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The NHS (UK) thread

The British public have been been urged to take part in a nationwide salute tonight to thank NHS staff battling the spread of coronavirus.

Organisers of the "Clap for our Carers" initiative have planned a round of applause in a show of appreciation to doctors, nurses and all those tackling the COVID-19 outbreak.

It is set to take place at 8pm this evening from the nation's doorsteps, windows, gardens and balconies.

Annemarie Plas is the founder of the #clapforourcarers movement

Backing the gesture, the Department for Health tweeted: "Join the nation at 8pm tonight to say THANK YOU to all health and social care staff on the frontline, who are working tirelessly across the country in the fight against #coronavirus".

More than 470 deaths linked to coronavirus have been recorded in the UK so far.

In a statement, campaigners behind the initiative "during these unprecedented times" NHS workers "need to know that we are grateful".

They added: "Please join us on 26th March at 8pm for a big applause (from front doors, garden, balcony, windows, living rooms etc) to show all nurses; doctors; GPs and carers our appreciation for their ongoing hard work and fight against this virus."

When asked whether the prime minister would be taking part, Boris Johnson's spokesman said: "The prime minister will take every opportunity that is available to him to express his support for the fantastic efforts of the NHS."

Despite the gesture, doctors and nurses have repeatedly complained about not having enough personal protective equipment (PPE) and feeling like "cannon fodder" in the fight against the virus.

They have also reported a lack of testing for healthcare workers.

In response to the increasing demands on the NHS, the government is opening a temporary hospital at an exhibition centre in east London and asking manufacturers to produce thousands of ventilators.

It also issued a call for 250,000 volunteers to sign up to help the NHS and vulnerable people affected by the outbreak. Health Secretary Matt Hancock said on Thursday that 560,000 people had already volunteered.

https://news.sky.com/story/coronavi...rers-and-applaud-nhs-workers-tonight-11964074
 
From London

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JaDed said:
How did they come about this idea of clapping?
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Think done in India first?

Must be something like that.

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Hundreds of frontline NHS staff will be tested this weekend to find out if they have coronavirus, as the government moves to ramp up testing for the disease among healthcare workers.

Michael Gove announced that increased antigen testing, developed in partnership between UK businesses, research institutes and universities, will be rolled out immediately to those working in hospitals and social care.

Speaking at the government's daily coronavirus briefing, cabinet minister Mr Gove said that the testing would begin this weekend, "dramatically" scaling up next week, allowing those working in health and social care to "have security in the knowledge that they can safely return to work if their test is negative".

"This is absolutely crucial to our response to - and fight against - coronavirus," he added.

https://news.sky.com/story/coronavi...receive-antigen-testing-for-covid-19-11964673
 
JaDed said:
How did they come about this idea of clapping?
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They'll be doing it for farm workers next I imagine. A "Pick for Britain" campaign is supposedly next one to be launched to urgently replace the EU workers we told to go back home after Brexit.
 
My ex-gf who works as a doctor in the NHS has now symptoms for COVID and is undergoing isolation alone in her apartment with her famiy in Pakistan. She told me that they were not given PPE and even though she is a doctor, she still hasnt been able to get tested for Corona. How ridicolous is that? Even Pakistan is better than the bloody UK. I am so ******.
 
IMMY69 said:
Amazing
Our whole street started clapping and cheering!!!
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Kind of cringy thing that those is for attention seeking people. What about actually doing smething that helps people in the NHS for example letting them show their ID and go into supermarkets before everyone else. Apparently they still queue with everyone else.

This clapping crap is the equivalent to someone donating to charity and telling the world.
 
bones said:
Kind of cringy thing that those is for attention seeking people. What about actually doing smething that helps people in the NHS for example letting them show their ID and go into supermarkets before everyone else. Apparently they still queue with everyone else.

This clapping crap is the equivalent to someone donating to charity and telling the world.
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There were many doctors requesting, dont clap for us. Just stay at home and that would be enough.
 
bones said:
Kind of cringy thing that those is for attention seeking people. What about actually doing smething that helps people in the NHS for example letting them show their ID and go into supermarkets before everyone else. Apparently they still queue with everyone else.

This clapping crap is the equivalent to someone donating to charity and telling the world.
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They've done that now ie letting NHS staff in stores with IDs. But no point. We went and most things were out of stock.

As for clapping. Please save that. Instead of clapping stop voting for blood suckers like Tories who have done nothing for the NHS. That's all I'll say on this topic.
 
Look at this disgusting thing - whats wrong with UK Society?


===


Police across the country are clamping down on people deliberately coughing on others during the coronavirus pandemic.

On separate occasions, NHS staff have been coughed at on purpose, a pensioner was spat on by a teenager, a man is accused of spitting blood in police officer's faces and another is accused of coughing on an officer while claiming he had coronavirus.

As the UK was placed on lockdown on Monday evening, police were given sweeping powers to ensure people stay at home and avoid non-essential travel during the COVID-19 crisis.

They have seen an increasing number of people using the disease to assault others.

Police in Warrington, Cheshire, have promised to prosecute a group of teenagers who claimed to have coronavirus and deliberately coughed at NHS staff.

Sergeant Hillyard of Cheshire Police said: "The youths will be prosecuted as will their parental guardians.

"This is an absolutely abhorrent incident involving abuse of our NHS heroes.

"I will once again urge all parents and persons with parental responsibility to make sure that their children STAY INSIDE. You too can and will be prosecuted if you fail to keep your children inside."

Teenager coughed at pensioner while shouting 'coronavirus'

In Tameside, Greater Manchester, a 14-year-old boy has been charged with assault after a 66-year-old woman was coughed on and spat at.

Officers were called just before 8.30pm on Tuesday to a report that earlier that evening a boy had been coughing and shouting "coronavirus" at a woman in Ashton-under-Lyne town centre.

The boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is set to appear at Tameside Youth Court on 7 April.

Man spat blood in four police officers' faces

In Withington, also in Greater Manchester, Samuel Konneh, 38, is accused of spitting blood in four police officers' faces as they responded to reports of a woman being assaulted on Thursday.

He was charged with four counts of attempted grievous bodily harm with intent, with regards to the spitting, and one count of stalking and one count of battery relating to the woman.

Konneh was refused bail, did not enter a plea and was remanded in custody to appear at Manchester Crown Court on 24 April.

Man being arrested coughed at officer and said he had coronavirus

In central Manchester's Piccadilly Gardens, another man, Mateusz Rejewski, 33, allegedly coughed at an officer on Thursday while claiming he had coronavirus.

The officer, who was detaining the suspect for breaching a dispersal order, is now self-isolating as a precaution.

Rejewski, of no fixed abode, has been charged with one count of common assault on an emergency service worker and one count of breaching a dispersal notice.

He is in custody and is due to appear at Manchester Magistrates' Court on 28 April.

https://news.sky.com/story/coronavi...-by-people-claiming-to-have-covid-19-11965058
 
NHS workers are being tested at two temporary drive-through stations in the UK.

The retailer Boots opened the facilities in the car park of Chessington World of Adventures in Surrey, and at its headquarters in Beeston, Nottinghamshire.

The centres were launched to support the government's bid to test doctors and nurses who have been self-isolating and are unsure whether they have the virus.

The sites are for NHS staff and operate by invitation only, the company said.
 
Cpt. Rishwat said:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...nt-NHS-doctors-died-fighting-coronavirus.html

The 10 immigrant doctors who died fighting Coronavirus

Seems like the majority are Muslims as well. I wonder if these were the people the nation rallied behind when they clapped the heroes at 8pm?
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Respect to those doctors. They knew the risk, they knew that if they are positive, there is probably one end to it (since most were retired ones).... Still they came back.

Rest in peace.
 
Cpt. Rishwat said:
The 10 immigrant doctors who died fighting Coronavirus

Seems like the majority are Muslims as well. I wonder if these were the people the nation rallied behind when they clapped the heroes at 8pm?
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The nation didn’t rally - not everyone. At 7.55 I walked outside and brushed my front garden, for 15 minutes I heard nothing. No one was clapping and if they were it was indoors.

We need less clapping and more PPE.
 
bones said:
The nation didn’t rally - not everyone. At 7.55 I walked outside and brushed my front garden, for 15 minutes I heard nothing. No one was clapping and if they were it was indoors.

We need less clapping and more PPE.
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I heard people clapping
My mums a carer and i was touched by it, we could do with ppe, carers are risking their lives everyday
 
A big chunk of the losers clapping are those who voted for policies which crippled the NHS and have forced us into a desperate corner where we are not prepared to deal with a pandemic. In fact we are forcing old people to come out of retirement for support and asking others to work for free which is most fitting isn't it considering the current state of the NHS, we have no equipment for the staff, nor the specialist expertise such as respiratory therapists or machines required for those struggling to breath. Thousands of people are dying and many of our loved ones have been given the final answer, everyone should remind themselves who truly is at fault here; the skummy Tories.
 
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shaz619 said:
A big chunk of the losers clapping are those who voted for policies which crippled the NHS and have forced us into a desperate corner where we are not prepared to deal with a pandemic. In fact we are forcing old people to come out of retirement for support and asking others to work for free which is most fitting isn't it considering the current state of the NHS, we have no equipment for the staff, nor the specialist expertise such as respiratory therapists or machines required for those struggling to breath. Thousands of people are dying and many of our loved ones have been given the final answer, everyone should remind themselves who truly is at fault here; the skummy Tories.
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Normally I don't disagree with rants against Tories however it is not the govt's job, whether Tory or Labour, to micromanage PPE supply in the NHS. There is a whole NHS admin management team ( I believe 40% of NHS staff are admin) who have been thoroughly negligent in this area, many of these are paid vast salaries, over 2.500 NHS staff are paid over £100k pa. Will they be held accountable? Many of these top managers are sitting at home on their fat cat salaries whilst dictating to frontline poorly paid staff to work without PPE. When this is all over I doubt their negligence will be investigated, these weekly clapathons have ensured that no will dare question how the NHS is administered operationally.
 
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NHS staff 'should get weekly virus tests'

NHS staff in England should be given at least weekly Covid-19 tests from September, former health secretary Jeremy Hunt has said.

In a letter to the current Health Secretary Matt Hancock and the head of NHS England Sir Simon Stevens, Mr Hunt said nurses, doctors, cleaners and porters needed the reassurance of regular testing given fears of a second spike in virus cases in the winter.

Mr Hunt, the chairman of the Commons Health and Social Care Select Committee, said: "NHS staff want to know they will get the weekly testing that has now been offered to care home staff so they can be confident they won't pass on infections to patients.

"The chief medical officer for England (Prof Chris Whitty) says he supports this in principle so there should be no further delays given the complicated logistics necessary to set it up ahead of winter."
 
Palantir: NHS faces legal action over data firm contract

The NHS is being taken to court over its contract with controversial US data firm Palantir.

Open Democracy said it had launched the legal action over Palantir's long-term involvement in the analysis of vast amounts of public health data.

It also alleges that Palantir lobbied a top NHS official over expensive watermelon cocktails.

Palantir has often been a frequent target of scrutiny by privacy campaigners.

The firm helps analyse huge volumes of data from governments and others, and sorts through the tangle for useful insights, patterns and connections.

Once a notoriously secret firm, it was founded with support from the US Central Intelligence Agency in 2003, and has been linked to efforts to track undocumented migrant workers in America in recent years.

It also has a substantial presence in London, with hundreds of employees.

What happened?

Palantir's initial involvement in the NHS began in March 2020 alongside other tech giants, as part of a short-term attempt to predict how best to deploy resources to deal with the pandemic, using a so-called "datastore" of health information.

But Open Democracy, which labels Palantir a "spy-tech" company, is critical of the extension of that short-term contract in December. It will now run for two years, and cost £23.5m.

The initial deal "was a short-term, emergency response to the pandemic. But December's new, two-year contract reaches far beyond Covid: to Brexit, general business planning and much more," the group said.

It said the deal "risks demolishing trust in the NHS".

Under the Palantir deal, NHS data is anonymised - with no names, addresses, or other identifying details - and it is not kept by Palantir. The firm contributes use of its software and staff, but does not store the data itself, which remains under the control of the NHS.

The technical complaint in the legal case is about whether a fresh Data Protection Impact Assessment needed to be done for the revised deal.

An NHS spokesperson said an assessment had been done in April, "and an update will be published in due course".

But Foxglove, the non-profit legal team handling the case for Open Democracy, said any new contract needed a new impact assessment.

"The government shouldn't use the pandemic as an excuse to embed major tech firms like Palantir in the NHS without consulting the public," said director Cori Crider.

"The datastore is the largest pool of patient data in UK history. It's one thing to set it up on an emergency basis, it's a different kettle of fish to give a tech firm like Palantir a permanent role in NHS infrastructure," she said.

Open Democracy and Foxglove are crowdfunding £30,000 for the costs of the case. Any remaining funds will be split between them.

What about the watermelon cocktails?

The launch of the legal case coincides with the release of details about Palantir's lobbying of the UK government by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism in partnership with Sky News.

In July 2019, Palantir's UK chief hosted Lord David Prior, chair of NHS England, the night before the launch of the NHS new technology division, NHSX, the Bureau said.

The next day, Lord Prior emailed to thank his host for the "interesting dinner and also for the watermelon cocktails" - which Sky said cost about £60.

Exchanges between the NHS and Palantir continued over the next few months, leading to the first contract at the outset of the pandemic, the Bureau said.

However, such activities are not unusual.

"It doesn't look great, but all the big suppliers to government do it," said Peter Smith, former president of the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply and author of Bad Buying, a book about public money wasted through poor purchasing.

Procurement officials are expected to stay on top of developments in the field, he said, although "whether it's best done over £60 cocktails is another question".

But "it would be wrong to just say no senior civil servant or minister should ever meet a prospective supplier", he added.

Regarding the awarding of the actual contract, Mr Smith said Palantir was on a list of pre-approved government suppliers, which "gives it some credibility and legitimacy".

And £23m was not a particularly large government computing contract, he added.
Click to expand...

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-56183785.
 
British Politics is getting quite bizarre and scary. It seems like every statement that is made by a politician begins with thanking the NHS. I really fear that we will unable to change the NHS because politicians will become fearful of taking on an almost sacred institution.

Today for example many exchange began like this:

Opposition party member : I would like to thank the NHS staff for their efforts and sacrifices etc etc before getting the point

Tory Party: I echo the honorable gentleman/lady' and also would like to thank the NHS for ......
 
[MENTION=51465]DeadlyVenom[/MENTION] We have a suggestions forum at my work and someone put a dreadful thing on there about preferential treatment, better rates and special offers for NHS staff, and it got a large number of likes. The whole thing makes me cringe.
 
DeadlyVenom said:
I really fear that we will unable to change the NHS because politicians will become fearful of taking on an almost sacred institution.
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Thatcher would have privatised it in 1980 but the Treasury wouldn’t let her, fearing an inflation spiral.

It has changed twice since - Ken Clark’s “internal
market” of 1993, setting up self-governing trusts with purchasing power, and the 2012 Act which put clinical commissioning in the hands of GP consortia.

Current Tories are chopping it up and selling it off in small portions so the public don’t notice.
 
James said:
[MENTION=51465]DeadlyVenom[/MENTION] We have a suggestions forum at my work and someone put a dreadful thing on there about preferential treatment, better rates and special offers for NHS staff, and it got a large number of likes. The whole thing makes me cringe.
Click to expand...

Just pay the staff properly and hire more of them!
 
DeadlyVenom said:
British Politics is getting quite bizarre and scary. It seems like every statement that is made by a politician begins with thanking the NHS. I really fear that we will unable to change the NHS because politicians will become fearful of taking on an almost sacred institution.

Today for example many exchange began like this:

Opposition party member : I would like to thank the NHS staff for their efforts and sacrifices etc etc before getting the point

Tory Party: I echo the honorable gentleman/lady' and also would like to thank the NHS for ......
Click to expand...

Simple. NHS is the 3rd rail of politics, it’s where the most power is. Touch it, and you’re dead.
 
Technics 1210 said:
Simple. NHS is the 3rd rail of politics, it’s where the most power is. Touch it, and you’re dead.
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Do we have a thread on the NHS? Since I've always considered it to be a great service, and never had any serious health problems, I guess I've kind of took it for granted. How does it work in America? Everyone buys private healthcare I am guessing, and I also assume it's probably quite affordable. So probably only the really low paid or unemployed would struggle to make the payments?
 
NHS thread bumped for further discussion on related topics, as per user suggestion.
 
Unfortunately the NHS is becoming a bloated institution no longer fit for purpose.

We needs to increase it's efficiency and cut out some of the waste, but no political party is brave enough to do so.
 
Much of the modern NHS wage bill seems to be getting sucked up by pointless roles within middle management and project delivery who are doing nothing useful and getting paid >50k salaries.

Trim off this fat to free up a chest of funds, go back to the old school basics, provide fully funded and high quality training places for nurses, midwives and doctors (including for those with a previous unrelated degree) and get more boots on the ground.

I have generally had good experiences with the NHS, with the only problems that I have encountered being related to staff shortages and patients I know personally not being updated/seen to often enough or with enough care (due to time pressures and no lack of effort).
 
DeadlyVenom said:
Unfortunately the NHS is becoming a bloated institution no longer fit for purpose.

We needs to increase it's efficiency and cut out some of the waste, but no political party is brave enough to do so.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately? EU and non-EU citizens have been rinsing the NHS dry. Enough of this colonial stigma. Time to ask patients if they are UK residents and qualify for NHS treatment. No need to pour fuel on what already is a fire.

Thankfully, my local NHS have started to distribute forms asking patients if they qualify for free NHS treatment - ala born and living in the UK, and paying NI contributions.

I’ll be damned if I pay anymore NI contributions for a banana boat patient.
 
Remember this, pre Brexit, a UK citizen in the EU, say Germany, needing medical help, would need to produce documentation, but the reverse was not true for a German citizen needing help from the NHS! Freedom of services? Bulldust!

Whats more, a father from Poland, Eastern communist Nazi sympathiser nation could claim child benefit in the UK, while his family were living in Poland, but the same privilege was not extended to UK citizens living in Poland! It’s all in black and white. This is the deal Blair negotiated; a terrorist sympathiser himself.

Thank god for Brexit!
 
James said:
Much of the modern NHS wage bill seems to be getting sucked up by pointless roles within middle management and project delivery who are doing nothing useful and getting paid >50k salaries.

Trim off this fat to free up a chest of funds, go back to the old school basics, provide fully funded and high quality training places for nurses, midwives and doctors (including for those with a previous unrelated degree) and get more boots on the ground.

I have generally had good experiences with the NHS, with the only problems that I have encountered being related to staff shortages and patients I know personally not being updated/seen to often enough or with enough care (due to time pressures and no lack of effort).
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Staff shortages are due to one system - capitalism.

Why would a nurse want to work in the NHS when said nurse can earn more than 3x by working in the private sector? Same for Doctors. Same for surgeons.

This is the precise reason why most of the NHS staff are newbies. They wait to gain experience then fob off to the private sector.
 
Technics 1210 said:
Unfortunately? EU and non-EU citizens have been rinsing the NHS dry. Enough of this colonial stigma. Time to ask patients if they are UK residents and qualify for NHS treatment. No need to pour fuel on what already is a fire.

Thankfully, my local NHS have started to distribute forms asking patients if they qualify for free NHS treatment - ala born and living in the UK, and paying NI contributions.

I’ll be damned if I pay anymore NI contributions for a banana boat patient.
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I agree to an extent, but I think the actual cost of these patients are over stated and misrepresented. Will happily be corrected if the statistics say otherwise.

What I have observed is similar to what James has mentioned in his post around pointless middle managers, project managers, transformation managers diversity and inclusion managers.

Countless translators and translator services have milked the NHS too ( might be related to what you have said).

However any criticism is seen as a blasphemy and quickly shut down. We have elevated doctors and nurses to the position of saints.
 
Technics 1210 said:
Unfortunately? EU and non-EU citizens have been rinsing the NHS dry. Enough of this colonial stigma. Time to ask patients if they are UK residents and qualify for NHS treatment. No need to pour fuel on what already is a fire.

Thankfully, my local NHS have started to distribute forms asking patients if they qualify for free NHS treatment - ala born and living in the UK, and paying NI contributions.

I’ll be damned if I pay anymore NI contributions for a banana boat patient.
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Well I would agree with that, but are you referring to working banana boat patients, or spongers who should not be here without a vocation?
 
DeadlyVenom said:
British Politics is getting quite bizarre and scary. It seems like every statement that is made by a politician begins with thanking the NHS. I really fear that we will unable to change the NHS because politicians will become fearful of taking on an almost sacred institution.

Today for example many exchange began like this:

Opposition party member : I would like to thank the NHS staff for their efforts and sacrifices etc etc before getting the point

Tory Party: I echo the honorable gentleman/lady' and also would like to thank the NHS for ......
Click to expand...

i agree, but i am also conflicted, i have seen the good side of the nhs, and ive seen the ugly.

when my dad was sick they had to bite the bullet and get him moved to a private hospital cos they simply didnt have the capacity to deal with him. it was quick efficient and we didnt have to jump through any hoops.

however on the flip side of this is that ive had to spend nearly 10 hours in A&E on a few occaisions with my parents over the last few years as theyve gotten old. its a terrible experience designed to discourage ppl from seeking help.

drop ins at local surgeries are virtually non-existant anymore. i havnt been to my GP for pbly 4 or 5 years now, last time i went he asked me what was wrong, and asked me what i wanted to do. i told him what i read on the internet and what i had done in the past and he said ok, thats fine by me.

also, this is gonna likely be controversial, the NHS really has to focus on preventative measures. its absolutely crazy that per average tax payer we pay £6,000 a year for the NHS but cant get a health MOT.

I inquired about it, and privately its about £500, why cannot less than a tenth of our contribution go towards preventative measures for us. surely in the long run catching diseases early, changing lifestyle and habits would reimburse that money in avoided NHS bills.

also lastly i see too many ppl abusing the NHS, if ur doctor tells u to lose weight, if they tell u to stop drinking or smoking, if they tell u to change some habit and u continue to not follow advice, u should get sanctioned in some form or the other.

its not morally right for ppl who have maintained healthy lifestyles to be treated the same as those who have abused their bodies in the NHS.

there needs to be a fundamental change in the way health is being treated in this country, health both mental and physical is going down the drain because peoples lifestyles are crap.
 
Cpt. Rishwat said:
Well I would agree with that, but are you referring to working banana boat patients, or spongers who should not be here without a vocation?
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Referring to working/visitors to the UK who are domicile in another country, now including EU citizens.

The UK immigration office should make medical insurance for said people mandatory (before entering the country). So while they can use the NHS if required, the UK tax payer doesn’t pay the bill, their medical insurance company does.
 
DeadlyVenom said:
I agree to an extent, but I think the actual cost of these patients are over stated and misrepresented. Will happily be corrected if the statistics say otherwise.

What I have observed is similar to what James has mentioned in his post around pointless middle managers, project managers, transformation managers diversity and inclusion managers.

Countless translators and translator services have milked the NHS too ( might be related to what you have said).

However any criticism is seen as a blasphemy and quickly shut down. We have elevated doctors and nurses to the position of saints.
Click to expand...

My cousin was once in UK for holiday and was 4 months pregnant. One day she felt some pain and naturally took her to hospital where they said they had to perform a scan. Thankfully all was ok, but the cost of the scan was £1500. This was about 12 years ago, but the NHS were helpless in clawing back the money because a) it was an emergency, and b) there was no way to enforce the bill. The tax payer ended up paying for it. In addition to this the cost of medicine; charged by big pharma. They know they can charge what they want and absolutely rake it in via the NHS, more so via private. Doctors paid to subscribe medicine. It all adds up. Sheer daylight scam.

The layers of management are sometimes too much; but they are needed to reduce liability of death believe it or not. Even a wrong entry in an IT system can lead to death of a patient.

Sure there are ways to make the NHS efficient; but the first step is to reduce the burden of cost, and patients. We have some proper muppets who call 999 because they have grazed their knee! Or end up in A&E because they have a paper cut!

Ahh yes, the other classic, alcohol related patients. The NHS is under more burden on Friday and Saturday. Nights, at least the A&E departments, that deal with Alcohol related cases.
 
Technics 1210 said:
If a nurse or doctor can make 3 times the salary by working in the private sector, then why work for the NHS?

What is the incentive?
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Precisely my point.

Though one could take about service ethic, team spirit, sense of mission to make the country better, unlike any other workplace I have encountered.
 
Technics 1210 said:
Referring to working/visitors to the UK who are domicile in another country, now including EU citizens.

The UK immigration office should make medical insurance for said people mandatory (before entering the country). So while they can use the NHS if required, the UK tax payer doesn’t pay the bill, their medical insurance company does.
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That seems a fairly easy fix to be honest, I don't see why anyone would have issues with it. But I was looking for a more comprehensive solution which would replace the NHS, I don't think billing Johnny Foreigner is going to do that. Once they are out of the equation, we still have to provide health for Brits themselves, so what I want to know is, how does it work in USA? Everyone buys medical insurance right? Is that more efficient and generally welcomed in America?
 
Technics 1210 said:
Sure there are ways to make the NHS efficient; but the first step is to reduce the burden of cost, and patients. We have some proper muppets who call 999 because they have grazed their knee! Or end up in A&E because they have a paper cut!

Ahh yes, the other classic, alcohol related patients. The NHS is under more burden on Friday and Saturday. Nights, at least the A&E departments, that deal with Alcohol related cases.
Click to expand...

People falling over and needing stomach pumps due to booze should pay the NHS perhaps?

But that opens a can of worms. Do smokers deserve free lung cancer care? Do fat people deserve free heart care?

NHS is efficient compared to the US system where price fixing goes on. Instead of each Amreekan hospital ordering parts and supplies as they need at exhorbitant cost, NHS Regional Health Authorities decide how many hip operations they will do next year and buy in massive bulk. This pushes purchasing costs for parts down.
 
Robert said:
People falling over and needing stomach pumps due to booze should pay the NHS perhaps?

But that opens a can of worms. Do smokers deserve free lung cancer care? Do fat people deserve free heart care?

NHS is efficient compared to the US system where price fixing goes on. Instead of each Amreekan hospital ordering parts and supplies as they need at exhorbitant cost, NHS Regional Health Authorities decide how many hip operations they will do next year and buy in massive bulk. This pushes purchasing costs for parts down.
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What did I tell you about the lack of spirituality! this alcohol is worse then a plague. Putting the NHS under pressure and surrendering the Ashes.

If everyone was a good practicing Muslim, this wouldn’t happen.

Unfortunately, we live in a facist society now and too many nincompoops who are having an identity crisis and mental issues which leads to a greater intake of Alcohol sadly, it’s a big cultural issue.

Ban Alcohol and arrest drunk yobs - go after the coconuts first.
 
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-60118776

<b>Covid: NHS staff seek jobs over border to avoid vaccine</b>

Get jabbed, or risk losing your job.
That's the dilemma facing thousands of unvaccinated NHS staff.

All healthcare workers in England must have a first Covid jab by 3 February and be fully vaccinated by 1 April.

But some have told BBC Radio 1 Newsbeat they are hoping for a third option: finding work across the borders, where vaccination is not compulsory.

Chloe, a 25-year-old dental therapist in Plymouth, says she doesn't want the vaccine and is looking into working in Wales.

"It'll probably be a case of finding a shared house or living with a friend in Cardiff," she says.

"Probably only being able to work two or three days a week then commuting.

"That will obviously put a strain on my relationship [with my partner] because we'll be living separately, and it's just a real hassle."

Chloe doesn't think she should have to choose between her work and the vaccine, especially since she has spent years training for the job.

"I think it's disgusting they're doing this," she says.

"They're taking away our human rights.

"I don't think it's very fair that just across the border in Wales - a mile long bridge - the laws are going to be completely different."

In England, it is set to become mandatory from 1 April for staff who have face-to-face contact with patients to have had two Covid vaccine doses, unless they have a medical exemption.

The Department of Health says this will help to protect patients.

However, in Scotland and Wales there are no plans to make jabs compulsory for NHS workers, while there will be a public consultation on the issue in Northern Ireland.

The vast majority of NHS staff in England are vaccinated, but it's thought around 70,000 to 80,000 are not.

This adds up to 10% of workers at some hospitals or GP surgeries, according to the Royal College of GPs, which has called for the deadline to be delayed to prevent staff shortages.

Care providers in Wales have suggested they could employ unvaccinated workers who've left NHS jobs in England due to its mandatory vaccination policy, after Wales' First Minister Mark Drakeford said he "wouldn't rule it out".

The Scottish Government says NHS recruitment is "undertaken according to open and fair processes", and that vaccination is a personal choice.

Chloe's concerns are shared by Maria, who's been a midwife in London for ten years and is not vaccinated against Covid.

"As things stand, I'm likely to lose my job on 1 April," she says.

"We have been told they will try to redeploy us. However, I don't see how many non-patient-facing roles they're going to find for the many midwives that have chosen not to have the vaccine."

"My preferred option at the moment is moving to the border - hoping to work in Wales as a midwife, and live in England."

Maria insists she is "not an anti-vaxxer in any way".

She says she volunteered for the vaccine trials, has had many previous vaccines, and has even recommended that her parents have the Covid vaccine.

However she is "strongly opposed" to compulsory jabs, because she says it "violates the principles of bodily integrity and informed consent - central to the care I give to women".

Maria says she decided not to get the Covid jab after considering "the risk of Covid to me, versus the risk of the vaccine", and because she doesn't believe vaccination stops transmission to patients.

Studies show the risks of infection with Covid are much greater than the risks of vaccines, which are very good at protecting against becoming severely ill.

The protection they give against catching it and passing it on does wane more quickly, but doctors and scientists say it is not the case that vaccines don't protect others at all.

Maria says she has recently contemplated changing her mind as the deadline approaches though.

"The last few weeks have been so tough, I have actually thought about getting the vaccine just to protect my mental health," she says.

However she still feels like not having it is "the right decision" for her so she has started looking for jobs in Wales but has only found six suitable vacancies advertised across the whole country so isn't optimistic about finding work there immediately.

"It [moving home] is definitely a sacrifice I'd be willing to make. Midwifery is my vocation - it's the reason I left my family and my home country."
 
shaz619 said:
What did I tell you about the lack of spirituality! this alcohol is worse then a plague. Putting the NHS under pressure and surrendering the Ashes.

If everyone was a good practicing Muslim, this wouldn’t happen.

Unfortunately, we live in a facist society now and too many nincompoops who are having an identity crisis and mental issues which leads to a greater intake of Alcohol sadly, it’s a big cultural issue.

Ban Alcohol and arrest drunk yobs - go after the coconuts first.
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The Yanks tried banning alcohol. Caused the biggest crime wave in their history.

Alcohol use has declined over the last fifty years. Drink-driving is now universal anathema. But patterns have changed. You didn’t used to see young women drink until incapable on the street like you do now.

People just like getting drunk. It’s relaxing and funny. Even animals will drink ethanol in preference to water until they fall over.

I don’t do it much now as I am getting pretty old and will get a rotten headache that ruins the next day for me.

What I would do is decriminalise possession of drugs and give supply to Big Pharma. That would immediately reduced the prison budget. Medicalise drug addiction instead, as going to walk-in NHS clinics and running specialised social housing for recovering addicts is much cheaper than incarceration. It would allow prisons to carry out more rehabilitation work too, as the would not be rammed with short-term churn prisoners.
 
Robert said:
People falling over and needing stomach pumps due to booze should pay the NHS perhaps?

But that opens a can of worms. Do smokers deserve free lung cancer care? Do fat people deserve free heart care?

NHS is efficient compared to the US system where price fixing goes on. Instead of each Amreekan hospital ordering parts and supplies as they need at exhorbitant cost, NHS Regional Health Authorities decide how many hip operations they will do next year and buy in massive bulk. This pushes purchasing costs for parts down.
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The majority who work in the UK (legally) and earning more than the tax free allowance already pay for the NHS through National Insurance contributions, which is now going up too April 2022.
 
Technics 1210 said:
The majority who work in the UK (legally) and earning more than the tax free allowance already pay for the NHS through National Insurance contributions, which is now going up too April 2022.
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Yes I think people (not anyone in this thread) often erroneously posit the NHS as a free service. When really every year many of us are paying an arm and a leg — no pun intended — for it. The NHS is “free at the point of use” but we pay a monthly sizeable premium for this privilege. It’s only actually free for a small number of individuals (who often run up their own huge medical bills, for us to cover financially of course…)
 
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https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-60185741

<b>National Insurance: Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak confirm rise from April</b>

A planned £12bn rise in National Insurance from April is "the right plan" and "must go ahead", Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak have said.

In an article in the Sunday Times, the PM and chancellor said the rise - which applies to employees and employers - will help clear the NHS backlog.

Despite opposition, including from some Tory MPs, they say it is "progressive" because higher earners pay more.

With inflation rising sharply, there had been calls to scrap the tax rise.

Under the plans, employees, employers and the self-employed will all pay 1.25p more in the pound for National Insurance from April 2022 for a year.

After that, the extra tax will be collected as a new Health and Social Care Levy.

The changes to National Insurance will see an employee on £20,000 a year pay an extra £89 in tax. Someone on £50,000 will pay £464 more.

From April, people earning under £9,880 a year, or £823 a month, will not have to pay National Insurance and will not have to pay the new levy.

Critics have said the increase will have a higher impact on the lower-paid and could contribute to inflation when household budgets are under pressure from rising energy prices and food bills.

And business leaders have warned that firms could offset the tax rise by raising prices.
Inflation - the rate at which prices are rising - is already at a 30-year high, reaching 5.4% this month.

Shadow levelling up secretary Lisa Nandy called on the government to "rethink" the planned rise, adding Labour would be "doing everything that we can over the next few weeks to try and appeal to Tory MPs' consciences".

She told BBC One's Sunday Morning programme: "You can't possibly hit people with more taxes at the moment. It's just simply not possible for a lot of people to survive."

Robert Halfon, one of the Tory MPs calling on the government not to go ahead with the rise, said ministers should make the cost of living their "number one priority".

Speaking on BBC Breakfast, he suggested money for the NHS could instead be raised from the taxes on capital gains - profits made from selling certain assets - or by raising taxes on oil companies.

Senior backbench Tories Robert Jenrick and Mel Stride have also called for the increase to be delayed, with Mr Jenrick saying that 2022 would already be "exceptionally hard" for families.

The government has said the changes, announced at last year's Budget, are expected to raise £12bn a year, which will go initially towards easing pressure on the NHS.

A proportion will then be moved into social care system over the next three years as the Covid backlog subsides.

The National Insurance rise was approved by the Commons in September, with the Health and Social Care Levy written into law in a separate vote.

Despite confirming the tax rise, Mr Johnson and Mr Sunak described themselves in the Sunday Times as "tax-cutting Conservatives" and "Thatcherites".

They added: "We believe passionately that people are the best judges of how to spend their own money.

"We want to get through this Covid-driven phase, and get on with our agenda, of taking advantage of our new post-Brexit freedoms to turn the UK into the enterprise centre of Europe and the world.

"We want lighter, better, simpler regulation, especially in those new technologies in which the UK excels. We are also Thatcherites, in the sense that we believe in sound money.”

The article will be seen as a show of unity between the pair, after widespread criticism of Mr Johnson over claims of parties in Downing Street during lockdown.

Mr Sunak is a leading candidate to replace Mr Johnson if a leadership contest is triggered before the next election.

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, who is also seen as a possible leadership candidate, defended the tax rises but accepted they are "never popular".

Also speaking to the Sunday Morning programme, she said the country was in a "very difficult situation" because of money spent supporting the economy during Covid.

"As soon as possible, we want to be in a position to lower our tax rates, we want to drive economic growth, because ultimately that is what will make our country successful," she added.

Meanwhile, the government confirmed on Friday that the earnings threshold at which graduates in England start repaying student loans would be frozen in April.

The freeze, which would see a graduate earning £30,000 repay £113 more a year than expected, has been described as a "stealth" tax rise for those affected.
 
The NHS needs more money. But the NI rise is regressive. It will penalise the weakest at a time when food and energy prices are spiking. Govt should increase corporation tax and cut tax evasion to bolster the public coffers and also start paying back the huge borrowing.
 
Robert said:
The NHS needs more money. But the NI rise is regressive. It will penalise the weakest at a time when food and energy prices are spiking. Govt should increase corporation tax and cut tax evasion to bolster the public coffers and also start paying back the huge borrowing.
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Agree… if anything the majority of earners should be getting a tax/NI cut to help with the cost of living, not getting a rise on NI.

At least there are strong rumours going around that VAT will soon be cut. That would be a big help on the monthly bills and would also stimulate household spending elsewhere.
 
James said:
Agree… if anything the majority of earners should be getting a tax/NI cut to help with the cost of living, not getting a rise on NI.

At least there are strong rumours going around that VAT will soon be cut. That would be a big help on the monthly bills and would also stimulate household spending elsewhere.
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Sure, VAT is regressive too. It is supposed to increase liquidity or cash flow, but it also transfers money from the people at the bottom to the corporations.
 
The NHS is "riddled with racism", the chair of the British Medical Association's council has told the BBC.

Dr Chaand Nagpaul has spoken out in response to a survey by the BMA, shared exclusively with BBC News.

At least 75% of ethnic minority doctors experienced racism more than once in the last two years, while 17.4% said they regularly faced racism at work, the survey said.

NHS England said it takes a "zero-tolerance approach" to racism.

Racism affects patients as well as doctors' wellbeing, by stopping talented people from progressing fairly and affecting doctors' mental health, Dr Nagpaul warned.

"This is about a moral right for anyone who works for the NHS to be treated fairly," he told the BBC.

More than 2,000 people took part in the online survey, which was open to all UK doctors in medical workplaces.

Around 40% of the NHS's 123,000 doctors are from minority backgrounds, compared to about 13.8% of the general population.

But despite this diversity, doctors told the BBC that there was a toxic "us versus them" culture in NHS trusts across the UK.

They said they had faced bogus or disproportionate complaints from colleagues, racist comments from superiors, and even physical assault in the workplace.

Some said they had tried to lodge complaints which were then ignored or dismissed without investigation.

More than 70% of people who'd faced racism at work didn't complain about it, according to the BMA.

One consultant, from a black African background, told the BMA that after reporting previous incidents "no action was taken... I feel uncomfortable and anxious of reprisals".

In response to the survey, NHS Medical Director of Primary Care Dr Nikki Kanani said racism and discrimination of any kind "should not be tolerated by anyone".

"While our latest equality report [in 2020] shows that we have made progress in some areas of the NHS, it is completely unacceptable for anyone to experience racism, discrimination or prejudice at work, and NHS organisations should continue to take a zero-tolerance approach to all and any form of discrimination."

'It's in every hospital you go to'

Dr Jagadish Nanjappa, a respiratory physician of Indian origin who now lives in Dubai, told BBC News that as a trainee doctor in the UK in 2012, he was frequently belittled by his supervisor.

It began when Dr Nanjappa asked a question during their first clinic together and, he said, "in front of everybody, in front of the patient, in front of the nurse, he started shouting at me".

At the end of the year Dr Nanjappa's supervisor refused to confirm that he had successfully completed his training - meaning that he had to repeat it. When he tried to raise the issue with his supervisor's line manager, he said he was told if he lodged a formal complaint, "it's a small world - you know that you will not get a job as a consultant in this country".

Dr Nanjappa was later not shortlisted for any jobs in the county, which he said was a direct result of the racism he'd experienced: "My wife could sense that something not right was going on. This was the first time she'd seen me crying. It was hard, it was really hard."

The problem doesn't just affect trainees - Sheena*, an Asian surgeon, said that even as a consultant, she faced discrimination because of her race.

"You experience [racism] in every hospital you go [to]," she said. "I always felt like we had to do 200 times more to get where we were than our English counterparts."

Overt racism followed her as she progressed - she, too, was told as a junior doctor that she would "never become a consultant in this country", and was asked by her supervisor why she didn't "return to India". But it was as a consultant that she faced almost losing her career because of it.

"There was an incident where I was training a trainee and there was injury to a patient. I acted correctly, and the patient was saved," she said. On a colleague's suggestion, the patient referred Sheena to the General Medical Council (GMC).

"When I went through the hospital records, the [white] surgeons had done similar errors of surgery and the patients had died on the table - but my case was the only one referred to the GMC."

The case took four years to be resolved, and although Sheena was eventually cleared, in that time she was taken off certain surgical duties and made to retrain.

76.5%of surveyed doctors experienced racism at work at least once in the last two years

17.4%experience racism on a regular basis

20%experienced racism from patients

71%of those don't report it, either out of fear or lack of faith that it will be properly investigated

19.4%have considered leaving or have left their job in the last two years because of racism

Nearly 60%say racism at work has impacted their mental health and wellbeing

Hardeep*, a British-born surgeon of Asian descent, received frequent minor complaints from a colleague, which he said was rooted in racism.

Eventually this colleague referred him to both the General Medical Council and to the hospital for an internal disciplinary hearing, accusing him falsely of having lied about his qualifications.

The disciplinary hearing found in Hardeep's favour. The GMC initially found against him, but he then won his case on appeal.

Hardeep was suspended for over a year while the GMC hearings were going on, which took a huge toll on his finances and mental health: "That really does undermine you - not just as a doctor but as a person. Your entire value is stripped from you."

The survey will inform a wider report on racism in the NHS in April, in which the BMA will make suggestions about what changes could be made to tackle the problems they find.

*Some names have been changed.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-6020852...64&at_custom3=@BBCNews&at_custom1=[post+type]
 
KingKhanWC said:
Well done to those who stoop up against this nonsense esp the doctor who confronted Javid!

Care workers next is also a must.
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I think they had to. There would have been an exodus from the NHS.
 
Good to see the ongoing discussion in the UK mostly going in favour (thus far!) of resisting any of this “vaccine stratification” wherein vaccinated and unvaccinated citizens are provided with two different sets of rights.
 
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-60289635

<b>Covid: Tough new targets will tackle NHS backlog, Boris Johnson says</b>

New "tough targets" will be set to tackle record NHS waiting lists in England, Boris Johnson has said.

The PM promised action after plans to tackle the backlog of people waiting for treatment were delayed.

It had been expected to be published on Monday but Mr Johnson said more details would be set out later this week.

Earlier, Health Secretary Sajid Javid denied reports the Treasury had blocked the announcement, blaming the Omicron wave for the delay.

He told BBC Breakfast the plans were due to be released in early December but the emergence of the more transmissible coronavirus variant meant the focus shifted to the booster programme.

During a visit to a hospital in Kent, Mr Johnson said: "We're now working with the NHS to set some tough targets so that we are able to deliver for patients and also for the taxpayer."

He pointed out more money is being invested and extra staff recruited.

The prime minister denied the Treasury had been concerned the targets were not tough enough, saying the department was "working together in harmony" with Downing Street.

Pressed on whether he had doubts about the chancellor's loyalty to his leadership, Mr Johnson said: "Absolutely not."

The waiting list for hospital treatment in England hit a record six million in November - a rise of nearly 50% since the pandemic started.

More than 300,000 patients have been waiting more than a year for treatment after the suspension of routine surgery during certain parts of the pandemic, adding to pressures which were already clear before it began.

Mr Johnson said waiting lists would rise before they started to fall.

Ministers are encouraging those who stayed away from the NHS during the pandemic to come forward for treatment.

Mr Johnson also appeared to confirm the 28-day target for a cancer diagnosis for the vast majority of people - three in four - and that by March next year no-one would wait longer than two months to find out if they have cancer.

That target was originally due to have come in last year, but had been delayed because of the pandemic.

Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, which represents the healthcare system, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme the delayed publication of plans to tackle the backlog was "frustrating" as it had already been agreed with NHS leaders who "want to get on with the work".

However, with an unknown number of people not included in waiting list figures because they did not come forward for treatment during the pandemic, he warned that "unrealistic" targets could end up "skewing clinical priorities".

Saffron Cordery, deputy chief executive of NHS Providers, which represents health trusts, said the parts of the plan being held up included measures to free up clinician time, support for trusts working together, use of the independent sector and how funding will be allocated.

Earlier, the government announced a new online platform called My Planned Care, which will allow people needing non-urgent surgery to get information about waiting times.

The platform, which will be launched later this month, will also offer advice on prevention services, such as how to stop smoking and exercise plans, to make sure people are fit for surgery.
 
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-60334081

<b>Sickest face record long waits for hospital bed</b>

The sickest patients are facing long waits for a bed when they are admitted to hospital in England, NHS data shows.

A third of the A&E patients - 122,000 in total - who were ill enough to need treatment on a ward waited over four hours in January - a record high.

Some 16,500 of them waited over 12 hours - many either stuck on trolleys in corridors or in A&E bays because wards were full.

Doctors warned the situation was putting patients at risk.

These patients are ones who will have already faced a wait to be seen in A&E, but need further treatment because their condition is so serious.

The NHS England figures also showed cancer waiting times have hit their worst level since records began, with only two-thirds of patients starting treatment within the target time of two months following an urgent GP referral.

Meanwhile, the numbers of people on hospital waiting lists for planned treatments has risen to 6.1 million.

Earlier this week ministers set out a recovery plan to tackle the backlog in treatments, which includes people waiting for hip and knee replacements.

They warned the waiting list could keep rising for two years before starting to fall.

Waiting times have worsened in other parts of the UK, with Wales and Northern Ireland data showing even worse performance than England on many measures.

Dr Tim Cooksley, president of the Society for Acute Medicine, said hospitals were stuck in a "vicious cycle" of delays which was affecting patient care.

He said the waits for planned care were beginning to have an impact on A&Es, with the health of patients deteriorating to the point where they need emergency treatment.

"Services are under significant pressure," he added.

But there are continued signs that immediate pressures related to Covid are easing.

The number of patients in hospital with Covid now stands at just over 11,000 in England, down from over 17,000 in early January.

It means around one in nine beds are occupied by Covid-positive patients, although half of them have the virus but are being treated for something else.

The proportion of staff absent with Covid has dropped to 3%. In recent weeks it was over 4%.

NHS national medical director Prof Stephen Powis said the full impact of the "Omicron winter" was now emerging.

But he praised the "hardworking" staff for keeping services going.
 
<b>NHS hospital doctor arrested on suspicion of sexual assault</b>

Two NHS hospital trusts are working with police after a doctor was arrested on suspicion of sexual assault.

Staffordshire Police has launched a major incident review of the doctor's work at hospitals in Dudley, West Midlands, and Stoke-on-Trent, The Sunday Times reported.

The force said the 34-year-old man from the West Midlands was arrested in December and released on bail.

It is reviewing an investigation into the same suspect it undertook in 2018.

The doctor was suspended from seeing patients at the Royal Stoke University Hospital in Staffordshire when the parents of a vulnerable female raised concerns about his examination of her, the Sunday Times reported.

The case was referred to police in 2018 who said there was "insufficient evidence to take further action" at the time.

The Staffordshire force has now reported itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct.

University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust, which runs the Royal Stoke, said it was working with police and had set up a helpline for any patient and guardian who may have concerns.

The Sunday Times reported the alarm was then raised about the doctor while he was working at Russells Hall Hospital in Dudley, and that he was excluded from the hospital trust in March last year.

Julian Hobbs, medical director of the Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust which runs the hospital, said it was "working closely" with Staffordshire Police on the review and confirmed the individual no longer worked there.

The police review, named Operation Anzu, will be looking at hundreds of files, including those of vulnerable adults, with at least 109 identified as cases of concern, the paper said.

Stoke-on-Trent South MP, Jack Brereton, said the allegations were "extremely concerning".

"I have spoken with the chief executive of the Royal Stoke and I know that they're taking it extremely seriously," he said.

"They've written to all those who may have been affected already so I know they are looking into this and there is a full police investigation now under way."

The Care Quality Commission said it was aware of an investigation "into a member of staff who worked at both trusts".

Its deputy chief inspector of hospitals, Fiona Allinson, said: "We continue to liaise with the police and both trusts regarding these concerns to ensure people's safety."

The Sunday Times said the doctor rejected any allegations he had committed a criminal act and was co-operating with the investigations.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-stoke-staffordshire-60366949
 
<b>NHS under huge strain as A&Es turn away ambulances</b>

Hospitals are under "enormous strain", with growing numbers so busy they are having to divert ambulances to other sites because they are unable to cope.

Over the past week, 20 NHS Accident and Emergency departments in England issued diverts, with patients taken elsewhere.

Those A&E departments still taking new patients have seen long delays, with more than 25% of ambulances waiting at least 30 minutes to handover patients.

Hospital bosses said they were "very concerned" about the situation.

All areas of the country are facing huge pressures, but NHS bosses in West Yorkshire and the south central area of England - covering Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Oxfordshire and Berkshire - have reported particularly severe strain.

The pressures are being partly caused by the high number of Covid patients currently in hospital.

This week numbers across England have exceeded 16,000, rising to 20,000 once other nations in the UK are included.

Current figures are close to the total seen in first Covid wave, in spring 2020 - although more than half of those patients are in hospital for other reasons, but happen to have Covid as well.

This second Omicron wave is being driven by BA. 2, an off-shoot of the Omicron variant that first hit the UK at the end of last year.

But hospitals are also said to be seeing rising number of people coming forward for other conditions, including flu.

Similar levels of diverts and delays have been seen on a weekly basis since the turn of the year.

To put the pressures in context: the current delays being seen at A&E departments are worse than those seen in the winter before the pandemic hit, which was considered the most challenging winter for many years.

Saffron Cordery, of NHS Providers, which represents hospitals, said: "We're very concerned about the real pressures across the whole health and care system.

"A very high number of hospital beds are occupied, and combined with staff absences and severe workforce shortages, this means that trusts can't recover care backlogs as quickly as they want to.

"Ambulance services are doing everything they can in these extremely difficult circumstances, but the extra pressures are leading to growing delays to handovers to busy emergency departments.

"This means that ambulances aren't able to get back out into the community as quickly as they would like."

NHS England medical director Prof Stephen Powis said the figures sum up "just how busy NHS staff currently are".

He said bed occupancy was at very high levels, while staff sickness absences had been growing for 10 weeks.

He urged those eligible to come forward for their spring Covid boosters.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-61023908
 
<b>Cancer checks: Record number of patients referred in England</b>

A record 2.7 million people were referred for cancer checks in the last year, NHS England has said.

It comes after figures suggested the Covid pandemic saw numbers dramatically decline in 2020.

But at least 30,000 people are still waiting to start treatment.

Charities have welcomed the increase in referrals but warned of the "devastating" impact the pandemic has had on cancer care.

Referrals for suspected cancer remain at about 16% higher than pre-pandemic levels and rose overall from 2.4 million to 2,65m in the past 12 months.

Dame Cally Palmer, national cancer director for NHS England, said there were still 30,000 people who had not started treatment due to the pandemic but that the new figures suggested some progress.

She said: "We are going further and faster than ever before in our ambitions to diagnose more cancers at an earlier stage so that we can save more lives."

It is "vital that we keep these referral rates high", she added.

Clive Horsnell, 72, from Devon, was diagnosed with bowel cancer last year.

After being treated with advanced robotic surgery, he has now been given the all-clear.

Mr Horsnell was experiencing symptoms and eventually had a colonoscopy that caught the disease in time.

"I was in hospital within a couple of weeks for scans and met with a doctor at Derriford Hospital who was absolutely brilliant and explained the special robotic procedure I'd be having. He really put my mind at ease," he said.

"I was back in again in January just to confirm that everything had gone well, and I've had the all-clear."

In order to meet the increasing demand for checks facilities such as one-stop shops for tests, mobile clinics and symptom hotlines have been set up to help ensure people are diagnosed and treated as early as possible, the health service said.

Prof Peter Johnson, NHS England's national clinical director for cancer, said primary care referrals were at record levels and about 11,000 people a day were being tested, "but nobody would say for a moment we are where we would like to be".

The NHS had a shortage of diagnostic capacity before the pandemic, and while there was a £2.3bn investment going into equipment such as MRI and CT scanners, it would take time to train up the radiologists and oncologists, he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

Prof Johnson said the number of cancer diagnosis was rising at about 3% a year, because of the ageing population and because fewer people were dying from other conditions, such as heart attacks and strokes.

But he said: "The numbers of people that we're seeing for cancer tests have been going up at a faster rate than the numbers of people with cancer."

Charities have welcomed this year's increase in referrals but warned of the "devastating" impact of the pandemic on care.

Minesh Patel, head of policy at Macmillan Cancer Support, said:

“To avoid putting further pressure on hardworking doctors and nurses, it's vital the government includes steps in the upcoming 10-year cancer plan to grow the number of cancer professionals so that people living with cancer receive the quality and timely care they desperately need."

In a report earlier this month, the Health and Social Care Committee said three million fewer people in the UK were invited for screenings between March and September 2020.

And between March 2020 and March 2021, 326,000 fewer people in England received an urgent referral for suspected cancer.

Health Secretary Sajid Javid said:

"Our upcoming 10-year cancer plan that will lead Europe in cancer care, along with our record investment to cut waiting times and the introduction of the health and social care levy, will help us continue our mission to tackle the Covid backlogs."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-61293980
 
James said:
<b>Cancer checks: Record number of patients referred in England</b>

A record 2.7 million people were referred for cancer checks in the last year, NHS England has said.

It comes after figures suggested the Covid pandemic saw numbers dramatically decline in 2020.

But at least 30,000 people are still waiting to start treatment.

Charities have welcomed the increase in referrals but warned of the "devastating" impact the pandemic has had on cancer care.

Referrals for suspected cancer remain at about 16% higher than pre-pandemic levels and rose overall from 2.4 million to 2,65m in the past 12 months.

Dame Cally Palmer, national cancer director for NHS England, said there were still 30,000 people who had not started treatment due to the pandemic but that the new figures suggested some progress.

She said: "We are going further and faster than ever before in our ambitions to diagnose more cancers at an earlier stage so that we can save more lives."

It is "vital that we keep these referral rates high", she added.

Clive Horsnell, 72, from Devon, was diagnosed with bowel cancer last year.

After being treated with advanced robotic surgery, he has now been given the all-clear.

Mr Horsnell was experiencing symptoms and eventually had a colonoscopy that caught the disease in time.

"I was in hospital within a couple of weeks for scans and met with a doctor at Derriford Hospital who was absolutely brilliant and explained the special robotic procedure I'd be having. He really put my mind at ease," he said.

"I was back in again in January just to confirm that everything had gone well, and I've had the all-clear."

In order to meet the increasing demand for checks facilities such as one-stop shops for tests, mobile clinics and symptom hotlines have been set up to help ensure people are diagnosed and treated as early as possible, the health service said.

Prof Peter Johnson, NHS England's national clinical director for cancer, said primary care referrals were at record levels and about 11,000 people a day were being tested, "but nobody would say for a moment we are where we would like to be".

The NHS had a shortage of diagnostic capacity before the pandemic, and while there was a £2.3bn investment going into equipment such as MRI and CT scanners, it would take time to train up the radiologists and oncologists, he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

Prof Johnson said the number of cancer diagnosis was rising at about 3% a year, because of the ageing population and because fewer people were dying from other conditions, such as heart attacks and strokes.

But he said: "The numbers of people that we're seeing for cancer tests have been going up at a faster rate than the numbers of people with cancer."

Charities have welcomed this year's increase in referrals but warned of the "devastating" impact of the pandemic on care.

Minesh Patel, head of policy at Macmillan Cancer Support, said:

“To avoid putting further pressure on hardworking doctors and nurses, it's vital the government includes steps in the upcoming 10-year cancer plan to grow the number of cancer professionals so that people living with cancer receive the quality and timely care they desperately need."

In a report earlier this month, the Health and Social Care Committee said three million fewer people in the UK were invited for screenings between March and September 2020.

And between March 2020 and March 2021, 326,000 fewer people in England received an urgent referral for suspected cancer.

Health Secretary Sajid Javid said:

"Our upcoming 10-year cancer plan that will lead Europe in cancer care, along with our record investment to cut waiting times and the introduction of the health and social care levy, will help us continue our mission to tackle the Covid backlogs."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-61293980
Click to expand...

Back log from Covid.
 
10 year back log :( terrible times.

More people will be going private, and the general public passion’s for the NHS is already plummeting.
 
Sajid Javid has promised urgent action to reform health and social care management after a review found evidence of bullying, discrimination and blame culture.

The health secretary is promising "the biggest shake-up of leadership in decades" in response to a "stark" conclusion that there is "instructional inadequacy" in how leaders and management are trained, valued and developed.

Former military officer Sir Gordon Messenger - who led the Royal Marines in Iraq - was in charge of the review, which will be published in full later.

The Department of Health said the report showed examples of inspirational leadership but that overall there was "a lack of consistency and coordination".

It highlighted "evidence of poor behaviours and attitudes such as discrimination, bullying and blame cultures in certain parts of the health and social care system, with some staff in the NHS in particular not feeling comfortable to speak up".

There was also a "lack of equal opportunity" for managers to access training, "with those who have existing networks or contacts more likely to access these opportunities", the department added.

The review recommends measures such as improving diversity, equality and inclusion; developing consistent management standards through accredited training; and clear pathways to promotion and progression.

Mr Javid said he fully backed the review's conclusions.

"The findings in this report are stark, it shows examples of great leadership but also where we need to urgently improve," he said.

"We must only accept the highest standards in health and care - culture and leadership can be the difference between life and death.

"I fully support these recommendations for the biggest shake-up of leadership in decades. We must now urgently take them forward, to ensure we have the kind of leadership patients and staff deserve, right across the country."

Health Secretary Sajid Javid has called for large scale changes to the NHS

Sir Gordon said leadership in the health sector could be transformed if his recommendations are actioned.

"A well-led, motivated, valued, collaborative, inclusive, resilient workforce is the key to better patient and public health outcomes, and must be a priority," he said.

"This must be the goal and I believe our recommendations have the potential to transform health and social care leadership and management to that end."

Interim chief executive of NHS Providers, Saffron Cordery, said it showed there was a "window of opportunity" for change, while the head of the NHS Confederation Matthew Taylor said the review showed more diverse leadership was needed.

"We can't hide from the fact that all too often staff from ethnic minority backgrounds are still not being provided with the support they need to progress to leadership roles," he said.

https://news.sky.com/story/nhs-lead...mination-bullying-and-blame-cultures-12629798
 
James said:
10 year back log :( terrible times.

More people will be going private, and the general public passion’s for the NHS is already plummeting.
Click to expand...

People are losing faith in the Service. I think this was the Tories’ plan all along. Run it down until
It cannot deliver, then privatise the parts that can turn profit. All that will remain is a blue light and casualty service.

I will feel a sense of loss as the Service certainly saved my life twice.
 
James said:
10 year back log :( terrible times.

More people will be going private, and the general public passion’s for the NHS is already plummeting.
Click to expand...

best to add the private bupa healthcare package from your work onto payslip, i would strongly advise this - as you only pay the tax for it - Package i selected comes out as £8 from payslip = Bargain
 
Robert said:
People are losing faith in the Service. I think this was the Tories’ plan all along. Run it down until
It cannot deliver, then privatise the parts that can turn profit. All that will remain is a blue light and casualty service.

I will feel a sense of loss as the Service certainly saved my life twice.
Click to expand...

finalfantasy7 said:
best to add the private bupa healthcare package from your work onto payslip, i would strongly advise this - as you only pay the tax for it - Package i selected comes out as £8 from payslip = Bargain
Click to expand...

Yes I have a private healthcare package now.

For myself, the wife and the children.

Worth the money, as the NHS cannot be relied on anymore unfortunately.
 
James said:
Yes I have a private healthcare package now.

For myself, the wife and the children.

Worth the money, as the NHS cannot be relied on anymore unfortunately.
Click to expand...

I had a procedure done privately and then quite a bit of dental work.

The quality of service is higher. You get to have a proper chat with your consultant and surgeon, and the hospital manager welcomes you in to your private room.

I feel truly sad about this.

The NHS used to be the very best thing about this country, but the hard-right Tories are ideologically opposed to it and have been breaking it up for years.

We had something really good, and gave it up through our negligence.
 
Last edited:
A doctor given two £100 parking tickets after his night shifts overran says it shows that NHS staff are "underappreciated".

Malinga Ratwatte, who's training to be a GP in north London, was fined after leaving his hospital car park less than 10 minutes late after two separate 12.5-hour shifts.

"I was shocked really, I couldn't believe it," he told Sky News, after receiving the fines in the post.

"I felt it was quite inconsiderate and thoughtless on the part of the hospital."

According to government guidance, NHS staff on night shifts should get free parking between 7.30pm and 8.00am.

At some trusts, as in Dr Ratwatte's case, the allowance is extended to 8.30am.

The fines show he left the car park just eight and nine minutes late.

Cancer diagnoses impacted as delayed waiting times and workforce crisis grips the NHS

Health Secretary Sajid Javid says 'biological sex matters' after NHS removes 'women' on ovarian cancer page

"I just felt very underappreciated," he says.

"They could treat their staff members a little bit better given everything that doctors have done in the pandemic."

After his social media post of the fines went viral, Dr Ratwatte says the chief executive of the NHS trust got in touch and has offered to cancel the charges.

But he says they have not yet agreed to extend the free parking allowance.

"First-year qualified doctors in the NHS are earning £14 per hour. So if one of these doctors had received the fines that I received, they would've been financially better off staying at home on those days rather than coming to work," says Dr Ratwatte.

Hospital parking charges for frontline healthcare staff were waived during the pandemic in a scheme that cost around £130m.

However, fees in England were reintroduced in March.

The British Medical Association (BMA) is among unions calling for the charges to be permanently scrapped, claiming the costs are contributing to staff shortages.

"We're at a crisis tipping-point here," Dr Latifa Patel, chief officer at the BMA, told Sky News.

She says getting rid of the charges "shows that you are valued, that your hard work is valued, and it'll keep those staff possibly in the NHS for a little bit longer, which is what we need".

"I just don't understand what the government thinks they're doing to improve retention and recruitment and why something as simple as this, which could be a step in the right direction, isn't considered a priority."

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: "We rightly provided temporary funding so NHS staff could access free hospital car parking during the height of the pandemic.

"This ended on 31 March, but free parking for staff on night shifts will continue."

SKY
 
Robert said:
I had a procedure done privately and then quite a bit of dental work.

The quality of service is higher. You get to have a proper chat with your consultant and surgeon, and the hospital manager welcomes you in to your private room.

I feel truly sad about this.

The NHS used to be the very best thing about this country, but the hard-right Tories are ideologically opposed to it and have been breaking it up for years.

We had something really good, and gave it up through our negligence.
Click to expand...

Many Asian parents encourage their kids to become daaktars, opticians, pharmacists etc thinking a gold plated future lies ahead. While the financial rewards are there, people should also look at personal contentment and satisfaction because from experience I can tell you the NHS is barely fit for purpose. COVID worsened an already sick patient.

One of the reasons the UK oversaw a heavier toll during COVID compared to other European countries is because our two big political parties for 30 years fragmented the NHS preventing a more joined up, collaborative approach.

The attempts at marketisation, the foolish idea of basically getting different parts of the NHS to compete with each other was disasterous. It's only now the damage is being reversed.

GP surgeries are overwhelmed, community pharmacies are mostly understaffed and relying on an unsustainable funding model, finding an NHS dentist is like winning the lottery hence the "Brits have bad teeth" stereotype, and our care sector is not fit to handle to a burgeoning elderly population.

I'm unsure what the solution is though ? The American private insurance system is even more costly and bureaucratic, and deeply punitive for the poor. Maybe we should learn from the European form of social insurance.
 
Robert said:
I had a procedure done privately and then quite a bit of dental work.

The quality of service is higher. You get to have a proper chat with your consultant and surgeon, and the hospital manager welcomes you in to your private room.

I feel truly sad about this.

The NHS used to be the very best thing about this country, but the hard-right Tories are ideologically opposed to it and have been breaking it up for years.

We had something really good, and gave it up through our negligence.
Click to expand...

It’s not just the Tories’ fault imo, it’s true that they have nuked the NHS since they came back into government and it is essentially a zombie service now — but Labour helped to lay the ground for this by significantly expanding PFI contracts throughout the public sector.

Thatcherism and then Blair’s “Third Way” policy platform were the parents — together they produced the twisted hybrid child of Cameronism, which was itself influenced by the Orange Book Liberals (the lesser evil). This ideological family has turned our country into a depressing mess.
 
I had to pay for private healthcare for a family member recently.

Felt like a bit of a sell out, but the current system is just not fit for purpose.
 
[MENTION=53290]Markhor[/MENTION],

Germany did better than us in the pandemic because they have triple the number of critical care beds.

Things were different once. Thatcher sent her “efficiency” analysts in and they decided on a KPI called throughput-per-bed. This was a measure of clinical efficiency of work, but not clinical efficacy. But the hospitals closed most of their wards to get empty beds out of the equation and drive up the KPI.

I am not making this up. I remember a hospital built after WW2 whose ward space ran on for a quarter-mile. Mostly gone now, with the land sold to a supermarket.

Blair and Brown didn’t fix it, sadly. The best they did was replace old hospitals with new under PFI.
 
James said:
It’s not just the Tories’ fault imo, it’s true that they have nuked the NHS since they came back into government and it is essentially a zombie service now — but Labour helped to lay the ground for this by significantly expanding PFI contracts throughout the public sector.

Thatcherism and then Blair’s “Third Way” policy platform were the parents — together they produced the twisted hybrid child of Cameronism, which was itself influenced by the Orange Book Liberals (the lesser evil). This ideological family has turned our country into a depressing mess.
Click to expand...

Cameron wanted to cut £70B from public sector spending. Clegg arrived him down to £35B, which was what Darling planned for another New Labour term.

The Coalition’s failure was to not follow the Obama model of short term cuts to public spending following the 2008 crash with loans to stimulate industry growth.
 
<b>Tory leadership: Rishi Sunak says massive NHS backlog is national emergency</b>

Tackling the backlog in the NHS is the biggest public services emergency, Rishi Sunak has said, as he and Liz Truss vie to become the UK's next prime minister.

More than 6.6 million people in England are currently waiting for hospital treatment.

Mr Sunak plans to eliminate one-year waiting times by September 2024 and get overall numbers falling by next year.

Meanwhile, Ms Truss has announced plans for a "bonfire" of EU laws retained after Brexit.

She has promised to scrap or replace laws that she argues hinder growth by the end of 2023.

Speaking in Kent, where she was meeting Conservative party members, Ms Truss said it was time for "bold action" to drive the economy forward.

"I would make sure that people who work hard are rewarded, I'd make sure that businesses have incentives to invest in Britain so that we can get the jobs and growth we need to succeed at the next election and to drive Britain forward in the future."

The pledges come as the two remaining contenders in the contest to be party leader and the next prime minister step up campaigning, with Conservative Party members due to start receiving ballot papers this week.

The winner will be announced on 5 September.

In a campaign speech in Grantham, the hometown of former Tory PM Margaret Thatcher, Mr Sunak said tackling the NHS backlog was the biggest public service emergency.

"We need a fundamentally different approach," he said. "We will take the best of our Covid response and apply those lessons to clearing the massive backlog in the NHS."

Without a radically different approach, the NHS will come under unsustainable pressure and break, Mr Sunak says.

As part of a number of measures, he is promising to offer more diagnostic services - such as MRI and CT scans - in repurposed empty High Street shops.

Mr Sunak admitted he was the "underdog" in the race to become prime minister.

The former chancellor claimed there were "forces" in the Tory party who wanted the contest to be a "coronation" for his rival, Ms Truss, tipped as favourite among Conservative party voters.

He went on to criticise her plans for tax cuts, saying there was "nothing noble or good about wracking up money" on credit.

He said no amount of undeliverable promises would change that, in another swipe at Ms Truss.

Speaking to the Times earlier, Mr Sunak said a "business-as-usual mentality isn't going to cut it" when it comes to dealing with challenges that are "staring us in the face", including the economy, migration as well as the NHS.

"From day one of being in office I'm going to put us on a crisis footing."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-62270242
 
"The greatest workforce crisis" in the history of the NHS is putting patients and staff at "serious risk", MPs have said in a damning new report.

The study says there is a shortage of 12,000 hospital doctors, and more than 50,000 nurses and midwives - and that the government has "no credible plan" for making the situation any better.

It warns maternity services are "under unsustainable pressure" - 552 midwives left in the past year alone - and there are 700 less full-time equivalent GPs than there were three years ago.

Put together by MPs from the cross-party Health and Social Care Committee, the report pulls no punches when addressing the government over the growing crisis.

Projections suggest an extra 475,000 jobs will be needed in health and an extra 490,000 jobs in social care by the early part of the next decade in order to ease the strain.
But the report said: "In the face of this, the government has shown a marked reluctance to act decisively.

"The workforce plan promised in the spring has not yet been published and will be a 'framework' with no numbers, which we are told could potentially follow in yet another report later this year."

MPs said while some progress had been made towards a target of recruiting 50,000 nurses, the government was set to miss its target to recruit 6,000 more GPs, as promised in the Conservative Party manifesto.

"The persistent understaffing of the NHS now poses a serious risk to staff and patient safety both for routine and emergency care," the report said. "It also costs more, as patients present later with more serious illness.

"But most depressing for many on the frontline is the absence of any credible strategy to address it."

It went on to say as a result of staff being under pressure, the NHS was losing millions of full-time equivalent days to staff sickness caused by anxiety, stress and depression.

"The result is that many in an exhausted workforce are considering leaving - and if they do, pressure will increase still further on their colleagues," the study said, adding that some simple things are not in place, such as access to hot food and drink on shifts and flexible working.

MPs said the government's "refusal" to make workforce planning data public "means that the basic question which every health and care worker is asking: are we training enough staff to meet patient need? will remain unanswered".

Government progress rating? 'Inadequate'

More needs to be done on social care worker pay to stop people leaving, it added.

A separate report by the committee's panel of independent experts rates the government's progress overall to meet key commitments it has made on workforce as "inadequate".

Steven McIntosh, executive director of advocacy and communications at Macmillan, the cancer support charity, told Sky News chronic staffing issues had serious implications for cancer diagnosis and treatment too.

He said: "Currently three million people are living with cancer. By 2030 that will rise to four million.

"We don't have the NHS staff needed to even treat and diagnose people now.

"Unless government grapples with this long-term staffing shortage, none of us are going to be able to access the timely cancer care and treatment that we need to, when we need it."

Health and Social Care Committee chairman and Tory MP Jeremy Hunt said the country was facing "the greatest workforce crisis in history in the NHS and in social care".

He added: "NHS professionals know there is no silver bullet to solve this problem but we should at least be giving them comfort that a plan is in place. This must be a top priority for the new prime minister."

Danny Mortimer, chief executive of NHS Employers, which is part of the NHS Confederation, said tens of thousands of staff vacancies "at the last count" and "an exhausted workforce, present one of the greatest challenges to the recovery of the economy and the return of safe, high-quality health services for all".

He said health leaders were "beyond worried" about the government's "sustained reluctance to act decisively on NHS and social care staffing" which he said posed a "serious risk to both staff and patient safety".

Patricia Marquis, the Royal College of Nursing's director for England, said the report's findings of serious risk to staff and patient safety "should shock ministers into action".

She added the committee had also said with regards to pay, it was "unacceptable that some NHS nurses are struggling to feed their families, pay their rent, and travel to work".

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson insisted it was "growing" the workforce with "over 4,000 more doctors, and 9,600 more nurses compared to last year, and over 1,400 more doctors in general practice compared to March 2019".

The statement added a £95m recruitment drive was in place for maternity services and £500m was being provided to "develop our valued social care workforce, including through training opportunities and new career pathways".

A long-term workforce plan to recruit and support NHS staff had, it said, been commissioned.

SKY
 
I was actually born in the hospital where the NHS started - Park Hospital in Davyhulme, on the outskirts of Manchester.

The NHS was a wonder of the world, a comprehensive service free at the point of delivery, which wiped out at a stroke the phenomenon which still exists in the USA of people being ruined economically by healthcare costs.

The problem is that decades of under-investment by all three major parties in government have led to a situation in which most OECD countries have better funded and superior socialised health services.

And worse, the British have a crazy blind spot about just how good their NHS is.

The NHS got off to a slight head start in December 2020 with Covid vaccination. But by Easter 2021 almost every developed country had overtaken the UK for Covid vaccination, yet still the British imagined that the NHS was leading the advanced world.

In football terms, the British think that the NHS has delivered a Covid response which would place it in the Champions League places - the top four of the top division.

Whereas actually the British Covid vaccination levels are below Laos and only 1% ahead of Bangladesh.

And worse, half the vaccinated British people received the obsolete AstraZeneca jab which doesn't work against Omicron.

The UK's Covid vaccination rate is currently 48th in the world.

In footballing terms, the UK would be 4th in the third division - League One. So Sheffield Wednesday.

And there you have it. The British think that our NHS is Liverpool or Manchester City. But it isn't - it's worse than Wigan Athletic, Rotherham and MK Dons.
 
I’ve said it before and I will say it again.

These Tories want the NHS in permanent crisis, so that the people lose faith in it, and so they can chop it up and privatise it.

The public keep voting Tory anyway.
 
Robert said:
I’ve said it before and I will say it again.

These Tories want the NHS in permanent crisis, so that the people lose faith in it, and so they can chop it up and privatise it.

The public keep voting Tory anyway.
Click to expand...

Spot on.

Grow disillusioned week by week. I know thousands of doctors and nurses have left and the drain will continue. The gov have gutted the system. I do feel awful for patients. But the public was the one who voted Tory for the last decade and more.

The back log is so horrendous that people can't get a lot of issues treated as no staff. Noone says it, certainly not the gov to avoid wrath, but the only option is private for a growing number of people. And the ones who camt afford it well the gov doesn't care.
 
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