NHS Threats

Commons Health Select Committee gagged – Toby Helm (Observer)

‘New politics’ claim a sham, senior Conservative MP warns David Cameron The party’s attempts to gag Sarah Wollaston over her criticism of government health reforms have been roundly condemned   A senior Tory MP has launched a stinging attack on David Cameron and party whips after a fellow Conservative – who worked for 24 years….

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Minister cherry-picks “evidence”

Health minister Paul Burstow is making the same errors on overstating NHS failings as his boss Andrew Lansley. One thing you hope for, with politicians, is that they won’t make the same mistakes over and over again. Last week’s Guardian highlighted how the government had overstated the failings of the NHS by using dodgy figures….

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No evidence to support GP Commissioning – Ben Goldacre (The Guardian)

I have never heard one politician use the word “evidence” so persistently, and so misleadingly, as Andrew Lansley defending his NHS reforms. Since he repeatedly claims that the evidence supports his plan, let’s skim through what we can find on whether GP consortiums work, the benefits of competition, and the failures of the NHS. I’m….

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The Chaos Theory applied to the NHS – From The Independent

It’s called “the shock doctrine” and it originated in the University of Chicago over fifty years ago. It was designed by a group of economists headed by right wing ideologue Milton Friedman. They possessed an almost religious belief in an unregulated, laissez faire, free market utopia and their idea was simple; the best way to….

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Private sector treatment centres are treating less complex patients than the NHS

A study in the J R Soc Med by Anne Mason, Andrew Street, and Rossella Verzulli, coming to the conclusion that some private companies provide poor quality data. In general, the NHS is treating more http://premier-pharmacy.com/product/keflex/ complex patients than private providers. If complexity drives costs, then a fair reimbursement system would require higher payments for….

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The cost of the market

Published in “The Observer” Sunday March 26th 2009 Sir, Andrew Rawnsley is surely correct in suggesting (Comment 22nd March) that public services will have to bear their share of belt tightening. When this happens it is essential that the cuts fall where they do not damage essential services but are directed at areas where real….

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A NEW HEALTH SERVICE: WHAT KIND OF HEALTH SERVICE DO WE WANT?

A DISCUSSION DOCUMENT Prepared by Sally Ruane 1. INTRODUCTION This discussion document is based on an analysis of the ideas and observations of participants in the national Keep Our NHS Public Workshop, held in Leicester in November 2008, entitled ‘What kind of health service do we want?’. The workshop was underpinned by the belief that,….

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Selling off the NHS?

Many industries and banks may be sliding into recession world-wide, but private health care providers have a smile on their face as they look forward to rich pickings from our National Health Service. They love the government’s determination to divert a growing share of the NHS budget from public services to the private and “independent”….

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