At 4pm on the 17th of December 1992, Jonathan Zito was stabbed to death by a stranger at a London Underground station. This wasn’t an isolated tragedy. From the 1980s onwards, Conservative governments emptied Britain’s mental hospitals and moved thousands of patients into “the community” — but without providing the support or services they needed. … Read more
This week, the government launched its long-awaited 10-year plan for the NHS. At 165 pages, it’s a dense, managerial, and thoroughly technocratic document—very on brand for a government that wants to appear serious and reformist, while hoping most people won’t read past the executive summary. There are three main themes: It’s a top-down, big-state programme … Read more
For those who haven’t been paying attention, massive changes are taking place at the top of the NHS. Leadership Shake-up in NHS England Amanda Pritchard, the Chief Executive of NHS England (essentially the CEO of the English NHS), has been forced to resign. She made two unimpressive appearances before the Commons Health Select Committee, prompting … Read more
No apologies for a boring bit of health policy This week we heard the full extent of the crisis in the NHS. Lord Ara Darzi’s report listed in detail the impact of 14 years of Conservative Secretaries of State for Health. Thousands died waiting for treatment as waiting lists rose. He highlighted lack of money … Read more
The Conservatives are going to force a vote on Labours plans to cut the Winter Fuel Allowance next week. Some Labour MPs are going to rebel. Older voters are furious and some younger ones too. Politically this is terrible so why are Labour cutting the pensioner winter fuel allowance? This looks exactly the wrong policy … Read more
No. Labour aren’t going to privatise the NHS. I have seen multiple claims on social media that Labour will expand privatisation of the NHS if elected. Mostly these claims come from the Green Party, or from the anti-Labour left. The leader of the Greens made the same claim in the debate last night. This makes … Read more
Barely a week goes by without someone telling me about another imminent threat from the Tories to privatise the NHS, and introduce American style healthcare. As you might have spotted after 30 years of these stories I am pretty sceptical. The NHS is still as it ever was. I do understand people’s anxieties. Hospitals that … Read more
Dominic Cummings has been giving evidence to the Commons Science and Technology select committee. He remains unshakable in his belief in his own genius, even though it is obvious to everyone that the Government has performed loads better since he left. The Government won’t hold an inquiry into Covid until next year at the soonest, … Read more
The Greensill scandal isn’t going away with further revelations about lobbying and inquiries. There are still some big questions that stick in my mind; What was Greensill’s actual business? How did they plan to make money? Warning: Contains full frontal accountancy Greensill liked to describe themselves as a fin-tech company, but their business model was … Read more
Yet another blog about hapless hospital botherer and haunted dishcloth Matt Hancock This week the Government announced an inquiry into the relationship between Greensill Capital, David Cameron and Boris Johnson’s Government. Most of the questions the press are asking are about the relationship between Cameron, Rishi Sunak and Greensill over Covid loans. But there is … Read more