What you need to know about Atos assessments
Courageous Scottish nurse Joyce Drummond, who made a heartfelt apology to Atos assessment victims, has submitted evidence to the Scottish Parliament Select Committee on Welfare Reform. Joyce forwarded some of her notes to me, containing this information about Atos assessments. I have edited where needed, organised the notes and added some information to the text. [...]
Dial ‘F’ for failure
The NHS recently launched its non-emergency 111 number. Staffed by ‘a team of fully trained advisers’, the scheme’s aim is to quickly and accurately identify the most appropriate medical response to the caller’s needs. What’s important to note is that the ‘fully trained advisors’ aren’t doctors, nurses or paramedics, and do not make clinical decisions [...]
Do we still value people for who they are?
Recently, I’ve been wondering: what happened to our society’s fundamental moral belief that people have inherent value by virtue of being human? When did we start, consciously or sub-consciously, measuring people’s well-being in terms of cost? Is this the kind of society we really want, or is it the result of a political ideology for [...]
The true history of GP Out of Hours services
The early days of the NHS Before 1948 general practice was a cottage industry. Most GPs worked independently usually from a consulting room in their own house. There were few if any staff with the duties of answering the phone usually falling to the GP’s wife (most doctors were at that time male) or in [...]
My reaction to Adebowale
I thought myself very privileged to have been on the list of people to receive an embargoed copy of the Adebowale Report on Friday morning, two hours before the world saw it. Although I was due to be at work on an EARLY shift, I had made mental arrangements to prioritise reading it amidst my various duties, [...]
Patient Centredness – does it matter and how can we do better?
Last Sunday I sat and held Grandma’s hand as she died. She had advanced metastatic stomach cancer and was 90 years old. Unbelievably throughout her whole illness this was the first time she had ever been admitted. She had always said she wanted to stay at home but in the end the intractable vomiting was [...]
Understanding male health
As I’ve explained before, one project we didn’t have time to complete and launch before the closure of NHS North West and our equalities team was a new resource aimed at helping commissioners and primary care clinicians to tackle the health inequalities experienced by men and boys as a group. And, as I explained last month, we undertook [...]
Loneliness
“The biggest disease today is not leprosy or tuberculosis, but rather the feeling of being unwanted, uncared for and deserted by everybody” Mother Theresa I am always early for my doctors appointment. I cannot imagine how anyone could be late for a doctors appointment, even though I know that lots of doctors, including mine, often [...]
Police mental health
I am aware that several forces are reviewing, revising or writing afresh their internal policies on mental ill-health for staff. Policies about a force’s duty of care towards their police officers and employees. There are various reasons why this is very, very necessary and arguably overdue. Like any organisation, the police service will have staff [...]
Six months in… health
It’s six months since we launched this version of Guerilla Policy. Here’s a selection of some of our favourite posts we’ve published in health – from scandals to targets, cuts to major changes in commissioning, and some fundamental questions about what healthcare should be about.
Public services in the community
The measles outbreaks taking place across the country tells us a lot about how public services, such as hospitals and schools, can be reformed so that they have a better relationship with the communities in which they operate. Much has been written about how much the abuse and neglect that took place in Mid Staffordshire NHS Trust between 2005 and 2008 [...]
Frontline Friday round-up 26th April 2013: Under pressure
Here’s our round-up of frontline blogs we’ve particularly liked from the week of 22nd April 2013. This week: the frontline under pressure.
Could do better – MUCH better
“In twelve months it seems that the Home Secretary has spent a considerable amount of time talking to her counterparts but having little or no impact. Her other action was to write to someone else and ask them to deal with it locally.” Nathan Constable argues that if police are required to deal with mental health issues then this needs legislative change and not inaction from the Government.
Lobbying MP over new NHS rules
“I appeal to you as a member of the legislature to give this matter your attention and demand a debate and a vote on the floor of the House of Commons, to have these regulations withdrawn. We should not feel rushed into this given the importance of its implications.” Dr David Wrigley shares a letter to be sent to MPs asking them to support and defend a publicly provided NHS.
Where should people be cared for?
An article in the Guardian a few days ago caught my eye. In it Dr Michael Dixon suggests that much of the care currently provided in hospital could be provided at home, or much closer to it. That hospitals should be slimmed down, and that Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCG), should and will want to move services away from [...]
The right tools for the wrong job
On Sunday just gone I was very honoured (but slightly nervous) to know that the Sunday Express were going to be basing an article on policing and mental health from my blogs. The full article can be read here. If it were down to me I would not have chosen the words “Mental health victims” [...]
History is written by – bloggers or the GMC?
It’s the end of a tumultuous week on two fronts. Firstly, the Health and Social Care Act has come into force. Secondly, the GMC has issued ‘guidelines’ on the use of social media. These two events are not unconnected I think. This is not the beginning of the end for the NHS. I thought it was until [...]
Silence is golden?
A doctor and a police officer are both worried about management practices in their organisations. The doctor thinks that chasing targets is affecting clinical decision making and affecting patient safety. The police officer thinks that chasing targets is causing dysfunctional organisational behaviour and affecting public safety. Both try to raise their concerns and both are [...]
Can you teach care?
During a debate in London this week with health colleagues we were updated on the initial responses to the report into Mid Staffordshire by Robert Francis Q.C. which was published in early February 2013. The long awaited report is hyper-critical and leaves no stone unturned in an attempt to uncover the reasons why over a [...]
Am I an extremist?
Last night I debated with journalist Ian Birrell on BBC Radio 3 Nightwaves The question was, ‘Is nostalgia for the idea of an NHS inhibiting necessary, clear-eyed debate?’ NHS workers are united on 2 fronts, The need for care to be based on need and a dislike of constant interference by government BMJ I believe that there [...]