QHATSCH

The Meaning of QHATSCH

There has been some limited debate amongst committee members about the use of rude words on our website. It occurred to me that we could dispense with the voluminous list of Anglo Saxon obscenities and import a very emphatic word from the German vocabulary. Quatsch is an expletive with onomatopoeic explosiveness. For those not versed….

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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….

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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….

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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….

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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….

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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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