Sarah Dyke: ‘Ambulance services are in a state of crisis — we must take bold action’
Today, I’m pleased to be bringing a debate to the House of Commons on ambulance service response times. The scale of this problem is increasingly alarming, as unacceptable ambulance wait times become endemic, leaving people in pain and costing lives. Shockingly, an estimated 50,000 people died last year after long A&E waits according to ONS […]
Health secretary’s comments on ambulance workers ‘insulting’, says GMB national secretary
The GMB’s national secretary Rachel Harrison has hit back at claims made by health secretary Steve Barclay who accused trade unions of making a “conscious decision” to “inflict harm” on patients ahead of the ambulance strikes on Wednesday. In an article for The Daily Telegraph, Mr Barclay wrote: “We now know that the NHS contingency […]
‘Union demands are not affordable’, says health secretary as more strikes announced
Unison has announced that paramedics and other ambulance workers are set to strike this winter. The UK’s biggest trade union announced the results of its month-long NHS strike ballot last night. 80,000 union members voted in favour of taking industrial action. As a result, thousands of 999 call handlers, ambulance technicians, paramedics and their […]
Hospitals face readmission crackdown
By politics.co.uk staff NHS hospitals will be made responsible for patients for 30 days after they are discharged, Andrew Lansley will announce later. The health secretary will use his first major speech since entering the Department of Health (DoH) to unveil a change to the way hospitals deal with emergency patients. Under the Labour government […]
Emergency services come in for criticism
Urgent and emergency healthcare in Britain has come under intense criticism in a new report published by the Healthcare Commission today. Those in worse performing areas have poor GP out-of-hours services, longer waits for care and a lack of services tailored to people with disabilities and long term illnesses. “People often don’t know which services […]
A&E targets ‘threatened by bed cuts’
Progress on meeting the four-hour waiting target for A&E departments is “unsustainable” in the face of NHS bed cuts, doctors leaders have warned today. The British Medical Association (BMA) said a lack of available inpatient beds was still delaying the transfer of patients out of emergency departments. Ministers have argued that the reduction in bed […]
Blears defends protest against NHS reform
Hazel Blears, the Labour party chairwoman, has defended her decision to protest against the closure of her local NHS maternity unit. The Salford MP insisted she backed the government’s wider reforms of the health service, but said it was her job to represent the concerns of her constituents. Ms Blears joined protesters outside Hope hospital […]
Patients get right to block electronic records
Patients are set to be given control over who can see their electronic NHS records under new plans unveiled today. Plans for electronic care records are set to go ahead from spring 2007, the government announced today, but health minister Norman Minister today revealed patients will be able to block their details from being put […]
Warts and all ratings reveal NHS weakness
More than 200 hospital trusts have been branded “weak” in the way they manage their resources under tough new performance ratings by the Healthcare Commission. The new health checks, which combine self-assessment, external reports and patient views, find 37 per cent of the 570 trusts in England are failing in this area and a further […]
NHS spending ‘fails to deliver results’
The huge increase in NHS spending has failed to lead to a similarly large improvement in services, a new report has warned. Research by social policy think tank Civitas says that despite a doubling of funding in real terms from £44.9 billion in 2000 to £76.4 billion last year, “service improvement has in too many […]
