Writing in the British Medical Journal in February 2008, Allyson Pollock and Sylvia Godden lambasted the quality of care provided in independent sector treatment centres (ISTCs). They are right to raise concerns over data quality and collection, but a report released this week by the LSHTM and the Royal College of Surgeons allay many of… [Read More]
Crime in Middlesbrough is nearly twice the national average so it is surprising to see the police there have the time to detain members of the public for crimes that do not exist. Perhaps they need reminding that crimes (in a free country, at least), with few exceptions, involve theft or damage of property or… [Read More]
‘What legitimacy is there in a Parliament which makes crucial decisions on immigration with just fifteen ethnic minority MPs when there should be more than sixty? How can a House of Commons expect its decisions on counter-terrorism to be taken seriously by Muslim communities when there are only four Muslim MPs in the House of… [Read More]
Yesterday, on the anniversary of Enoch Powell’s ‘rivers of blood’ speech, Trevor Phillips urged us to hold a calm and measured debate about immigration. Despite his good intentions he still managed to malign the British people. On ‘the right’ he said that the issue became taboo because conservatives feared being branded racist. And ‘the left’… [Read More]
The NHS Confederation today publishes a report looking at polyclinics, widely anticipated to be recommended as part of the conclusions of Lord Darzi’s Next Stage Review in the summer. The Confed puts a pretty strong case for them, describing the principles behind them as ‘in line with the way that healthcare is developing across the… [Read More]
If anyone ever wanted a clear exhibition of the damage this government has done to the medical profession, look no further than this post by Dr Crippen. Doctors’ professionalism and sense of intrinsic reward replaced by crude economic calculation of value leads, unsurprisingly, to inferior service. Here, it’s out-of-hours care…I’m sure there are many more.… [Read More]
Gala Launch Night Event – ‘Lessons learnt teaching excluded youth in a boxing academy’ from 6.30pm Thursday 24th April Williamsons Tavern, Bow Lane
Some claim faith schools are socially divisive. They want them replaced by mixed community schools where children of all different faiths will be schooled together. That way, so the argument goes, all will be forced to mix and thereby become friends. By so becoming, the theory continues, they will be freed from the prejudices and… [Read More]
The news that Poole council used surveillance powers designed to track down terrorists to spy on an ordinary middle-class family they suspected of not living in the correct catchment area for their chosen school is not as surprising as it first seems. The government is, after all, fully aware that there exists in this country… [Read More]
The British Medical Association (BMA) have just released a survey today confirming a point I remember being made in no uncertain terms to me last year by one of the figureheads of the junior doctor pressure group, Remedy UK. The European Working Time Directive (EWTD) coming into effect next year will cut junior doctors’ maximum… [Read More]