The most damning evidence of the folly of the ‘purchaser-provider split’ has been revealed by The Times*, which reports on contract-awarding bodies throughout the NHS giving contracts to the same organisations their GP members are on. ‘An ethical conflict’ is putting it mildly. (more…)
News / Blog
You SHALL open 7 days: New challenge to ’24/7′ dogma
There is an astonishing problem with the ‘need’ to make GP appointments ‘7 days a week’: most people are not interested. According to a much larger survey reported in the Independent. Which belies the real question: what is this all about, then? The true driving agenda is far more sinister. (more…)
New Constitution
Doctors for the NHS now has an updated Constitution.
DFNHS Newsletter: All Change
The DFNHS Newsletter is about to get an upgrade. New design, more features, four colour, and on new paper. The first issue with the new design and content will be out in September. (more…)
NHS For Sale Authors on the NHS
DFNHS member Dr Jacky Davis and Dr David Wrigley, two of the authors of NHS For Sale, were interviewed by BBC Merseyside’s Roger Phillips while they were in Liverpool for the BMA conference on 24 June. They pulled no punches about what was wrong with the NHS, and how the government was steadily marketising our….
NHS Bill Goes Before Parliament – The Best Hope
The NHS Bill has been presented to this parliament by Green MP Caroline Lucas, as a Private Members’ Bill. Eleven other MPs signed the Bill (the maximum allowed), including SNP MP and DFNHS member Dr Philippa Whitford. (more…)
Dr Philippa Whitford, MP – Standing for the NHS
When Dr Philippa Whitford saw what was happening to the NHS, she faced one of the toughest decisions of her life. Should she continue to treat the patients in the job she loved as a breast surgeon? Or should she take up a calling that was every bit as challenging: become an MP? (more…)
PFI Fire Safety Failure: The First of Many?
The first trust to engage with a PFI scheme, Cumberland Infirmary in Carlisle, has encountered major problems with fire safety owing to construction flaws. These are now being put right – at public expense. Which raises a grave question: who pays for PFI failures? It looks to be the public. (more…)
BMA chief slams ‘7-day NHS week’ for what it is: empty rhetoric
Head of the BMA Dr Mark Porter has roundly criticised the government’s opening ‘promise’ to make the NHS a ‘7-day-a-week service’: by pointing out that it actually already is one, needs more money to stay that way let alone improve, and can only improve if it gets the investment to be better co-ordinated. Which this government….
The NHS matters, whoever you voted for. But the dangers are still not seen
A post-election poll by leading political pollster Lord Ashcroft has demonstrated that the NHS is a high priority to most voters – whoever they vote for. Which is encouraging news for NHS campaigners, if only the message can get across. Which it must, if the NHS so many care passionately about is not to split up….