Tag: health

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As NHS England staggers into a ‘third world’ crisis, BBC England ignores yet BBC Scotland platforms Labour and Cons to make one up here

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BBC Scotland above and BBC England below: You’d be forgiven for thinking things were difficult in NHS Scotland but hunky dory in England, yet in the Guardian today: NHS chief warns trusts in England are ‘stretched to limit’ amid strikes. Several NHS trusts in England have already declared critical incidents during the walkout, which continues until Tuesday. Some have asked staff to return to work, citing patient safety. It means that Sunak’s key pledge on NHS waiting times risks going into reverse. Official data suggests that since the PM made his pledge a year ago, the waiting list has gone up by … Continue reading As NHS England staggers into a ‘third world’ crisis, BBC England ignores yet BBC Scotland platforms Labour and Cons to make one up here

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Cancer – Claims by leading English medics mean SNP could save hundreds from early death

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In the Guardian today: Thousands of cancer patients could die early if ministers and junior doctors do not urgently resolve their bitter pay row, health officials have warned. Oncologists and cancer leaders are becoming increasingly alarmed and frustrated at the devastating impact of NHS strikes on care and treatment. Tens of thousands of patients have had cancer appointments, treatments and operations cancelled since the strikes began about 13 months ago. The current six-day strike is the ninth time junior doctors have stopped working in the last year and the longest to hit the health service since it was founded in 1948. More … Continue reading Cancer – Claims by leading English medics mean SNP could save hundreds from early death

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It’s a no brainer – public assets should be publicly owned

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Leah Gunn Barrett The Horizon-Fujitsu Post Office scandal is rooted in the UK government’s 2015 privatisation of a public service that had been state-owned (in England) for almost 500 years. It’s what happens when essential public services are sold off to private companies because the government is in thrall to an ideology that prizes profit maximisation over people.  The failing UK has zealously pursued this ideology to its natural conclusion – the complete collapse of public services and the immiseration of the people they’re intended to serve.  Essential services – health, water, energy, transport, mail, telecommunications – are more expensive … Continue reading It’s a no brainer – public assets should be publicly owned

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Junior doctors’ strike is becoming Labour’s problem

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Remarkably but not unusually unaware, the Guardian has this today: With a general election now on the horizon, MPs are starting to talk about the prospect of strikes straddling two administrations. Will some calculate that if they hold out a few months longer their pay deals would be done by a Labour government, which might find them politically harder to refuse? By publicly readying for a spring election, no matter how unlikely some think that is in practice, the government has opened up that possibility. Junior doctors’ leaders seem intent on driving change within their institutions and shifting broader attitudes … Continue reading Junior doctors’ strike is becoming Labour’s problem

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Cancer checks, A&E waiting times, hospital Covid infections and drug deaths – Why England’s health statistics are even worse than we were told

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Thanks again to Dottie’s Phone for alerting me to this. All sources below. Yesterday in the Guardian: NHS figures that show more people than ever are being checked for cancer have been criticised as “misleading” by experts. Official data published on Monday reported that almost 3 million people in England were tested for cancer in 2022, a 133% increase in the decade since 2013. The latest monthly figures also show that October 2023 was the highest month on record for cancer checks, with 269,492 urgent referrals. But leading cancer experts dismissed the figures as “misleading” and “smoke and mirrors”, noting that the NHS was … Continue reading Cancer checks, A&E waiting times, hospital Covid infections and drug deaths – Why England’s health statistics are even worse than we were told

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The Scottish Health Service won’t be safe under an English Labour government

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First of three pieces from Leah Gunn Barrett This was published in the December 19th edition of the Edinburgh Evening News. An English Labour government is the last thing Scotland needs. English Labour’s shadow health spokesperson, Wes Streeting, said spending more on health comes at the expense of “other worthy causes” and that “under Labour you can have a well-funded NHS or you can lift kids out of poverty, but you can’t have both.”[1] That’s a false choice. It implies that governments are limited in what they can spend to help their people. Taxpayers don’t fund the NHS, the government … Continue reading The Scottish Health Service won’t be safe under an English Labour government

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Why is BBC England or UK press not reporting ‘Longest-ever NHS strike will sink Sunak’s waiting list pledge, say health chiefs’

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In the Observer today: One of Rishi Sunak’s key targets for the NHS – to eliminate waits of longer than 65 weeks for operations and other procedures by March – is likely to be missed because of strike action, health bosses warned this weekend. The health service faces the longest national strike in its history when junior doctors walk out for six days from 7am on Wednesday. One NHS trust leader said he expected about a third of operations to be cancelled at his trust. Strike action by consultants, junior doctors and nurses over the last year has hampered the work to … Continue reading Why is BBC England or UK press not reporting ‘Longest-ever NHS strike will sink Sunak’s waiting list pledge, say health chiefs’

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Cheese producers are dodging Scottish Government regulations to follow lower UK standards and risk E.coli deaths

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I’ve had a bit of a reaction to my previous post suggesting that cheese production in Scotland could not use raw milk (unpasteurised) like the Lancashire dairy whose cheese has recently killed one man in Scotland. The Food Standards Agency Scotland regulation is clear: It is an offence to place raw milk or cream on the market for direct consumption in Scotland – this includes distribution. The ban includes sheep, goats, buffalo and any other species farmed for its milk. Raw drinking milk and cream has historically been recognised as a high risk to public health as it was linked … Continue reading Cheese producers are dodging Scottish Government regulations to follow lower UK standards and risk E.coli deaths

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NHS Scotland – A wee heresy

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By Alasdair Galloway As regular readers of Talking Up Scotland will be well aware John and Stewartb have long and honourable records of showing how much better the NHS in Scotland perform (ambulance waiting times, A&E waiting) compared to the NHS in other parts of this sceptred isle. As well as this valuable service they regularly call out claims to the contrary – misreports – often from the BBC and the Herald. Let me be quite clear that I have absolutely no problem with this, and in fact agree fully with both. And yet …..and yet …. Can we honestly … Continue reading NHS Scotland – A wee heresy