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NHS

  • 7 May 2013
    The BBC: Promoting UKIP and ignoring NHS privatisation

    When the House of Lords recently passed Section 75 of the Health and Social Care Bill, there was no coverage on BBC News. The significance and contentiousness of this legislation, which opens the NHS up to a free market in healthcare, was explained here by Savi Hensman.

  • 3 May 2013
    UKIP, the NHS and perils of protest voting

    The United Kingdom Independence Party won around a quarter of the votes in wards where it fielded candidates in English local elections. Mainstream parties may be tempted to shift even further to the right in order to win over UKIP voters. But this might end up losing them electoral support, as well as being unjust and deepening rifts in society.

  • 25 Apr 2013
    Lords back NHS regulations despite privatisation fears

    The House of Lords has backed regulations promoting privatisation of NHS services in England. An Opposition attempt to overturn the NHS (Procurement, Patient Choice and Competition) (No. 2 Regulations 2013) was defeated by a ruling Coalition majority of over a hundred votes. Holders of NHS budgets are likely to be forced to put more services out to tender, giving lucrative opportunities to private firms even if this harms patient care.

  • 23 Mar 2013
    Sacrifice or change? The NHS and health after Mid Staffs

    A change of heart, procedure, policy and resources is needed to make health for all a priority in Britain, says Savitri Hensman, looking at the lessons that need to be learned from Mid Staffs and beyond.

  • 8 Mar 2013
    Health Secretary dangerously misses Mid Staffs point

    UK Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has attacked mediocre hospitals that “cruise along” rather than striving for “world class levels of excellence”. He referred to Mid Staffordshire, where failings led to unnecessary suffering and death.

  • 18 Feb 2013
    Bishops say marketisation of NHS has gone too far

    The marketisation of the health service "has gone too far", two Church of England bishops have suggested, following the latest scandal.

  • 7 Feb 2013
    Mid Staffordshire – change culture, don’t just scapegoat or restructure

    A report on why Mid Staffordshire hospital failings went unchecked for so long makes important points. Robert Francis QC, who led the inquiry, avoided the temptation to blame all that went wrong on a few people who could then be punished, or call for yet another round of reorganisation. Instead he revealed disturbing flaws in the culture of the NHS and other agencies linked with health and social care.

  • 29 Jan 2013
    Influential chief of GPs body backs move to keep healthcare free

    Professor Clare Gerada, chair of the influential Royal College of General Practitioners, has backed crossbench peer Lord Owen's 'reinstate the NHS' Bill.

  • 29 Jan 2013
    Welcome for new Bill to 'reinstate' the National Health Service

    The National Health Action party, set up to work against the destruction of the NHS, has welcomed Lord David Owen’s NHS 'Re-instatement' Bill.

  • 28 Jan 2013
    Churches join new NHS-backed organ and blood donation drive

    A groundbreaking new campaign calling on churches to increase the number of blood and organ donors in the UK has been launched today.