The NEJM continues its focus on Obama’s health reforms this week by carrying an article on ‘market-orientated’ health policy. For me, though, it’s as misconceived as the Department of Health’s latest initiative to ‘legislate’ for innovation.
The European Parliament is the only directly elected EU institution, but MEPs are not directly elected.
Yesterday, the Court of Appeal ruled that the Human Rights Act extends to British soldiers serving overseas. As a result of yesterday’s decision, if a British soldier dies while on tour overseas, whether through combat or illness, his or her family will be able to sue the Ministry of Defence for the right to life… [Read More]
As President Obama pushes ahead with his plans to reform healthcare in the United States, announcing a proposal that would vastly expand federal regulation of insurance and the healthcare industry as a whole in order to guarantee all Americans access to affordable coverage, he is facing some equally determined opposition. Conservatives for Patient Rights (CPR),… [Read More]
This week the DCSF showed a rise in the proportion of infant classes with over 30 pupils: a shift from 1.5% to 1.7% since January last year.
The HSJ today carries the revelation that the NHS is spending £144m annually carrying out operations on people who either have no significant complaints about their health before surgery or report that their condition is unchanged or worse afterwards. Should we be surprised? Probably not.
A debate hosted yesterday by Open Europe asked Does Westminster or Brussels rules Britain? The distinguished panel discussed many aspects of EU politics, including next month’s European parliament election, the Lisbon Treaty and the need for reform in the EU:
For some years now, it has been the declared ambition of the present government to increase the participation rate of young people at university to 50 per cent. Whether it was a wise ambition is questionable, seeing how incapable of achievement it has always been without seriously diluting A-level and final honours standards. However, because… [Read More]
Health sector employment of external management consultants has been making headlines lately. The HSJ reports DH board member anger over the appointment of McKinsey and Company to advise a panel of experts on how to measure GP quality, and today, the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) announced it has obtained, through use of the Freedom… [Read More]
Two depressing findings came out about schools this week. The first is that the number of children on free school meals has risen since last year. The second is that one in five children are now on the special educational needs (SEN) register.