Nhs

For too long, Westminster has overlooked mental health. It has been languishing in funding obscurity for decades as a forgotten arm of the NHS. But thankfully, there was a shift in priorities during the last Parliament as all political parties woke up to the importance of providing good mental health care. The issue rose so far up the policy agenda that the merits of different types of long-term psychotherapy became the subject of repeated and impassioned debate in the Cabinet Office. All parties have realised that mental ill-health is a problem that affects everyone. Currently one in four people struggle with mental health issues every year and the number is

Well, it’s fair to say that Jeremy Hunt’s going to have a fun time at the next doctors’ conference he attends. There’s the #Iminworkjeremy trend on social media of furious doctors pointing out that they already work at weekends, and are not playing golf, as they believe the Health Secretary claimed. There’s the multiple petitions calling on the Health Secretary to resign, be sacked, or be subject to a vote of no confident in Parliament. And there are the furious op-eds from doctors who feel completely undervalued. Now, doctors do work weekends, and they also work twilight shifts and long weeks of nights, and they also have to certify people as dead

Insomnia has a lot to answer for. I have not been sleeping well for years but a few months ago I stopped sleeping at all. By that I don’t mean I sleep a little bit. I mean I sleep never. And since I stopped sleeping, I have been teetering on a knife-edge. It is, I can reveal, barely possible to behave in accordance with the law if you have had no sleep for a significant time. I suspect a large proportion of the prison population just needed a sleeping pill to make them into responsible citizens. As for women’s prisons, they must be jam-packed with menopausal desperados needing HRT whose

Not long ago, I woke up in hospital, in pain, with a damaged back, but grateful for the sleep that a couple of doses of morphine had secured. ‘Morning,’ said a sixtysomething man who appeared by the side of the bed. ‘I’m Derek, I’m a volunteer here.’ ‘Hello Derek.’ ‘I’ve bought you some cornflakes.’ I wanted to hug him. ‘Also…’ He produced a sheet of paper. Oh no. ‘There are a few questions here about how you’ve found your stay with us. I can fill them in for you if you want…’ Luckily I was too weak to get angry. ‘Could you just leave it there, Derek? I might look

The PM’s first policy speech in this Parliament was devoted to the NHS and marked a big shift in tone compared to the election.  The campaign message was somewhat defensive, majoring on the extra spending that the Conservatives would provide (and leading some to ask where the extra £8 billion a year was coming from).  11 days after the election, the message was very different. ‘The NHS must step up,’ said Cameron.  His key phrase was ‘There is no choice between efficiency savings and quality of care’. That was an unsubtle rejoinder to the health leaders who had been arguing, even during the election campaign itself, that much more money

Home David Cameron, the Prime Minister, toured Europe trying to gain support for reforms to favour Britain’s position in the European Union. Angela Merkel, the Chancellor of Germany, said she did not rule out treaty changes in Europe and would be a ‘constructive partner’ of Britain in seeking reforms. Nick Clegg, the former deputy prime minister, was found to be on a list of 89 figures from the EU banned from entering Russia. Jeremy Hunt, the Health Secretary, said he would do something to reduce the cost of agency staff for the NHS in England, which amounted to £3.3 billion last year. The government, which has reduced its stake in Lloyds

Technology has the huge potential to transform the healthcare system. In this View from 22 podcast special, The Spectator’s Sebastian Payne discusses how technology is revolutionising healthcare with Professor Simon Wessely, the president of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, Dr James Kingsland, the President of the National Association of Primary Care and Kate Newhouse, the CEO of Doctor Care Anywhere. Are new technologies helping to alleviate pressures on the health service? Is the NHS making the best use of the newest technologies available? And does Britain’s current GP system meet the patient’s increasing demands for flexibility? This podcast was sponsored by Doctor Care Anywhere

Home A Bill to enable a referendum on whether voters wanted Britain to ‘remain’ in the European Union figured in the Queen’s Speech. Another Bill prohibited any rise in income tax rates, VAT or national insurance before 2020. Tenants of housing associations would be given the right to buy their homes. Provision for Scottish devolution was promised in fulfilment of the recommendations of the cross-party Smith Commission. A ‘powerhouse’ in the north was to come into being through cities being given powers over housing, transport, planning and policing. Laws on strikes would be tightened. Red tape for business would be reduced, and a new quango set up to invigilate late

The name says it all. ‘Dying Without Dignity’ is the parliamentary health ombudsman’s report into over 300 complaints of the neglect of terminally ill patients by the NHS. The BBC this morning highlights two horrible examples. One mother had to call an A&E doctor to come and give her son more pain relief because staff on the palliative care ward he had been on had failed to respond to her requests. A 67-year-old man’s family learned of his terminal cancer diagnosis through a hospital note – before he knew himself. This ‘failed every principle of established good practice in breaking bad news’, says the report. Julie Mellor, the ombudsman, uses uncompromising language: ‘Our investigations have found

The Tories barely talked about the NHS during the election campaign. It was an area of Labour strength, and one Ed Miliband and Andy Burnham were keen to talk about as much as possible. But now they’re back in with a majority, the Conservatives are keen to start talking about the health service again, and to start trying to erode that Labour poll lead on the issue. David Cameron and Jeremy Hunt yesterday announced their plans for a seven day NHS, but though announcements are always very handy for getting attention, the Tories need to strike a balance between lots of new initiatives and too much meddling that upsets people