Junior Doctor's Strike - Just Wrong

So they have been and gone and done it. The junior doctors have gone on strike. Why? Apparently, because changes the government wish to make will put patients at risk. Really? Will those changes put patients as much at risk as there being no doctors available to see sick people in hospital? If the answer to that is yes then they may have a point. Obviously, it is no.

Thousands of appointments have been cancelled today. That is going to mean that patients who need to be seen are not going to be seen. Patients referred to Secondary Care by their GPs who may have waited weeks to be seen at hospital will now not be seen and will have to wait weeks to get another appointment. Patients put at risk? You decide.

What this is really about is money and not working more weekends than happens at the moment. Junior doctors will tell you they will work more hours whilst at the same time the maximum working week for junior doctors will reduce from 91 hours a week at present to 72 hours. I have heard that there will be a 30% reduction in earnings for these junior doctors. That has been debunked. Yes there will be a reduction in unsocial hours payments but there will also be an 11% pay rise on basic pay. That will mean that the basic salary for the most junior doctors just starting in hospitals will be above £25,000 a year plus the benefits. In the second year that will be well over £30,000.

More doctors working at weekends is essential to provide a 7 day a week Secondary Care system that is safe. At the moment that is not the case. At this time, for a patient arriving in hospital on a Saturday or Sunday there is a 15% greater chance that they will die. Is that really what we want to see?

The British Medical Association (BMA) have pressed the nuclear button here. If this series of strikes, yes there are 3 planned at the moment so patients keep your fingers crossed, does not work; what then? Longer strikes? More patients lives put at risk? Where does the BMA go from here in regard to this? I think we, as the people that pay for the NHS, should be really worried. Will the hardliners at the BMA be prepared to back down? Will they put the patients first as all medical professionals are required to do? Interesting questions.

Having worked within the NHS for 9 years, I have huge respect for the medical profession at all levels but in this case I think the BMA and the junior doctors who are walking out of hospitals and GP surgeries are completely wrong to do so. They ARE putting patients at risk. There is no doubt about that. In the end that should be the most important consideration.

There should be further negotiation with the government regarding all of this. So come on you healers, you savers of life and reducers of suffering. Do it now. For the patients.

Labour Farming Shadow Minister - Treat Meat Eaters Like Smokers!

Labour's Shadow Farming Minister, Kerry McCarthy an ardent vegan, has announced that meat eaters should be treated like smokers.

Expected NHS poster - Not all bad then!

 It is expected that, if Labour win power at the next General Election the following policies will be put into place:

• A Meat Tax will be put into place which will be revised each year in the budget.
• It will be illegal to serve meat to anyone under the age of 16 years.
• Meat will not be able to be consumed in any government buildings.
• Eating meat will be banned from the grounds of all NHS establishments.
• Meat will have to be consumed outside of all restaurants and pubs unless a special "meat-eating room" is provided in these establishments.
• Meat will have to be sold in plain packaging and carry a health warning "Meat can Kill".
• Those retailers selling meat will have to have the meat placed in a container so that the meat will not be visible to the public. This will obviously include butchers shops.
• The eating of meat in a car when children are present will be banned by law.
• The advertising of meat products will be banned.
• Special anti-meat eating programmes will be established free on the NHS and the government will fund research and development into the following: Meat Eating Patches, Meat Eating Chewing Gum, Electronic Meat and in addition all GP Surgeries will provide anti-meat eating clinics.
• Further measures will be announced as time goes by.

Ms McCarthy MP for Bristol East, well done the voters in Bristol East I say, said last night "The dangers to health of eating meat and of second-hand meat eating are well known. We need to crack down hard on this iniquitous practice for the good of our children, their children and their childrens children. In addition, and this is something that will be great news for all football fans, Forest Green Rovers will receive immediate promotion to the Premier League".

Further to this meat eating news it is also believed that if he becomes Prime Minister all shaving products will be treated in the same way under his own special Hirsute Agenda.

Welcome to the wacky world of Corbynista government.
                                         

Public Sector Pay - 1% Increases Will Cause Problems

Those of you that know me will be well aware that I am a Conservative supporter. I support the need for austerity in the UK because it is a path that needs to be followed for the long term future of this country. I am, however, pretty concerned with the plan for Public Sector pay going forward. When I say Public Sector I mean across the whole of the Public Sector and not just the NHS which appears to get all of the publicity when this matter is discussed.

Why am I concerned? I am concerned because the level of pay rises in the Private Sector is now running at an average of over 3%. Public Sector pay for the next 4 years will be restricted to a rise of just 1% per annum. This is over and above the pay freeze that has been in place already. This means that the differential in the pay between the Public Sector and the Private Sector that, historically, has been 2-3% in favour of public workers will not only be removed, not a bad thing, but will reverse in a very short space of time. The Private Sector pay will be higher on average than the Public Sector.

What will this mean? I am concerned that there will be a move away from working in the Public Sector by the more able members of staff. I am also concerned that it will make it much harder to recruit into the Public Sector if the pay on offer is not as attractive as in the Private Sector. I know that Public Sector staff are much maligned by some but, having worked with them for the last 4 years as a councillor, I can say that without them this country would grind to a halt very quickly.

Tough decisions need to be made by the government and they will continue to make them. I am just concerned that, perhaps, this extension of pay restraint at this low level is a step too far!

24/7 GP NHS - Sorry But It Won't Happen

As most of you will know I am a committed Conservative supporter but I have to say that I believe the 7 day a week GP service et al that has been announced today is a promise too far.

I really would love to see it happen but it cannot. Why? Simple matter of funding and logistics. There are nowhere near enough GPs in this country to make this a nationwide promise. It can take anything up to 10 years to train a GP which includes medical school, so where will they come from? In Lincolnshire the GP surgeries are struggling to provide the service they do now because of poor GP retention and the lack of GPs wishing to come and work in this area.

Secondly funding. It will take more money to provide a 7 day GP service than the government can provide. It is not just a case of providing the monies to enable GPs to work over the full week but there is also the additional cost of the support staff, administration, nursing, etc.

There is absolutely no problem with aspiring to provide all of this but to do so is, in my opinion, is beyond the ability of both the government and primary care.

I hope I am wrong but this does seem a promise too far!

It's Been A Long 24 Hours!!

Loving listening to all the Labour lovies charging about the TV and Radio studios having their say on what has gone wrong with Labour and why they lost the General Election.

There has been lots of hot air expounded and lots of wailing and gnashing of teeth with lots of different reasons put forward.

The one that I am waiting to hear, but probably won't, is the reason of treating grown adults like children. Spouting things during the campaign that were clearly utter nonsense and which were seen as such by a population who have far more intelligence than the Labour Party appear to allow them.

The biggest load of old donkey? That is easy "We have 24 hours to save the NHS". They lost and guess what. 5 days later I have sneaked a peek and WHOOSH the NHS is still there! I am sure that there are millions of adults in this country that will be shocked at that bit of news!

Save The NHS - Is That It Labour?

So Labour is again trying to frighten the children by telling them that there is only two weeks to "Save The NHS". What utter nonsense. Cast your mind back and it was not that long ago they were telling us there was 72 hours to "Save The NHS". Well the NHS was saved and not by Labour. It was saved by the Conservatives driving the UK economy into a place where there is the money to really "Save The NHS" * billion pounds of it to be precise.

And what will Labour do to "Save The NHS"? They promise to train 1,000 more nurses. Good plan but would that really "Save The NHS"? No of course it wouldn't.

Funny enough. Between 2010 and now the number of nurses in the NHS has increased by approximately 1,000. Does Milliband tell us that? NO! Does Milliband tell us that there has been an increase in medical staff, doctors, midwives, nurses and health visitors, of approximately 6,000 in the last 5 years? again NO!

This Labour propensity to try and frighten people to vote for them by telling them the NHS needs saving in a given time period is really so infantile as to be worthless.

Surely you, dear reader, do not actually believe it do you?

Just HIV or.........?

I read with some disgust the comments by Nigel Farage regarding people with HIV not being able to come to the UK.

In my view there are only two possible reasons for him to say such an awful thing.

The first is that he is concerned about the time and resources that people with HIV can require from the NHS. Now if that is the case why has he just picked on HIV? Why has he not talked about Chronic Diseases such as Diabetes, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), Heart Disease, Stroke or Arthritis? All of these disease are hugely more prevalent than HIV amongst the worlds population and take up far more of the NHS resources.

The second is that HIV and those suffering from it is something that he feels the world should actively discriminate against? To me this is more likely. Sad isn't it?

Footballers Pay.

This is a poem I wrote a couple of years ago. Sadly, but not surprisingly, it is even more relevant and true now than it was then.

Footballers Pay

I dont understand it,

And I guess I never will,

How those that kick a football,

Are worth more than those that care for the ill.

I don't understand it,

I think they have a cheek,

To get more than a doctor gets each year,

In their pay cheques every week.

I don't understand it,

What about the teacher that inspires,

Ambulance crews that save our lives,

And the brigade that puts out fires.

I don't understand it,

It really is too much for me,

Footballers earn millions,

Whilst the Lifeboats do it for free.

I don't understand it,

They get millions just to sign,

What about the brave military,

That are serving on the line.

I don't understand it,

But it really makes me sad,

When footballers are worth millions,

The world it has gone mad.

Census 2011

I have been lucky enough to secure a position working for the Census 2011 in and around Skegness. I shall be working as a Special Enumerator, a fancy title for someone who delivers census forms and paperwork to muli-occumpancy dwellings such as hostels, hotels and hospitals and arranges for the forms to be completed and collected once they are filled in.

Much is being made in some areas of the press about whether or not people should take part in the census. I would suggest that it is very important that everybody does so.

Why do I say that? The information that is gathered is used to help ensure that the services provided locally match the needs of the population. All sorts of services are included in this including transport, health and education to name but a few. Skegness and the surrounding districts are known to be deprived areas so the information provided is very important to allow the correct decisions to be made regarding what the population need.

There has been some talk, as there always is, about the big brother state being nosey and the information provided not being safe. This really is scare-mongering. No individual information will be passed to any organisation whatsoever for any use. The only information that is released to the bodies responsible for providing public services is generic population data, for instance, how many people there are over 65 and not who those people are. All information is treated in the utmost confidence.

I would urge everybody to fill the forms in when they arrive. It is a legal requirement to do so and it is very important that the data produced is accurate. Don't be put off, fill your forms in when you get them. The correct public services being delivered to our community are too important not to take 10 minutes of your time.

ULHT - 14 Million Pounds Overspent - Bad News For Local Hospitals?

It has been revealed that United Lincolnshire Hopitals Trust is to over-spend it's budget by £14 million pounds this financial year. Inevitably, this is going to result in staffing cuts and possible cuts in the health services provided by the Trust at it's three sites, Lincoln Hospital, Grantham Hospital and Pilgrim Hospital in Boston.

Thankfully, Skegness Hospital is not run by this organisation, but by Lincolnshire Primary Care Trust, although the Minor Accident Unit (A&E is at is euphermistically called) is provided by ULHT under contract and as such should not, in my understanding, be directly affected.

My concern is that we, as a town, rely very heavily on Pilgrim Hospital to provide normal hospital services and I cannot see how they cannot be damaged by this overspend. I can envisage a reduction in staff and a reduction in the capacity of clincial services as a result. This is bad news for all residents in this area!

I have had a look at the ULHT website to see what they have to say for themselves but there is nothing on there that I can find, giving any information about this overspend and the fall-out from it.

We can only keep our fingers crossed that those who have allowed this overspend to happen can now up their game to come up with a solution that will not impinge on the health of our local population. I am not holding my breath.