The first article by Jonathon Tomlinson a GP from Hoxton (inner city London GP practice) on this website, gives you an insight into how the market has “forced” hospitals to use gaming tactics in order to finance their budget. You should read this in conjunction with Matthew Dunnigan’s research showing the exorbitant way in which….
NHS Threats
The Bill that till Effectively Legalise Fraud
As the government looks to open up the NHS further to private companies, it has been as coy in its description of the companies looking to profit from this as the companies themselves. Health Secretary Andrew Lansley hardly mentions that these companies will be making a profit from his reforms, preferring to talk about modernisation….
Evidence (??) based politics takes another hit
Dr Peter Samuel puts the Scottish cat amongst the Lansley pigeons The NHS in England may be in turmoil, but a major new academic study claims its Scottish equivalent should serve as a role model for the public sector. According to the findings of a two-year report, post-devolution healthcare in Scotland represents a ?ground-breaking? approach….
Clive’s critique v Coalition’s codswallop re privatisation
The government’s health reforms fulfil commonly accepted criteria for privatisation. Repeated government denials about NHS privatisation don’t stand up to scrutiny. In response to widespread criticism of the proposed reforms of the NHS in England, the health secretary, Andrew Lansley, the prime minister, David Cameron, the deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg, and the chancellor of….
The Plot Against the NHS by Colin Leys
This lecture, given at Goldsmiths College, is based on the book The Plot Against the NHS, by Colin Leys and Stewart Player, published on April 14th. The common view of the changes proposed in the government’s Health and Social Care Bill is that they would be the most radical changes ever made to the NHS…..
BMJ Editorial underlining the stupidity of rushing through NHS reforms
“Dr” Lansley’s Monster Tony Delamothe, deputy editor Fiona Godlee, editor in chief The British Medical Journal London WC1H 9JRT, UK What do you call a government that embarks on the biggest upheaval of the NHS in its 63 year history, at breakneck speed, while simultaneously trying to make unprecedented financial savings? The politically correct answer….
The truth about the lies that encouraged NHS PFIs
Labour ministers only paid £5 billion of the £65 billion “spent” on building more than 100 hospitals between 1997 and 2010. The rest of the money, some £60 billion, must still be repaid by the taxpayer – with some of the gigantic debt lasting for more than 30 years. The highest profile case concerns….
Absence of evidence base for NHS reforms in England
The rule of ignorance: a polemic on medicine, English health service policy, and history. by John V Pickstone, research professor Centre for the History of Science, Technology and Medicine University of Manchester Manchester M13 9PL, UK Over the past two centuries dogmatism and quackery have been substantially reduced in clinical medicine, albeit unevenly. Over recent….
Private finance initiatives during NHS austerity
Ring fencing of private finance initiative payments prioritises investor returns over patient care and calls for tighter monitoring and renegotiation. The NHS is facing serious revenue pressures if it is to meet the target of £15bn-20bn efficiency savings by 2013-4. One important pressure for trust budgets in England is the annual private finance initiative (PFI)….
Strangulation of South London Services
St George’s Hospital Tooting will ‘axe 500 jobs’ Unison claims that there are plans to cut 500 jobs in an attempt to save £55m in the next financial year. One wonders why such large cuts are needed when, unlike Barts/London, their massive PFI which was opened in 2003 only cost £48m. Barts/London are only planning….