Nursing shortages: move on from the blame game
14 September 2021
The shortage of nurses is worldwide. There’s no future in leaving it to the SNP or the British governmemt to resolve.
14 September 2021
The shortage of nurses is worldwide. There’s no future in leaving it to the SNP or the British governmemt to resolve.
Medical schools saw an astonishing 21 per cent surge in applications to train to be a doctor for entry in 2021. But most applicants will be turned away – while Britain continues to import doctors trained abroad.
Obesity in Britain is increasing, especially in children. This is a relatively recent development, but the trend is clear and persistent…
16 May 2021
A hard border for medicines between Northern Ireland and Britain imposed by the EU is denies people in the province early access to a new life-saving cancer drug.
8 March 2021
The government’s proposed 1 per cent pay rise for nurses and other NHS staff – a reduction in real terms – has naturally provoked outrage among workers. But it should provoke some soul-searching too.
Applications to UK medical schools have increased by over 20 per cent, according to figures published by the Medical Schools Council.
Another NHS reorganisation is on the cards. This one looks like doing some good…
With another set of reforms to the NHS in prospect, it’s worth looking at what workers did for themselves in the past…
Breast screening has restarted. But almost a million women have missed mammograms due to the pandemic.
23 February 2021
Before the Second World War there was no comprehensive healthcare system, and workplace safety was ineffective. Miners in South Wales showed the way to improve both.
20 February 2021
Most breast screening programmes in Britain were paused in March 2020 because of Covid-19. Screening has since restarted, but there’s much to be done as almost a million women have missed mammograms.
11 February 2021
The government is to reverse the central thrust of the 2012 NHS reforms. Central planning is back on the agenda, finally.
7 February 2021
Russia’s main opposition party is campaigning for the “natural right” of children to go to school in the face of widespread closures.
10 January 2021
The Royal College of Physicians has set out plans to double the number of medical school places, planning for Britain’s needs for the next ten years and beyond.
For Britain to persist with devolved health services is a nonsense – economies of scale are being lost and during the current health crisis efforts are being dissipated. A look at Scotland indicates the scale of the problem…
The NHS is preparing for winter and a predicted second wave of Covid-19 infections. The service must also look at how it has dealt with patients referred for investigations and treatment for other conditions.
10 October 2020
It is unethical for health services to rely on imported workers, as they have done for too long. Workers can take responsibility by challenging international recruitment.
11 September 2020
As well as preparing for winter and a second wave of Covid-19, the NHS must look at how it has dealt with other conditions and plans for the future.
9 July 2020
Britain leads research to combat novel coronavirus Covid-19 across many areas. One strand has already produced great results that will save lives.
Covid-19 has revealed the evil effects of the criminal fragmentation of Britain’s health and social care. The so-called internal market has failed. Workers must ensure that we never again face such a calamity…
Unions representing nurses, midwives and allied healthcare professionals are calling on the government to improve support during their training.
The European Commission is making a concerted power grab to give itself the right to intervene in member states’ health systems.
Workers in the NHS, and all of us who use it should insist that never again can it be allowed to face such an epidemic with such limited resources…
The British working class has a good history of “doing the 24-hour job” and asking the questions at the same time – during the Second World War, for example.
Media descriptions of “health heroes” often stops at doctors and nurses. At the front of the front line, though, are the ambulance services.
14 April 2020
London’s ambulance service has been under heavy strain. But it has not buckled. Key to its resilience has been the acceptance of responsibility by the main trade union, Unison.
The number of over-60s diagnosed with malnutrition has more than trebled in the past decade, says NHS Digital
30 May 2019
The body responsible for educating and training the NHS workforce in England is still fixated on importing labour from abroad.
18 March 2019
There are positive signs that fragmentation of the NHS in England is coming to an end. Professional bodies, unions and others are unanimous that the 2012 Health and Social Care Act should go.
11 February 2019
Millions around the country are experiencing every day the consequences of a political system that has washed its hand of the people and handed control over to the European Union, the market, or both.