No one uses fax machines any more. X-ray films in their bulging racks are a thing of the past. Online and phone consultations, hastened by Covid, are now commonplace. Progress happens and people can gain greatly. The NHS can be better this way. And yet… (more…)
The principle of a national health service paid for though general taxation and free at the point of need is beautifully simple. (more…)
There is a chance the government will be swayed by a proposal put forward by the private healthcare lobby to invest massively in the private sector to ease waiting list pressures – to the tune of £1 billion, according to some news reports. We say beware. (more…)
If something is broken, can it be fixed? That may well have been the hoped-for question when the NHS was referred to as ‘broken’. The problem is, the NHS isn’t a car, a computer, a pothole or an attendance record. Its complexity and size make simple summaries such as ‘the NHS is broken’ almost guaranteed….
In 2003 the role of PA, then known as Physician Assistant, was introduced to the NHS. Some had trained as a Physician Assistant in the USA – a 3 year course there in comparison with 3 years in the UK. The numbers here were small and few of us were aware of them. (more…)
Both Labour and the Conservative pledges on the NHS announced recently amount to continued hardship and austerity in the face of record demands for services and increasing reliance on for-profit services, often in such a way that the public cannot readily discern the role private healthcare providers play – or the cash they take out….
DFNHS has joined with 15 other organisations in presenting evidence to Parliament’s Health and Social Care Committee (HSCC) Inquiry into NHS leadership, performance and patient safety, in a bid to improve the way disciplinary procedures are carried out in hospitals. The Inquiry accepted the evidence to consider. (more…)
The Peter Fisher Essay Prize, open to all doctors in training, carries a first prize of £500 and second prize of £200. It is now in its seventh year. (more…)
Reputations are fragile and easily dashed. All the more so in the age of social media. (more…)
People can see it’s bad. They know the NHS is in trouble. If asked, most will agree that a slight hike in income tax – hypothecated to the NHS – is acceptable and necessary. They know staff are working too hard, for too long. They know it is becoming harder to get timely treatment. (more…)
