Guardian opinion piece. But might there not also be Machiavellian considerations from a weakened PM? Keeping her (rapidly thinning) political friends close – and her enemies closer still?
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jun/13/may-reappointment-jeremy-hunt-contempt-nhs
14 June
Rise in Physician Associates replacing GPs alarming
Sun, reporting on the Mail. ‘Doctors on the cheap’ angle mentions the under-staffing behind it but does not then indicate chronic under-funding as the root cause, rather choosing to go for ‘doctors opting to work abroad or retire early’ – blame.
https://www.thesun.co.uk/living/3794522/cash-strapped-nhs-will-be-propped-up-cheap-doctors/
What would happen if we lost the NHS? (local)
Metro (London). Lists points for then against privatization. Ignores the fact that privatized systems are risk averse and exclude those who cannot pay or are deemed ‘high risk’ (so the argument about ‘getting better quality care’ becomes flawed). Misses the cardinal point that offering patients several ‘bids’ for their health care does not equate with offering services or goods where there is a true element of choice. How can people tell? And when threatened (with ill health), are they likely to make the best decision, or the one promising the most? Etc.
http://metro.co.uk/2017/06/14/what-would-happen-if-we-lost-the-nhs-6708024/
15 June
‘Three in four pensioners want tax increase’ to pay for NHS
Telegraph. Same article also states most young people do, too. Ignoring the ‘blame the old’ headline, the public willingness to accept tax increase with ring-fenced NHS amounts is apparent.
Hunt hints at lifting nurses’ pay cap
Guardian. Cites NHS staff coping with recent major incidents as what changed his mind. The fact that the government lost its majority and the RCN was squaring itself up for industrial action if this doesn’t happen are of course not mentioned by the Health Secretary. Nor is the chronic backlog of systematic under-payment going back years.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/jun/15/jeremy-hunt-hints-at-lifting-of-nurses-pay-cap
Stevens pledges to end ‘fractured’ health and social care system
iNews
https://inews.co.uk/essentials/news/health/nhs-england-chief-simon-stevens-pledge-social-care/
Hunt claims Manchester terrorist response was better because of STP
- Cites only own conviction as the justifying argument. And is using a Major Incident response a valid argument for justifying what STPs will do to the service overall under this government? How can he tell?
http://www.gponline.com/nhs-terrorism-response-better-stps-says-hunt/article/1436684
Majority of Charing Cross Hospital to be sold off under STP (local)
Metro News. ‘Comes as no surprise to us’, say Save Our Hospitals Hammersmith & Charing Cross!
Private GP service threat to NHS?
Daily Star. Describes Bournemouth GPs offering private service to non-NHS patients, and cites KONP on dangers.
http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/619325/nhs-doctors-gp-queue-jump-service
17 June
NHS paying private firms millions to avoid delayed transfers
Mirror. (Health Editor Andrew Gregory approached KONP and Doctors for the NHS for quotes.)
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/nhs-paying-private-firms-millions-10637419
Health unions urge May to ditch pay cap
Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/jun/19/health-unions-urge-theresa-may-to-ditch-nhs-pay-cap
Press enquiries continue to be made nationally, increasingly for advice from national outlets. Recent enquiries included the Daily Mirror.
These summaries provide a guide to the main stories in the preceding week, but you can get alerts sent about health stories to yourself every day. This is done through Google news and Google alerts: free services anyone can set up. To find out how to do this, go to the Steering Group, News & Events section on the KONP website (https://keepournhspublic.com/support-konp/steering-group-page/news-events/ ) and look for the “starter set of instructions”.
Mobile devices also have free apps that provide news, which you can filter with varying degrees of control.
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