Posted in Health

What’s in the NPF draft policy statements?

According to the Labour Party Rulebook:

“Party conference shall decide from time to time what specific proposals of legislative, financial or administrative reform shall be included in the Party programme. This shall be based on the rolling programme of work of the National Policy Forum.” (Emphasis added)

The results of that “rolling programme of work” emerge at this time of the year giving members a few weeks to read and discuss them and to get their party branches and CLP to respond. It’s a tight timetable and there is room to doubt the value of the consultation that this purports to be. Continue reading →

Save our NHS!

Disaster-looms-for-NHS_large-e1308062563878The crisis in the NHS has reached a new level in recent weeks, yet Teresa May and Jeremy Hunt are burying their head in the sand, even criticising the Red Cross for declaring a ‘humanitarian crisis’ in the NHS, with the Prime Minister saying the claims were “irresponsible.”

As Labour activists, we need to be clear that this Government has helped to create the crisis in the NHS, which is facing the biggest financial squeeze in its history, and by 2018 NHS spending per head will be falling. Continue reading →

Our understaffed underfunded NHS is the result of government ideology

Disaster-looms-for-NHS_large-e1308062563878-2Jeremy Hunt had few answers from the barrage of cross bench concern this week’s parliamentary debates on the NHS funding and the impact of Brexit on the NHS.

When asked what he was doing to ensure that the NHS gets the £350million a week that it was promised during the Leave referendum campaign, the Secretary of State said “I am a little stumped, because I was never really sure whether we would see that money.”

The government’s health policy is utterly incoherent. The Leave half of the government is promising millions of pounds to the health service while the Remain side knows full well that that money will be unavailable in the economic chaos wrought by Britain’s vote to leave the EU.

Financial problems may only be the half of it. The vote for Brexit and Tory talk of an Australian-style point system leave question marks over the status of the 100,000 EU nationals that work in, and prop up, our health and care system.

Continue reading →

Political Violence and Mental Health

kkkGiven the fact that the alleged murderer of Jo Cox has been charged, it is important that any discussion of the surrounding issues is contextualized by the requirements of the criminal justice system. There is guidance on reporting restrictions and contempt of court provided by the Crown Prosecution Service here.

But if we step outside this immediate British context, to consider another “lone wolf”, Omar Mateen, who committed the appalling slaughter at the Pulse night club in Orlando, then there are contested accounts in the mainstream media whether his motivation was the political expression of jihadi terrorism, or due to poor mental health. Continue reading →

Healthcare US style… or how neoliberalism really works

US healthcare pills and dollar billsRichard Falk is retired and lives in Santa Barbara, Califormnia

Along with several million, I suffer from the eye disease known as glaucoma. It can be managed, rather than cured, by taking eye drops several times a day. Based on the advice of my doctor, I rely on Azopt and Lumigen, two drugs produced by leading pharmaceutical companies.

A week ago, prior to an international trip, I stopped at a local pharmacy to renew my prescription of Azopt (produced by a Texas company Alcon that manufactures 86 drugs) because I feared that my supply would be exhausted during the trip. A day later the pharmacist called me back to say that my insurance would only cover the refill in mid-March when according to their records I should have finished the supply I had, and would be entitled to more. She added that the for 15 ml. of Azopt without insurance I would have to pay $445, which is double what it would cost after the insurance kicked in. I thanked her for letting me know this bad news, saying that I would wait until next month. Continue reading →