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BLOGS
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Alistair Barbour
:The Woolwich Murders and the Far Right
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Chuka Umunna
:Ed's Google Speech and What It Means for Responsible Capitalism
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Jemma Wayne
:Time to Stop Laughing at Farage's Bad Jokes
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Duncan Weldon
:Chancellor Should Heed IMF Advice and Increase Infrastructure Spending Now
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Alistair Darling
:Salmond's Default Position Bankrupts His Credibility
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If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
If the NHS is going to survive for the next generation, it simply must evolve new models of provision. NHS 111 is moving in exactly the right direction. In fact, it should be going further. It is just a shame it was sent off prematurely, an unfinished car with a new driver on a half-built road.
For those of you who don't know, I'm a superhero. I'm not bragging. It's a fact. I'm different from you.
As you can imagine, having staple foods such as bread, pasta and flour mixes on prescription is a vital lifeline for the majority of those who have to follow a gluten free diet, especially those where such carbohydrate rich food sources are important in their nutritional regime, such as diabetics.
There is a real danger we make it impossible for disabled people to be part of the community. The Paralympics effect was about making disabled people more visible. The crisis in social care for disabled people - to mis-use Lord Coe's quote - could mean we simply never see disabled people again.
Whilst the Mayor may not be in the business of running healthcare services, he does have a responsibility to combat health inequalities. There couldn't be a bigger health inequality than some communities having access to great quality services, whilst others are forced to suffer the burden of travelling tens of miles to access services that they should be able to get locally.
We are doctors. We do health. We do not have armies of lawyers and specialists in tendering and procurement at our disposal. We would rather invest in nurses, dieticians and pharmacists - and I would rather see patients than have to fight for the survival of our HIV service.
Today NHS managers want to sell off part of the Whittington site, cutting almost 570 jobs to leave the hospital with reduced maternity services, ward closures and fewer beds for the elderly. Why cut funding for something which works? At what cost is the government saving costs?
Repealing the 1948 Act will not reduce the amount the NHS is required to pay to meet claimants' future care needs. In the majority of cases involving catastrophic injuries - such as birth injury, acquired brain injury and spinal injury claims - the claimant requires social rather than nursing/medical care.
Our leadership challenge now is to show quickly that we have the ability to take the Francis report and make sure the NHS, the services it provides and the trust the British public have in it increases and enhances its reputation as one of the world's leading health care systems.
We are on the eve of an earthquake in the National Health Service. On 6 February, Robert Francis QC, will present his report into what Health secretary Jeremy Hunt has described as "perhaps the most shocking betrayal of NHS founding values in its history".
As long as people (and the media) focus on doom and the possibility of doom, then people will read about it, talk about it and wait for it to happen.
I think that, as a society, the shocking level of treatment for some of our most vulnerable members should make us all angry - and that this anger should propel us all to take action, in whatever way we see fit, until we remedy this deplorable situation.
The potential in health is absolutely enormous. With free-flowing and reliable data we could better understand the causes of illness, identify the best ways to treat, and eliminate many of the irritating inefficiencies that today seem to just be part of being ill.
I can't email my GP. I can't see my personal health records online. I can't order a postal STI test from my local NHS. I can't Skype my obstetrician to get my test results. It's as if Britain's retail revolution passed our healthcare system by completely.
What is wrong with our health service that such a radical overhaul is needed? Is it that broke? News another seriously ill patient has been transferred from a private to a public hospital for treatment says something about standards of care in the NHS.
Congratulations on your appointment. Although some may see it as a case of out of the frying pan and into the fire, there's an important job to do and Rupert has assured me that there are no plans for News Corp to enter the healthcare market.
