Topic: Health

Yesterday Gordon Brown made one of the most ground breaking, novel, ingenious, brilliant promises any politician has ever made.  The saviour of the NHS promised us clean hospitals for all.  Yes, that's right - while the rest us having been…

Another day, another report telling us that the government has wasted £43bn of taxpayers' money on the NHS.  This time the source is... the patients themselves!  And not just a few disgruntled ones either.  1.4 million of them were surveyed…

Security breach on Government's £12bn upgrade computer system shocker!  So the new computer system in the NHS isn't a tight as Fort Knox or even as secure as the flies on John Prescott's trousers it turns out.  What a surprise.  Amusingly…

The very reason we have an NHS is to ensure that those in society who may not be able to afford the luxuries in life can at least have free (at the point of use) health care that is of the same quality to that every one else gets in society…

More bad news for Alan Johnson.  It really is starting to pile up for him - though that is what happens when you are Health Secretary.  Sir Derek Wanless, an advisor who was one of the Brown's men who were behind increasing the NHS budget…

Despite reports last week that the NHS has gloriously balanced the books and managed to hoard £1bn of public money to "reinvest" in the health service, there are reports that Junior Doctors are being short changed by £500 a week due to…

The Times reports that the Tories' hospital campaign "was in disarray last night". One can pontificate on whether the campaign was the right point of attack (no), whether the mistakes are serious (in credibility terms, yes), and whether the…

Despite former secretary for Health, Patricia Hewitt, saying that while MTAS was about no doctor would be jobless, more than 10,000 trainee doctors could find themselves without posts within weeks. In order to hand out as many jobs as…

So, depending on who you believe - yesterday's changeover at the NHS was either a smooth transition with no problems whatsoever or it was a complete shambles.  My cynical money is on the shambles.  Fortunately, I was not hit by a car nor…

As hospitals wake up to the change over of 30,000 young doctors today, one hospital in particular will be welcoming back a Raj Mattu after five years.  The significance of this?  Well Mr Mattu has been serving a five year suspension from…

Following up another long running story that will go "live" tomorrow is the big doctor change over.  Thanks to some brilliant planning at the DoH, 30,000 junior doctors will all change jobs at once tomorrow.  It will mean that many patients…

Yesterday I reported how the government had spent billions on trying to get kids to do some sport with the incredible result of making absolutely no difference what so ever. Today, it has come to light that another one of the government's…

"-The reality on the ground is that there is a gloomy mood. There has been an awful lot of change in a short period. Staff feel overwhelmed by it.”- New Health Secretary Alan Johnson Arthur Fonzarelli last week announcing the “once in a…

Here's a story that will make you wish you could go private.  Take a deep breath. 500 patients a week are given the wrong treatment by the NHS.  That is almost 25,000 occasions last year, leading to deaths, serious injury and long-term harm…

The Tory crackpot policy machine has been given another crank over the weekend - this time by someone called Iain Duncan-Smith (I hadn't heard of him either). The Tory's latest battle against society is the plight of binge drinking. The…

Alan Johnson, aka the Fonz, has officially started the NHS game. He said yesterday "-The reality on the ground is that there is a gloomy mood. There has been an awful lot of change in a short period. Staff feel overwhelmed by it. They feel…

The main problem with the government claiming they are "investing" in the NHS three times as much money as the Tories did is that the NHS is still a complete shambles.  Actually what they are saying, to spin the story another way, is that…

Good bye Tony. Hello Gordon. Cabinet reshuffle. The Miliband brothers. Jacqui Smith. DCSF. DIUS. DBERR. Car bomb found in the West End. Spice girls reforming. It's been a busy 24 hours or so. So busy in fact, then what better day to "bury…

There is an extraordinary article in today's Times about the Public Health Minister Caroline Flint, aka Supernanny. It seems to be justifying some of the more draconian and nannying legislation that this government has put upon us. Those…

When exactly did smoking become the new paedophilia? They are the pariahs of modern society, and all common sense and decency can go to hell if it means the government and media can whip up a frenzy about these evil doers. There is the tale…

The Tories are pledging to create an independent NHS board that will take the day-to-day running of the health service out of the hands of ministers. Brilliant! Who came up with that idea? As regular readers of Picking Losers will know (and…

Richard Granger has resigned.  Never heard of him?  You will know his work.  He is was Britain's top paid civil servant (£290,000 a year no less) and was responsible for upgrading information technology (IT) systems and introducing…

And so to the BMA's annual conference where GPs voted on various issues. There were unanimous votes to carry the following motions: This conference has no confidence in the UK government's handling of the National Health Service, the…

As predicted, yesterday was a bad day for Patricia Hewitt - admittedly it didn't take Mystic Meg to predict that one, though!  However, it is hard to have any sympathy with her; she is heading a department that is spinning a genuinely bad…

What better reason could there be to top up your glass (and make it a big one), than that the Government and the BMA want to "crackdown on middle class wine drinkers". Some people damage their health by drinking too much, so of course it is…

"-Political meddling has brought the NHS to its knees-." So says Jonathan Fielden, chairman of the British Medical Association's consultants committee. "-We are angry with the government for a woeful dereliction of duty - towards patients…

Has the David Cameron honeymoon period come to an end? The grammar school debate has probably run a little further than he had hoped and there are signs that the right of party are fed up with being forced to tread the tight line between…

It has been a focus for debate on Picking Losers for some time and like the idea or loath it, the Nuffield Trust health think-tank has called for greater independence from day-to-day political control for the NHS. Professor Edwards from the…

Eric Friar is a 91 year old RAF war hero. Now Mr Friar isn't having the best of times at the moment, he suffers from mini-strokes, bladder cancer, non-Hodgkins lymhpoma, has been diagnosed with bowel and colon cancer, shingles, dementia, is…

The NHS is expected to announce an under-spend of nearly half a billion pounds.  This has, of course, upset the unions, who say that staff and patients have been treated so badly and yet there is £500m lying about.  To me it is just another…

The first high profile casualty of the NHS online recruitment fiasco has hit.  The chairman of the British Medical Association, James Johnson, has resigned after he was accused of being too close to the Government on the issue.  Mr Johnson…

Yesterday I asked the question, was the DoH decision to scrap the NHS online recruitment system a belated good decision or the only option left? Andrew Rowland, vice-chairman of the BMA's junior doctors committee, rather surprisingly…

An interesting stat in today's Times: NHS funding has leapt from £35 billion when Labour took office to £92 billion in 2007-08. On the surface, I think most people would look at the basic piece of information and say well done New Labour…

The BBC is reporting that the MTAS online recruitment system is being completely withdrawn.  A belated good decision or the only option left?

Below is a letter to the editor printed in today's Times. It makes very, interesting reading and has been signed by 18 members of the great and the good of the medical world: (I have highlighted some of the key statements) -Sir, The junior…

How about this for a health policy? Instead of putting patients in the more cost effective hospital, move them to the ones that are losing loads of money and cost more to run and then close down the more cost effective ones. Well that is…

An interesting story today about the British Medical Association and their calls for an independent NHS free from political control - not in keeping with the current poll on PL. The paper includes a broad outline of how they would like to…

What is the word for a story that reached the level of fiasco some time ago and continued to deteriorate? Fiasco seems inadequate as a decription of the failures of the NHS IT system, several of which have been noted on this site by JG. The…

Patricia Hewitt, interviewed on News 24 on Saturday morning, explained that she should not take responsibility for the MTAS fiasco because the new system had been widely consulted and widely supported prior to deployment. In other words…

A friend of mine wrote me an email yesterday saying that every time he reads a story on Picking Losers about the NHS it puts him in a bad mood. I promised him I would try and post a positive one as soon as I can. Well, here goes... A high…

From one IT system to another. The MTAS chaos rumbles on and the full reprocussions are going to be felt by the mugs that paid for it in the place - the users and funders of the NHS, you and me. Patricia "only a few weeks left and I'm out…

Well now we know how Tony Blair would vote in the poll. Yesterday he shot down Brown's hints that the NHS should be taken away from political control. He described it as "a great idea in theory", but warned it would disrupt the reforms and…

It is rumoured that Gordon Brown will give the NHS independence from political control in his first 100 days in power. No doubt he is hoping that this will be right up there with his decision to give the Bank of England independence in 199…

JG has been highlighting the MTAS fiasco. Besides the fine illustration it provides of this Government's incompetence and refusal to take responsibility for their mistakes, it also sheds an interesting sidelight on another bad Labour policy…

It just gets worse! On NHS Blog Doctor, Dr Crippen is reporting that any applicant can see any correspondent sent by a candidate on the Medical Training Application Service (MTAS) system, just by changing a couple of figures. This NHS…

The Guardian has revealed that there are 17 trusts that are heavily in debt and finally the NHS and Department of Health has admitted the problem. The debt is to the tune of hundreds of millions of pounds at each of the trusts - 12 of which…

There is worrying news about the levels of MRSA and other "hospital" superbugs from an independent study done by Dr Foster Research. The study of 167 NHS hospital trusts in England found that infection control was in a state of disarray…

A former Minister who has responsibility for NHS reform, Lord Warner, has launched an extra-ordinary attack on all those who work in the NHS. He cites "productivity" issues and resistance to change within the NHS as the major causes for the…

I haven't mentioned the NHS for a while, but it was always going to come back. So here goes - the National Health Service's £12.4 billion national computer system. It's not a particularly new story, but confirmation of what we all feared…

It is reported today, in the Telegraph, that the Government spends as much as 85p in every £1 spent on health in Labour Constituencies. It is not the first time that we have learnt the Government has been using financial incentives to win…

Has there been a government better at "charging for old rope" than this current one. As I understand, our taxes go, in large parts, to the funding of all things NHS - including their car parks. However, our money that went to towards…

NHS shocker: "-Reorganisation of NHS services for patients needing medical attention outside normal working hours was shambolic and ran hugely over budget-." This is according to a cross-party committee report on one of the government's key…

Rather like yesterday's post about Gordon Brown and the Treasury, the attacks I am giving the NHS at the moment aren't borne out of partisan views or a fundamental opposition to the idea of free health. I believe it is very important that…

And back to an old favourite. The NHS and IT systems. It has been announced that the NHS will start recruiting a new IT supplier to its troubled £6.2bn IT upgrade project this month in the clearest sign yet that it has completely cocked up…

The NHS crisis is growing by the day - problems with IT systems, funding issues and misuses of funds, ineffective use of nurse and doctor resources, the list is seemingly endless. A story today has managed to combine all the worse parts of…

The implementation of a plan to merge and renew three out of date hospitals into a superhospital in London has been criticised by the Public Accounts Committee. The original plan estmated the total cost to be £300m and the project to be…

Since the new government contract with GPs, the average pay for GPs is now more than £100,000. The new contract was designed to give general practices additional funds to invest in improving and developing services to patients. But it was…

Today's papers are reporting further mismanagement of the NHS. A leaked document has revealed that the government expects a shortage of nurses and GPs in four years but the NHS will have to reduce the number of hospital doctors to save…

Mark and Lezley Gibson and Marcus Davies were convicted on 15 December of distributing cannabis-laced chocolate bars to multiple sclerosis (MS) sufferers. They await sentencing on 26 January. Lezley is herself a MS-sufferer, who was told at…

Pregnant Germans are trying to delay the birth of their babies until 1 January, the BBC report, because parents of babies born after that date will receive 25,200 euros (£16,911, $33,300 at current exchange rates) to "ease the financial…

The Guardian reports that 13 NHS trusts are "technically bankrupt with no chance of meeting a legal obligation to balance their books." The deficits are mainly caused by a financial regime known as Resource Accounting and Budgeting (RAB…

The PM has defended the NHS reform and is convinced that it will lead to a better patient care. It comes as an IPPR report supports the closure of local A&E departments to be replaced by a network of specialist units. But a vast majority of…

The NHS is likely to give dance classes to tackle declining fitness levels and counter a national obesity crisis according to the Independent. Trials have been carried out costing £2.5 million and the DoH said that dance classes have proven…

The Telegraph reports that hopitals are advised not to treat patients "too promptly" as this is costing too much money. The "Choose and Book" system has allowed patients to book early appointments which means that hospitals might lose money…

The Guardian writes on its front page on how personal medical records are to be uploaded regardless of patients' wishes to a central national database which can be accessed by a huge number of NHS staff and from where the information can be…

Most examples of picking losers are normally quite subtle. Very often, the offending policy is well-meaning, and the harm unintentional. But the abuse by the Labour Party of their control of the levers of power to steer funding towards…

For the past decade, the West has been relatively immune to price-/wage-inflation, despite significant expansions of the money supply and movement of various national balances from credit to debit, thanks to the deflationary effects of…

As reported by the Telegraph, but strangely not available on their website, the charity Inter Care has been forced to shut down its operations by the Environment Agency (EA). Inter Care sends unused drugs from the UK to African hospitals…

Following on from the item on birth centres, we now learn that upto eighty cottage hospitals may be facing cuts. As per birthcare, it's not the cuts themselves that are necessarily the problem, but the fact that this is no economic choice…

Someone in Whitehall decided that the most efficient way of dealing with out-of-hours medical enquiries was to have a centralised phone enquiry system (NHS Direct), rather than doctors on call. This would save money and make doctors…

Upto 20% of Britain's "home-style" birth centres may be closed due to the NHS's "funding crisis" (read, "spending crisis"), the Sunday Telegraph reports. Your options during childbirth will now, even more than before, depend on where you…