18 July
What is being done to tackle the NHS workforce crisis?
Warnings from NHS Employers’ chief exec Danny Mortimer. Guardian
[13+ more stories]
NHS scheme uses skills of refugee doctors
An excellent illustration of why treating people as Brexit bargaining counters is unfair and unjust, and how the NHS thrives because of ‘immigrant’ labour. BBC News (World at One)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-40442848
Britain needs to recruit 2,000 more foreign doctors
The headline is telling – this is the Mail. But the story does give a more rounded approach to the problem, which is this government’s appalling lack of planning for NHS staffing and its use of EU workers as Brexit bargaining counters.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-4705526/NHS-needs-recruit-2-000-foreign-doctors.html
Compare with the more liberal approach about the same story, from the Guardian:
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/jul/19/nhs-england-urgently-needs-2200-more-ae-consultants
20 July
Calls for tighter controls on private hospitals after MRSA case
Good illustration of the fact that private hospitals are not held to the same standards as the NHS. Guardian
Hunt suggests NHS should pay to remove damp from council houses
Oh, good grief. Not content with under-funding the NHS for years, the government’s chief representative for health policy is seriously suggesting what’s left of our NHS can spend even more of its non-existent funds on trying to ‘remove’ damp from what is left of social housing. Not the near- (and in some cases, worse than) slums some private landlords racketeer, mind you. Just council. Built, in the main, on the cheap in the 1960s and 1970s under the policies of a Conservative government more obsessed with numbers than quality of life…now why does that sound familiar? Sky News
http://news.sky.com/story/health-secretary-suggests-nhs-could-remove-council-house-damp-10953902
NHS activists condemn £325 million boost for STPs
Includes quote from Alan Taman, for KONP. Morning Star:
http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/a-ffe3-NHS-Activists-slam-325m-bung-for-STPs#.WXhMCbGZOks
21 July
Oxford mortality figures show divide between rich and poor
Includes quote from KONP Oxford. Well done, Oxford. Oxford Times
24 July
NHS to review plans to divert people from A&Es
Hard to see how this is going to work for much longer, as ‘centralisation’ closes A&E departments and forces increased travel distances for many. This will mean more lives lost. Does this government care? Independent
General practice is being ground down so private providers can take over
Yes, it is. Written by a GP. Guardian
Campaigners hit out at NHS hospital’s private ward (local)
Swindon Advertiser. Quote from Samantha Wathen, KONP Swindon. Well done, Samantha
25 July
LBC radio. Live ‘Drive time interview’ with Alan Taman, from 4pm, on unfilled NHS posts and what was causing this. Podcast available but subscription needed:
NHS faces unprecedented crisis from workforce shortages
Widely reported. Independent carried a quote from KONP
Also the Times (but this is behind a paywall)
NHS needs more money but must improve how it spends it
From chief inspector of hospitals. Guardian
Press enquiries continue to be made nationally, increasingly for advice from national outlets. Recent enquiries included the Independent, Morning Star, The Times and LBC radio (all of which subsequently carried quotes or interviews from KONP).
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.
It’seems a crying shame that the tories are not being prosecuted for fraud and theft of public property…aka the people’s NHS.And those profiting from the people’s NHS areally not being jailed for receiving the stolen people’s property.