Just back from an interesting trip. The holiday was fun & great to spend time with our Golden Boy who has lived there for 12 years. All was fine until my chap, who'd had a cough for a couple of weeks, had a scary episode when we thought he was choking to death. The neighbours heard the noises of us trying to get some air into lungs which had seized up, and they dialled 911. Two handsome paramedics and a police chap climbed the (not very safe) outside staircase to GB's garret and were very relieved to see they didn't need to break in nor did they have to carry him down the ricketty wooden steps to take him to hospital. He had managed a few breaths and was on the mend by then. There was not even a flicker of a smile from the professionals when I commented " terrible stairs to get a coffin down" (an old family saying); different sense of humour I suppose!
On arrival at the hospital I was sent to report to the desk and was asked to guarantee $850 before my bloke was allowed to see a doctor. Of course I was in shock (hadn't managed to find the Will and his wallet was padlocked...!) and I agreed to whatever was necessary. There followed a couple of hours of tests; chest x-ray, ECG, blood tests and then occupation of a bed for 7 hours whilst they did heart monitoring followed by 3 prescriptions ($100). If the insurance company (RBS...!!!) don't come up with the cash we will be on bread and margarine for at least the next 12 months.
Is this sort of stuff the UK health care providers are going to be facing us with in the very near future, I wonder? Canada is supposed to have a Public Healthcare System which sounds much like the NHS and we were visitors, of course, BUT if this was the real cost of just seeing a doctor what kind of accounts are we going to be faced with if NHS privatisation continues? I am very concerned....as ever....but this experience scared me. My chap seems to be better; there is a chance he's got pertussis (Whooping Cough) from our granddaughter; could last a few more weeks. Both were inoculated but there is some kind of mutation I understand. Take care out there!
Sunday, 16 September 2012
Tuesday, 21 August 2012
Phase 2 /Trying to save NHS
Sent to MP 20.08.12
It must be really good to have your certainty about the NHS. You gave no proof in your Ileach statement that the long-term aim of this government isn’t privatisation of our NHS.
The LibDems are either deluded or disingenuous.
Tory politicians had NHS privatisation in mind before the last General Election. It’s part of their ideology even though David Cameron said “No more top down reorganisations” in a pre-election promise.
Don Hannan MEP “The NHS is a mistake…we have lived through this mistake for 60 years now” Fox News USA
Oliver Letwin “The NHS will not exist within 5 years of a Conservative victory”…”no limits” on privatisation. Sunday Times
Michael Portillo “They (the Tories) did not believe they could win an election if they told you what they were going to do” to the NHS. This Week.
It was not previously part of LibDem ideology but the Health and Social Care Bill was railroaded through Parliament aided and abetted by LibDems. NHS efficiency before the Coalition took over was questioned regularly in order to justify the changes.
“The ultimate reason for British pride in its universal healthcare system, is exactly that the system is universal. Public monies go to a collective good: public health. In a time when the middle class is being gutted and life for most of us has become increasingly precarious, this should be the envy of the world” New York Times
However it is obvious that the endgame of the UK government is a USA style healthcare service. Nick Clegg has been quoted as admiring this type of system.
Millions of Americans think differently:
“In the U.S, health care is not a right but a privilege granted only to those who can afford to pay for it. Because of this mean-spirited attitude, there are millions of people in the U.S. that have no health insurance cover at all; meaning they have no access to health care (especially preventative care) except for emergency care offered by emergency rooms of public hospitals (which catch many illnesses long after the time when they could have been treated). Because of this, over 45,000 people die each year for no better reason than lack of health insurance; deaths that could have been prevented if they had insurance allowing them to get preventative care on a regular basis from a doctor of their choice.” USA - JOBSANGER
Pro rata this number could be 10,000 people in England in a few years time if these policies are allowed to be fully implemented.
People are not believing what’s happening because it seems impossible and news coverage of the changes, in the press and on TV is almost non-existent. By the time parents can’t afford vital medicines for sick children it will be too late. Eventually, patients will not be treated according to need but according to whether or not they can cover the cost of their medical needs. Virgin, Serco and Care UK have taken over contracts throughout England to provide healthcare services. These private providers, receiving mega bucks from our UK-wide taxes, will be aiming to make big profits. It is proving to be a perfect “cash cow” for them. The Coalition couldn’t get away with it all in one go, but it’s creeping insidiously all over England.
At a conference that covered ‘Income generation – new markets for the NHS and the
private sector’, Earl Howe, minister for health in the House of Lords, assured the attendees of ‘big opportunities for the private sector here’ for both corporate providers and those hoping to sell commissioning support services to clinical commissioning groups. This agenda has been rumbling on for ages. In 1988, the pro-market Centre for Policy Studies (CPS) published a series of short studies exploring this agenda. One study was published as a pamphlet entitled “Britain’s biggest enterprise” by Conservative MPs Oliver Letwin and John Redwood. Around this time, both of these MPs headed NM Rothschild Bank’s international privatisation unit. In 1988 Oliver Letwin published a book, “Privatising the world: a study of international privatisation in theory and in practice”, with a foreword by John Redwood. A useful formulation of how this privatisation could be effected is given by Lucy Reynolds and Martin McKee in “Opening the oyster: the 2010–11 NHS reforms in England” in Clinical Medicine 2012, Vol 12, No 2: 128–32.
The Health and Social Care Bill was opposed by all but one of the 26 professional bodies in the UK; but the professionals were ignored and without the LibDems it could not have passed through Parliament. LibDems should be ashamed of selling the NHS down the river for individual financial gain and political power.
Scotland’s healthcare system is safe; so you say, Mr Reid. So in a few years when patients in England are faced with large bills to pay for insurance or healthcare where will they look to receive free services? I suspect NHSiS will be inundated with England’s poorer citizens. Will there be a new law in Scotland to prove residency before patients are treated here? Will Scotland have to employ many more health professionals, at so much extra expense, to cope with the expected onslaught? Whatever the shade of the government in Scotland, this will potentially be a huge nightmare scenario. I suggest that private providers will eventually be welcomed as an answer to this problem and Scotland will follow England’s example into privatising NHSiS.
Under the Health and Social Care Act, Monitor, the new economic regulator, has a mandate to drive competition in the NHS ( to “prevent anti-competitive behaviour”). Under the HSC Act a healthcare provider must be “licensed” before it can provide NHS care.
Monitor has drawn up the licence conditions which are now open to consultation.
Within these conditions are :
Condition G8 – Patient eligibility and selection criteria
1. The Licensee shall:
(a) set transparent eligibility and selection criteria,
(b) apply those criteria in a transparent way to persons who, having a choice of persons from whom to receive health care services for the purposes of the NHS, choose to receive them from the Licensee, and
(c) publish those criteria in such a manner as will make them readily accessible by any persons who could reasonably be regarded as likely to have an interest in them.
2. “Eligibility and selection criteria” means criteria for determining:
(a) whether a person is eligible, or is to be selected, to receive health care services provided by the Licensee for the purposes of the NHS, and
(b) if the person is selected, the manner in which the services are provided to the person.
This clearly says that private providers can reject patients as long as they do so according to already published “selection and eligibility criteria”. This legitimises cherry-picking. Eg: a provider could say that they will not treat someone over a certain age, or someone with a BMI over a certain value, or someone with a complicating condition like diabetes or asthma. Area of residence in the UK might also be a factor; at the discretion of GPs. Indeed it is likely that their criteria could be summarised as “we only treat fit, health people living in England”.
Where will the rejected patients go? Back to an NHS safety net. This is not “patient choice.” It is provider choice - and it is designed to allow private providers to choose the easy cases upon which they can make the most profit.
THE HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE ACT was passed 27 March 2012
Crucially and most seriously, it removes the UK government’s obligation to provide universal healthcare in England, something so fundamental it amounts to the abolition of the NHS. As Dr Jacky Davis, co-chair of the NHS Consultants Association says: "After the passage of the unwanted, unneeded and deeply undemocratic NHS bill, we no longer have a national health service."
1) THE FORCING THROUGH OF THE HSC BILL
The overwhelming opposition from the medical profession (eg: from the BMA and 25 out of the 26 royal medical colleges) was not communicated by the mainstream media, particularly the BBC. Although the NHS affects every man, woman and child in the UK, most remain in the dark about what has happened. The government of Tories and LibDems has played a big role in this. It repeatedly concealed the purpose of the bill - to make possible the gradual dismantling of the NHS and its replacement in the medium-term (few years) by a market system, based on ability to pay rather than need.
The government also used mis-information to justify its reforms. According to Portillo, Tories had to do something about the "incredible inefficiency" of the NHS http://tinyurl.com/d64qov6. The truth is the NHS is one of the fairest, most efficient and cost-effective healthcare systems in the world http://tinyurl.com/3qf92zc with half the per capita costs of the US health system, which is not universal, and it has a higher life expectancy and lower infant mortality (OECD figures).
The government defied a legal ruling (Freedom of Information) to make public the risk assessment of the bill, despite the commissioner's verdict of "exceptional public interest".
There was a massive conflict of interest, with 25% of the MPs and Lords who voted for the Bill having financial stakes in private health companies that stood to benefit by from the bill's passage http://tinyurl.com/7gcsaqf. “Care UK”, a private health company donated significant money to the office of health secretary Andrew Lansley. Surely a conflict of interest.
2) SPECIFICS OF THE HSC ACT
In addition to removing the universal right to healthcare, which has existed since 1948, the Act also opens the door for charges (without limit) for NHS services. It permits private providers to take over any NHS services and it allows up to 49% of the business of NHS hospitals to be private. Apart from the fact that the intention is almost certainly to eventually increase this percentage to 100% - ie: create a US-style insurance-based system - this will create a health system with two queues: one for the poor and one for the rich. In a cash-strapped system, a rich person with a minor ailment will be treated over a poor person with a more serious ailment.
"Care will never again be according to need but ability to pay," says Dr Clare Gerada, Chair of the Royal College of GPs.
The Faculty of Public Health's risk assessment warns of 1) Loss of a comprehensive health service, 2) Increased costs, 3) Reduced quality of care, 4) Widening health inequalities http://tinyurl.com/7z2nf2f In a nutshell: "NHS: integrated, comprehensive, cost-effective, accountable. Mix providers: fragmented, unaccountable, expensive, only profitable services." (‘integrated’ means that data is shared – which was not the case with the private companies involved with the recent breast implant scare – and that patients receive care from a multi-disciplinary team of doctors, nurses, physios, radiographers, district nurses and so on. ‘Comprehensive’ means that all people and all ailments are treated. ‘Accountable’ means that problems and finances are made public and not concealed by commercial contracts)
The risks highlighted by the Faculty of Public Health are all short term. The NHS is being removed gradually (No government would dare remove it in one go. At the time of the last election, it had the highest-ever public approval rating). However, the end-game is obviously an insurance-based system like the US.
Without health insurance, you will not be able to get treatment for you or your family. The term NHS will be meaningless. "The NHS will be reduced to a logo, a budget and a few qangos," says public health physician, Dr Alex Scott-Samuel.
3) WHAT HAS HAPPENED SO FAR
Most people remain in the dark about what the HSC Act does because of failure of the mainstream media. If the BBC covered economics like it has health, nobody would know there had been a global financial crisis. On the day the Act was passed the strap-line across the bottom of BBC News broadcasts said "Bill which gives power to GPs is passed". It would be difficult to find a GP who agreed with that. At a time of severe financial pressure, huge sums of money – estimated at more than £3 billion - are being diverted from patient care to fund reorganisation necessary to implement the HSC Act . This is creating huge amounts of duplicated bureaucracy which is the principle cause of the high cost of healthcare in the US. Some of it is spelled out here by the editor of Nursing Standard http://tinyurl.com/cu8lkjg
Gradually, the government is deliberately starving the NHS of money. As hospitals run out of money - and the exorbitant repayments on PFI deals are a major factor here - they become prey to takeovers by private companies. This has already happened, with Serco taking over Newmarket Hospital. Not only does a private company cherry-pick profitable services but it gains infrastructure paid for by the taxpayer. It can also give preferential access to equipment such as kidney machines, blood and organs that were specifically, freely donated by the public to the NHS for use by everyone.
NHS services must now be put out to tender. The core business of the transnational corporations that are bidding, is winning government contracts as they have the experience, deep pockets and legal expertise to do so. Small enterprises and local GPs cannot compete with them in tendering for services, as has already been seen in the Virgin takeover of community services in Surrey and childrens' services in Devon. When private companies fail, like the company with the contract for GP services in Camden, patients are left high and dry. The starving of the NHS of money to force the pace of its sell off to private companies has forced the imminent closure of 4 out of 9 A&E departments serving NW London.
Trusts are getting together in cartels to force down nurses' pay, though nurses have experienced a pay freeze (ie: pay decrease, taking into account inflation) for several years now http://t.co/VMzJDI7T Dr Peter Carter, Chair of the Royal College of Nurses is predicting the loss of 56,058 nursing jobs.
Fragmentation of the NHS is reducing data sharing, making it ever more difficult to assess how healthcare is worsening. “This is the worst crime against our country by a government in my lifetime” - Marcus Chown (award winning writer & broadcaster); with whom I heartily agree and thank for much of the above data.
Mr Reid, it’s time you and your Party opened your eyes and ears to what you are condoning. You have sold the NHS off to facilitate the AV referendum and House of Lords reform; neither of which worked. Your Party will be remembered as that which allowed the demise of the NHS; the most important system in the UK. How can you justify your actions?
Yours sincerely,
Patricia M Farrington MBE
( With many thanks to Marcus Chown )
CC: The Ileach for reference.
Sunday, 15 July 2012
My letter to newspapers re Demise of my NHS
Letter sent Sunday 15.07.12 to Independant, Guardian, Scotsman & Herald.
Also sent to local paper The Ileach in Islay.
Dear Editor,
I have, for some time, been very concerned about the ConDem government’s plans in England insidiously to privatise my NHS slowly and by stealth. I have written several times to our MP Alan Reid (LibDem) asking him to vote against the changes, and he has ignored my pleas. I have also lobbied other MPs and Members of the House of Lords, to no avail.
I do realise that in Scotland healthcare is devolved to the Scottish Government and we are not, at present, in danger of these changes happening this side of the border. However I find that the general public are totally unaware of what’s going on down south. People I talk to, both in England and Scotland, haven’t a clue unless they are sick because it’s not being widely reported in newspapers, on the BBC, ITV or even my favourite C4N. I can’t understand why the media is getting away with it.
I care passionately about the NHS. It is the most important service, which can be offered to the citizens of the UK. It was considered hugely satisfactory by the great majority of the public before Andrew Lansley insisted on railroading in huge changes; which were not endorsed by professionals working in the Service.
Doctors are being asked to take salary cuts or lose their jobs.
Because of huge imposed savings, hospitals are going bankrupt and some are closing because they can’t make ends meet. Private companies are rubbing their hands and are waiting for the government to sell them off cheaply so that their shareholding pals can take grants from central government, provide services and make profits. Companies like SERCO and Virgin are queuing up for this privilege. Now; is it me being naïve or do private companies have to make a profit by their very nature? That’s the way they work in our capitalist society so that shareholders can earn tons of wonga; isn’t it? So, the cash one of these private companies already receives to provide Children’s Services in Devon, for example, has to be used to fund the children’s services, pay staff, rent venues and have some left over to pay dividends. Private providers will therefore not be able to use all the cash previously used directly by the NHS, to make the services successful. Could this be a blatant rip-off? The only way I can see this working is by cutting services and staff wages.
Plans have been suggested to pay regional wages in the public sector so a large saving can be made out of remuneration for staff doing the same work in Darlington as staff in central London but being paid considerably less. Do you want to endorse this behaviour thereby lowering the standard of living of NHS employees, or do you like me, object strongly?
You may say that I am worrying unnecessarily and that the SNP Government in Edinburgh would not ever endorse this kind of carry-on. You may be right but what if private providers offer initially to fund services in Scotland at knock-down prices like a “loss leader”? Don’t you think our Scottish Government, of whatever colour, would be tempted to give it a go? Money saved could be spent elsewhere…..schools are short of cash too. It’s a slippery slope and one I want to be avoided at all costs.
One evening last month, there was allegedly just one doctor on call overnight in the whole of Cornwall. Obviously a huge staffing cost saving. This service is provided by a private company and paid for by your NHS. Aren’t you glad you weren’t suffering from an acute abdomen in Cornwall on that night? I have no idea how often this situation is repeated and I haven’t checked because frankly I am horrified. We are looking to have a full complement of six GPs in Islay. If we were in England this would indeed be pie in the sky!
When the Bill to make these changes was analysed it was found in Clause 12, to include the fact that if you or I were to fall sick in England, there was no incentive or commitment by English GPs to treat us or to admit us to a hospital bed south of the border, unless in an emergency. It would be at the discretion of the individual doctor because we would not be registered with a GP in England. I wonder if this upsets anyone else in Islay or in the wider community. Who knew of this small print? Whatever you think of Independence from England, you might still fall ill whilst visiting the deep south, and require NHS treatment. However you just might have to pay. I understand that some NHS Walk-In Centres are asking for £25 before you see a medic; £300 is being charged for varicose vein operations and £120 for a 12 week antenatal ultrasound scan. The patients have to pay up or they won’t get the service. This is our NHS and we cannot afford to bury our heads in the sand because we are fortunate enough to live in Scotland.
Our MPs and MSPs work for us. They are paid from the public purse and should listen when we ask for support for the things we hold dear. These are the people who could make a considerable difference. Why are they staying so quiet?
Yours sincerely,
Patricia M Farrington. MBE
Also sent to local paper The Ileach in Islay.
Dear Editor,
I have, for some time, been very concerned about the ConDem government’s plans in England insidiously to privatise my NHS slowly and by stealth. I have written several times to our MP Alan Reid (LibDem) asking him to vote against the changes, and he has ignored my pleas. I have also lobbied other MPs and Members of the House of Lords, to no avail.
I do realise that in Scotland healthcare is devolved to the Scottish Government and we are not, at present, in danger of these changes happening this side of the border. However I find that the general public are totally unaware of what’s going on down south. People I talk to, both in England and Scotland, haven’t a clue unless they are sick because it’s not being widely reported in newspapers, on the BBC, ITV or even my favourite C4N. I can’t understand why the media is getting away with it.
I care passionately about the NHS. It is the most important service, which can be offered to the citizens of the UK. It was considered hugely satisfactory by the great majority of the public before Andrew Lansley insisted on railroading in huge changes; which were not endorsed by professionals working in the Service.
Doctors are being asked to take salary cuts or lose their jobs.
Because of huge imposed savings, hospitals are going bankrupt and some are closing because they can’t make ends meet. Private companies are rubbing their hands and are waiting for the government to sell them off cheaply so that their shareholding pals can take grants from central government, provide services and make profits. Companies like SERCO and Virgin are queuing up for this privilege. Now; is it me being naïve or do private companies have to make a profit by their very nature? That’s the way they work in our capitalist society so that shareholders can earn tons of wonga; isn’t it? So, the cash one of these private companies already receives to provide Children’s Services in Devon, for example, has to be used to fund the children’s services, pay staff, rent venues and have some left over to pay dividends. Private providers will therefore not be able to use all the cash previously used directly by the NHS, to make the services successful. Could this be a blatant rip-off? The only way I can see this working is by cutting services and staff wages.
Plans have been suggested to pay regional wages in the public sector so a large saving can be made out of remuneration for staff doing the same work in Darlington as staff in central London but being paid considerably less. Do you want to endorse this behaviour thereby lowering the standard of living of NHS employees, or do you like me, object strongly?
You may say that I am worrying unnecessarily and that the SNP Government in Edinburgh would not ever endorse this kind of carry-on. You may be right but what if private providers offer initially to fund services in Scotland at knock-down prices like a “loss leader”? Don’t you think our Scottish Government, of whatever colour, would be tempted to give it a go? Money saved could be spent elsewhere…..schools are short of cash too. It’s a slippery slope and one I want to be avoided at all costs.
One evening last month, there was allegedly just one doctor on call overnight in the whole of Cornwall. Obviously a huge staffing cost saving. This service is provided by a private company and paid for by your NHS. Aren’t you glad you weren’t suffering from an acute abdomen in Cornwall on that night? I have no idea how often this situation is repeated and I haven’t checked because frankly I am horrified. We are looking to have a full complement of six GPs in Islay. If we were in England this would indeed be pie in the sky!
When the Bill to make these changes was analysed it was found in Clause 12, to include the fact that if you or I were to fall sick in England, there was no incentive or commitment by English GPs to treat us or to admit us to a hospital bed south of the border, unless in an emergency. It would be at the discretion of the individual doctor because we would not be registered with a GP in England. I wonder if this upsets anyone else in Islay or in the wider community. Who knew of this small print? Whatever you think of Independence from England, you might still fall ill whilst visiting the deep south, and require NHS treatment. However you just might have to pay. I understand that some NHS Walk-In Centres are asking for £25 before you see a medic; £300 is being charged for varicose vein operations and £120 for a 12 week antenatal ultrasound scan. The patients have to pay up or they won’t get the service. This is our NHS and we cannot afford to bury our heads in the sand because we are fortunate enough to live in Scotland.
Our MPs and MSPs work for us. They are paid from the public purse and should listen when we ask for support for the things we hold dear. These are the people who could make a considerable difference. Why are they staying so quiet?
Yours sincerely,
Patricia M Farrington. MBE
Friday, 13 July 2012
Demise of my NHS
I've been wondering recently why the UK is just accepting all these appalling NHS changes. I am just incandescent as I worked for the NHS for 40 years and it's like a religion to me; more than that there is no deity so it's better, and we can all muck in to improve standards and treatment for each other. Or so I thought. If there is no deity there is definitely a devil in the form of Andrew Lansley with little horny helpers Simon Burns, Danny Alexander and arch criminals Gideon and Call me Dave.
Why doesn't everyone in the UK feel as I do? Have they swallowed the Tory propaganda about the NHS having to be severely cut up into tiny pieces and each one handed to greedy private companies so that tons of wonga can be made, for their shareholders, out of government grants? The thing is, so many Tories in government, and sad wee LibDems, allegedly are these greedy shareholders.
Private companies, by their very nature, have to make profits. How can this be done as well as providing a "better" health service? The only way is to cut wages and charge patients for treatments they used to get free....simple! Trouble is, the general public don't seem to be "getting" this. Why? Well maybe it has something to do with the fact that the BBC and most other media outlets are not reporting this sad fact. It's all falling apart round our ears and the BBC is obsessed with the royals, what they wear and what a "great job" they do. Maybe if the royals shouted up about the shocking disintegration of the NHS their "subjects" would listen???
I am waiting, but not holding my breath, for a reply from the BBC justifying their lack of reporting on a subject which should be top of it's agenda....ah but, isn't the BBC in awe of the Tories and wouldn't like to sross them?
Cynical? Qui moi?
Why doesn't everyone in the UK feel as I do? Have they swallowed the Tory propaganda about the NHS having to be severely cut up into tiny pieces and each one handed to greedy private companies so that tons of wonga can be made, for their shareholders, out of government grants? The thing is, so many Tories in government, and sad wee LibDems, allegedly are these greedy shareholders.
Private companies, by their very nature, have to make profits. How can this be done as well as providing a "better" health service? The only way is to cut wages and charge patients for treatments they used to get free....simple! Trouble is, the general public don't seem to be "getting" this. Why? Well maybe it has something to do with the fact that the BBC and most other media outlets are not reporting this sad fact. It's all falling apart round our ears and the BBC is obsessed with the royals, what they wear and what a "great job" they do. Maybe if the royals shouted up about the shocking disintegration of the NHS their "subjects" would listen???
I am waiting, but not holding my breath, for a reply from the BBC justifying their lack of reporting on a subject which should be top of it's agenda....ah but, isn't the BBC in awe of the Tories and wouldn't like to sross them?
Cynical? Qui moi?
Wednesday, 11 July 2012
FRUSTRATION WITH POLITICS
As a committed socialist I am devastated by the imminent demise of the NHS which is happening without my being able to do anything. I am frustrated by the ease with which the Tories are allowing services to be insidiously taken over by greedy private companies at considerable cost to the taxpayers; so that they can make huge profits for their shareholders, many of whom are politicians anyway and it seems to be acceptable that this is so. Whilst this theft of Public Service is happening in shady back rooms the wretched Tories, aided and abetted by the incomprehensible LibDems (who should be honest and join their Party), are systematically dismantling the state in as many areas as they can. The unemployment rates are rocketing and this seems to be acceptable to the toffs. They are, on the whole, privately educated, covered by private medical insurance and generally living at a different level in our society. Of course their living standard is what they want to preserve; for themselves and bugger the rest of us at the other end of society. They don't give a damn as to how we put food on the table or pay the mortgage because they are, in their eyes, superior to the plebs and are "born to rule" much like the British ruled the Empire when the "natives" weren't fit for self governance.
So what can I do?
I live on a small island with a population of about 3,400 which is 2 hours away from the mainland by boat and lies in the West of Scotland. All the action and demos are in the south of England and I am unable to join in to feel part of any protest. All I have is Twitter and generally I am talking to like-minded people. I am not reaching the people who are decimating Public Services so that the greedy bankers can have huge bonuses and toffs can avoid taxes. Even if I did reach them I would be dismissed; squashed like an irritating midge in my garden in August. I write to MPs, MSPs and Lords with my concerns about what's happening and I get a figurative pat on the head as if I were a recaltricant child. I am 66 and have extensive experience working in the NHS. I am not a naughty 7 year old with chocolate round my mouth, but that's how I am made to feel by most of the politicians who decide the rules of my community.
Thought I would add a photo to cheer up anyone who might have had the patience to get so far!
I live on a small island with a population of about 3,400 which is 2 hours away from the mainland by boat and lies in the West of Scotland. All the action and demos are in the south of England and I am unable to join in to feel part of any protest. All I have is Twitter and generally I am talking to like-minded people. I am not reaching the people who are decimating Public Services so that the greedy bankers can have huge bonuses and toffs can avoid taxes. Even if I did reach them I would be dismissed; squashed like an irritating midge in my garden in August. I write to MPs, MSPs and Lords with my concerns about what's happening and I get a figurative pat on the head as if I were a recaltricant child. I am 66 and have extensive experience working in the NHS. I am not a naughty 7 year old with chocolate round my mouth, but that's how I am made to feel by most of the politicians who decide the rules of my community.
Thought I would add a photo to cheer up anyone who might have had the patience to get so far!
Thursday, 12 April 2012
Trident
I've always been of the opinion that anything to do with nuclear weapons is abhorrent....always that is until yesterday. The inherent dangers of annihilation by atomic blast of those unfortunate enough to be in the wrong place at the wrong time followed by slow silent deaths by radiation poisoning for the surrounding communities, seems to me to be a concept we as humans shouldn't have ever to contemplate, after Japan's experiences in WW2. We should surely realise science has gone too far and these weapons are unacceptable; shouldn't we?
War in any form is unacceptable to me but I don't make the rules and I don't have any input about decisions to enter into war with other countries. You might say I could vote against those in power who take decisions to go to war but it's too late then; it's already happened. It's easy, I suppose, to have these altruistic views when I don't have to carry the can. Does this mean I am growing up, old or just weary? My generation has been lucky that we haven't been conscripted into the armed forces to take part in any conflicts. Those who have been involved in fighting, joined up voluntarily and, if they didn't, they should have understood that they could be sent to a foreign land to die for Queen and Country; an awful concept in the truest meaning of all the words.
Yesterday I had a conversation with someone of similar political persuasion to me, who was involved in government decisions and world wide conflicts. He was part of the decision-making groups which convinced leaders of countries to enter into conflicts with the expectation of securing peace and a better life for the citizens of these countries. In a few short words he has given me pause for thought. He is firmly convinced of the fact that because the UK has Trident and previous deterrents we have been protected from war over the past 40 years or so.
I will have to re-think how I feel now. I used to belong to CND and still believe that ALL nuclear weapons world-wide should be carefully disposed of. Obviously this isn't happening and isn't an easy concept when Israel, India, Pakistan,USA, China and the UK are all involved. Again; it's not my decision and I can't influence these countries. I have to be realistic and deal, in my own mind, with how it is now, at present, in our country.
As an NHS practitioner I used radiation for diagnostic purposes for 40 years. I was made aware of the inherent dangers and did my utmost not to abuse the medium. I respected the power of the rays generated in my machines and was wary of how dangerous it could be whilst marvelling at how radiation could help in the fight against sickness and disease. Perhaps this was why I rejected nuclear weapons and nuclear power with no compromises. The dreadful disintegration of the nuclear power station in Japan after the tsunami and the fall out afterwards, hardened my resolve against anything "nuclear" but here I am now questioning my reasons.
xraypat
War in any form is unacceptable to me but I don't make the rules and I don't have any input about decisions to enter into war with other countries. You might say I could vote against those in power who take decisions to go to war but it's too late then; it's already happened. It's easy, I suppose, to have these altruistic views when I don't have to carry the can. Does this mean I am growing up, old or just weary? My generation has been lucky that we haven't been conscripted into the armed forces to take part in any conflicts. Those who have been involved in fighting, joined up voluntarily and, if they didn't, they should have understood that they could be sent to a foreign land to die for Queen and Country; an awful concept in the truest meaning of all the words.
Yesterday I had a conversation with someone of similar political persuasion to me, who was involved in government decisions and world wide conflicts. He was part of the decision-making groups which convinced leaders of countries to enter into conflicts with the expectation of securing peace and a better life for the citizens of these countries. In a few short words he has given me pause for thought. He is firmly convinced of the fact that because the UK has Trident and previous deterrents we have been protected from war over the past 40 years or so.
I will have to re-think how I feel now. I used to belong to CND and still believe that ALL nuclear weapons world-wide should be carefully disposed of. Obviously this isn't happening and isn't an easy concept when Israel, India, Pakistan,USA, China and the UK are all involved. Again; it's not my decision and I can't influence these countries. I have to be realistic and deal, in my own mind, with how it is now, at present, in our country.
As an NHS practitioner I used radiation for diagnostic purposes for 40 years. I was made aware of the inherent dangers and did my utmost not to abuse the medium. I respected the power of the rays generated in my machines and was wary of how dangerous it could be whilst marvelling at how radiation could help in the fight against sickness and disease. Perhaps this was why I rejected nuclear weapons and nuclear power with no compromises. The dreadful disintegration of the nuclear power station in Japan after the tsunami and the fall out afterwards, hardened my resolve against anything "nuclear" but here I am now questioning my reasons.
xraypat
Monday, 27 February 2012
Doctors for Islay
According to Highland Health Board it's difficult to recruit GPs to work in our lovely West Coast Island of Islay. I can't imagine why, especially as Andrew Lansley's plans for England are so unpopular that one after another Royal Colleges and medical professional organisations are falling over themselves to object to the Bill and it's 1000 amendments, to reform one of the best, and best-loved health care institutions ever invented. Health care in Scotland is devolved to the Scottish Parliament and so not affected by Lansley's changes.
We need a complement of 6 GPs to run our island service from 3 surgeries, and at present the Health Board are paying locums vast sums in order to keep the service ticking over. The 3 permanent posts are OK for now, but we are getting desperate for 3 more GPs.
Islay, with a population of 3500, is a beautiful island with amazing scenery, wildlife, an excellent 25 metre indoor swimming pool, owned and run by the community, a high class links 18 hole golf course and superb empty beaches. In the sunshine you wouldn't wish to be anywhere else. There is wonderful scope for hillwalking, rock climbing and cycling here and in our neighbouring island of Jura.
We have several primary schools, including a Gaelic Medium section, and a High School, from which many of our children have gone on to university gaining exceptional qualifications. We have a Gaelic College and access to the University of the Highland and Islands via Argyll College. All the educational advantages of small schools are in evidence here and my family have benefitted enormously from growing up in a small, safe community. Our children learn a special type of confidence which allows them to be comfortable and competent in all kinds of situations and communities which might faze children from busy urban backgrounds. They know that they are secure in their environment and gain particular communication skills, dealing amongst all ages.
You might worry that Islay is remote. We have 4 ferries each day and two 'planes to Glasgow every day except Sunday when there is just one. There is a well-organised and very efficient air ambulance service which can deliver patients to major hospitals in less time than it would take from some mainland areas. We can drive to Glasgow in about 2hrs 30mins, after 1hr 50mins on the boat; and the 'plane trip takes about 40 minutes. Hardly "remote"!
OK "shopping" you might say; well we can get everything we need here; choice is sometimes limited but we don't really want a Tesco or Morrisons....do we? It would change the ambiance. We have a good Co-Op which serves our needs and a few other well-stocked shops. There are several hotels some of which have good dining rooms, a Chinese Takeaway, a couple of Indian restaurants and a myriad other small businesses catering to our needs and desires. There are 8 distilleries and a brewery.We also have several Festivals throughout the year covering music, art, whisky and Gaelic.
The local 10-bed hospital has A&E, X-Ray, Physio, HV, OT & SALT services. Also available here are community nurses, midwives, psychiatric nurse, diabetic nurse and Macmillan nurse. We are blessed with visiting consultants in GYN, ENT, Psychiatry, Geriatrics, Medicine and Surgery. Doctors, with a full complement, would be on-call one in 5 which doesn't seem too bad to me as I was single-handed and on call 24/7 for 30 years, for radiography; and that was a part-time post. The usual GMS rules apply apparently, and more details can be found by official application to the CHP in Lochgilphead or unofficial, tentative enquiries can be made to Dr Chris Abell at present in post.
Come and join our community in one of the most pleasant places to live in the UK.
We need a complement of 6 GPs to run our island service from 3 surgeries, and at present the Health Board are paying locums vast sums in order to keep the service ticking over. The 3 permanent posts are OK for now, but we are getting desperate for 3 more GPs.
Islay, with a population of 3500, is a beautiful island with amazing scenery, wildlife, an excellent 25 metre indoor swimming pool, owned and run by the community, a high class links 18 hole golf course and superb empty beaches. In the sunshine you wouldn't wish to be anywhere else. There is wonderful scope for hillwalking, rock climbing and cycling here and in our neighbouring island of Jura.
We have several primary schools, including a Gaelic Medium section, and a High School, from which many of our children have gone on to university gaining exceptional qualifications. We have a Gaelic College and access to the University of the Highland and Islands via Argyll College. All the educational advantages of small schools are in evidence here and my family have benefitted enormously from growing up in a small, safe community. Our children learn a special type of confidence which allows them to be comfortable and competent in all kinds of situations and communities which might faze children from busy urban backgrounds. They know that they are secure in their environment and gain particular communication skills, dealing amongst all ages.
You might worry that Islay is remote. We have 4 ferries each day and two 'planes to Glasgow every day except Sunday when there is just one. There is a well-organised and very efficient air ambulance service which can deliver patients to major hospitals in less time than it would take from some mainland areas. We can drive to Glasgow in about 2hrs 30mins, after 1hr 50mins on the boat; and the 'plane trip takes about 40 minutes. Hardly "remote"!
OK "shopping" you might say; well we can get everything we need here; choice is sometimes limited but we don't really want a Tesco or Morrisons....do we? It would change the ambiance. We have a good Co-Op which serves our needs and a few other well-stocked shops. There are several hotels some of which have good dining rooms, a Chinese Takeaway, a couple of Indian restaurants and a myriad other small businesses catering to our needs and desires. There are 8 distilleries and a brewery.We also have several Festivals throughout the year covering music, art, whisky and Gaelic.
The local 10-bed hospital has A&E, X-Ray, Physio, HV, OT & SALT services. Also available here are community nurses, midwives, psychiatric nurse, diabetic nurse and Macmillan nurse. We are blessed with visiting consultants in GYN, ENT, Psychiatry, Geriatrics, Medicine and Surgery. Doctors, with a full complement, would be on-call one in 5 which doesn't seem too bad to me as I was single-handed and on call 24/7 for 30 years, for radiography; and that was a part-time post. The usual GMS rules apply apparently, and more details can be found by official application to the CHP in Lochgilphead or unofficial, tentative enquiries can be made to Dr Chris Abell at present in post.
Come and join our community in one of the most pleasant places to live in the UK.
Saturday, 21 January 2012
Immigrants / Scroungers
I read today that the wretched Government's figures were lies regarding the numbers of immigrants who are causing supposed havoc in our communities by getting handouts and being in the UK illegally. I have information from a family member who works with some of these poor souls in a medical situation and I know that we should be prepared to help with all the means at our disposal. I am ashamed of my fellow countrymen and women who want to deny help to those who have fled from their homes, with nothing in their pockets. When they arrive we give them vouchers for miserable amounts of food with no provision for warm coats or shoes.We house them in poor neighbourhoods with few facilities where they are often abused verbally and physically. It's scandalous! Most of them are eventually accepted legally, want to work and pay taxes like the rest of us. And all this in a supposed Christian country! Thank goodness I've no god to answer to!
The percentage of misuse and misappropriation of funds is, apparently, a drop in the ocean and I for one am prepared to lose some small amount to the wrongdoers in order to provide, fom my taxes, for those in need. No system is perfect after all.
Several government "worthies" are adding fuel to this misinformation. Not least our oleaginous Bullingdon Boy Cameron.
The percentage of misuse and misappropriation of funds is, apparently, a drop in the ocean and I for one am prepared to lose some small amount to the wrongdoers in order to provide, fom my taxes, for those in need. No system is perfect after all.
Several government "worthies" are adding fuel to this misinformation. Not least our oleaginous Bullingdon Boy Cameron.
Lobbying
Another Con! Sod it! The snivelling Tories are at it again! We were promised a cull against unfair lobbying of politicians @ Westminster. What happens, after oodles of cash has been spent on a review, is 10 pages (after all the guff is eliminated) of business as usual. The lobbyists pals of MPs can take them out to dinner, chat them up after copious alcoholic incentives (not to mention potential private underhand financial deals), and cut a deal to do the bidding of any old private company with a vested interest in lawmaking. Some people must have voted for these deceitful b.....ds but I can only find one I know, who has admitted to it! Needless to say, she is off my Christmas card list. Bl...y LibDems are worse because they pretend discomfort but go ahead and vote for crass policies anyway. I know one or two who voted for them; me included. Worse decision I ever made since I started fighting for decent NHS provision in the wilds of Argyll about 40 years ago. A hiding to nothing as no-one listens....aaagh!
Saturday, 7 January 2012
Tax Dodging
Tax Dodging : how does it work? I suppose it's impossible when you work in the Public Sector as your pay is put into your bank after tax has been paid. Most people wouldn't have the opportunity to try it on. Most people realise that taxes, like death, are inevitable. BUT many of these well-off toffs seem able to avoid tax. Gideon the Chancellor has been in the news recently depicted as The Artful Dodger; and very spooky he looked too.
It's a completely alien way of life and I suppose that's what the very rich rely upon. We the proles, couldn't enter their world due to lack of finances, even if it were morally acceptable. They have the sort of funds which can be spent paying lawyers to save them thousands of pounds in tax. Percentage - wise, I've probably paid more tax than many a millionaire. Doesn't bear thinking about....I was a Radiographer.
I was gobsmacked to discover that £70 BILLION is now owed in tax revenue. Yes £70 BILLION and these snivelling Tories are allowing it, to the benefit of their rich pals, whilst cutting services to people in need, like disabled children and young families struggling to make ends meet. Scurrilous LibDems (whoever they are?) just ride along beside their very senior partners, shuffling their feet with embarrassment, because they are incurably greedy for power and know they'll not have another chance of being this close to government, in their lifetimes.
Where are the Labour Party? Why aren't they banging on about this daily, in Parliament; in newspaper articles; on TV etc? I don't want to knock Ed Miliband and his gang. I just want them to shout louder and more often. Of course, added to all of this is the allegation that the BBC news swings to the right; not helped by the allegation that Nick Robinson was a leading light in his university's Tory association. The Labour Party have an extra mountain to climb if the media are insidiously putting further obstacles in the way of them getting their message across. It's not fair; but life isn't I suppose.
It's a completely alien way of life and I suppose that's what the very rich rely upon. We the proles, couldn't enter their world due to lack of finances, even if it were morally acceptable. They have the sort of funds which can be spent paying lawyers to save them thousands of pounds in tax. Percentage - wise, I've probably paid more tax than many a millionaire. Doesn't bear thinking about....I was a Radiographer.
I was gobsmacked to discover that £70 BILLION is now owed in tax revenue. Yes £70 BILLION and these snivelling Tories are allowing it, to the benefit of their rich pals, whilst cutting services to people in need, like disabled children and young families struggling to make ends meet. Scurrilous LibDems (whoever they are?) just ride along beside their very senior partners, shuffling their feet with embarrassment, because they are incurably greedy for power and know they'll not have another chance of being this close to government, in their lifetimes.
Where are the Labour Party? Why aren't they banging on about this daily, in Parliament; in newspaper articles; on TV etc? I don't want to knock Ed Miliband and his gang. I just want them to shout louder and more often. Of course, added to all of this is the allegation that the BBC news swings to the right; not helped by the allegation that Nick Robinson was a leading light in his university's Tory association. The Labour Party have an extra mountain to climb if the media are insidiously putting further obstacles in the way of them getting their message across. It's not fair; but life isn't I suppose.
Friday, 6 January 2012
Lansley's Deceit
The Right Article on Twitter has highlighted some awful truths about Lansley and his appalling Bill for the NHS. Well worth a look but it all makes me feel inadequate and frustrated because there seems to be very little backing for Andy Burnham from Ed Miliband in opposition. Labour looks to be running scared about Health care reform in England and the "discussion" needed to effect change in Scotland, is non-existent.
Tuesday, 3 January 2012
Scottish Help for NHS in UK
Just read an excellent article suggesting thet NHSiS has the opportunity to help save the NHS UK http://www.internationalfuturesforum.com/iffblog/?p=956 isn't it about time we held these discussions?
Monday, 2 January 2012
New Year - New Politics?
I'm so surprised, but I shouldn't be, about the apathy I am finding amongst my contemporaries about the present parlous state of our Politics in the UK. The snivelling Tories and their greedy pals who used to be LibDems are running amok; causing no end of misery and getting away with it due to their success at blaming the previous Labour Government. Labour should be shouting "LIARS" from the housetops, over and again so that the message gets through to communities battling against unnecessarily harsh cuts in public spending. An approach such as Alex Salmond would make to cut them down to size might be useful. They are too soft and polite.
The latest atrocity, hidden in small print, is the 49% story. Now, via evil machinations by Andrew Lansley, private companies will be able to profit even more from our NHS because hospitals will be able to raise up to 49% of their funding from private companies when previously it was 1-2%.
Please see "Concerned4Democracy".
Why aren't the politicians who really care about MY NHS jumping up and down about this abuse of power? How can we get them to care enough to shout louder?
The latest atrocity, hidden in small print, is the 49% story. Now, via evil machinations by Andrew Lansley, private companies will be able to profit even more from our NHS because hospitals will be able to raise up to 49% of their funding from private companies when previously it was 1-2%.
Please see "Concerned4Democracy".
Why aren't the politicians who really care about MY NHS jumping up and down about this abuse of power? How can we get them to care enough to shout louder?
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