UK
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Three crucial safeguards for medical records proposed by leading voices on care.data By Caroline Malloy
Public health professor Allyson Pollock has called on parliament to pass three crucial amendments in next week’s care.data debate to ensure public health, not commercial interest, is at the heart of the new NHS IT system. Continue reading
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Big Banks Started Laundering Massive Sums of Drug Money In the 1980s … And Are Still Doing It Today
For More Than 30 Years, the Big Banks Have Been Key Players In the Drug Trade. It has become mainstream news that at least some of the big banks are laundering staggering sums of drug money. But you may not know the scope or history of the problem. Continue reading
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Osborne’s flagship employment scheme fails on launch date By Symon Hill
George Osborne’s headline policy at the last Conservative Party conference, known as “Community Work Placements” or “Help to Work” has launched today. However, the scheme is already in jeopardy, having failed to generate the voluntary sector participation it requires. Continue reading
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G4S given job of community placements
G4S is the biggest winner of “Help to Work” contracts, the latest workfare programme which started yesterday. G4S is currently under investigation for fraud. As part of this contract G4S will seek placements in voluntary groups, which will be responsible for reporting claimants for benefit sanctions if they fail to comply with the placement. Continue reading
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David Cameron praises ‘Health Heroes’ while he destroys the NHS By Tim Crocker-Buqué
In a Daily Mail campaign the Prime Minister deploys his personal tragedy and patronises health care workers as ‘angels in aprons’. Misleading rhetoric provides cover for Cameron’s legislative demolition of the NHS. Continue reading
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UK Government Ignores Scotland’s Opposition to GM Crops in EU
UK environment secretary Owen Paterson’s has failed to represent Scotland after admitting breaching an agreement to make Scotland’s opposition to genetically modified (GM) crops clear to European ministers. Continue reading
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Fourteen questions for new NHS Boss Simon Stevens
The new head of the NHS, Simon Stevens, appears before the Health Select Committee today. Here are fourteen questions OurNHS hopes MPs will ask him. Continue reading
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The only ‘parity’ for mental health is that it is being cut and privatised as well By Peter Beresford
Mental health services are amongst the hardest hit by cuts and privatisation. A new Charter suggests how people can build alliances and fight back. Continue reading
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Last chance to address the hospital closure clause By Philip Hunt
The hospital closure clause returns for its final stages in the Lords on 7 May. Lord Phil Hunt writes here about the safeguards he is trying to introduce by amendment. Continue reading
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UK: Call the Midwife – while we still have one
Four out of five hopsitals are short of midwives, a new investigation has found. Funding cuts mean the situation is “getting worse, not better”, according to midwife leaders. Continue reading
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Will Labour defend the NHS from the EU/US trade deal? By Linda Kaucher
Andy Burnham and John Healey’s statments on the risks to the NHS of the trade deal between the EU and the US seem at odds. Labour should be speaking clearly for the NHS. There is increasingly informed public concern about the relationship between the NHS and the huge US/EU ‘free trade’ agreement, the Transatlantic Trade… Continue reading
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A moment of honesty is required – New Labour began the dismantling of our NHS By Kailash Chand
It is universally accepted that the creation of the National Health Service is the single greatest achievement of the Labour party. The neglect of the NHS was a principal contributor to the downfall of the last Conservative Government and it was a major issue that helped New Labour mobilise mass political support for a landslide… Continue reading
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Patients occupy threatened mental health clinic, some signs of victory? By Steve Sweeney
A seven-week occupation of a Cambridge NHS mental health clinic in Britain threatened with closure is having more success than past campaigning – is this the way forward? Continue reading
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Family doctor services “under severe threat of extinction” in Britain By Mark Blackwood
RCGP president Dr. Maureen Baker told the Guardian that the GP health care service, which is the bedrock of the National Health Service (NHS) and accounts for 90 percent of all patient contact is “in crisis”. “GPs and practice nurses can’t keep doing more for less now that funding for general practice in England has… Continue reading
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Labour and UK Independence Party debate in Manchester By Julie Hyland and Paul Mitchell
Claims that the European Union (EU) represents a mechanism for overcoming the national antagonisms that twice in the twentieth century plunged the Europe into war are a fraud. Draconian austerity measures in country after country, coupled with its utilisation of the Western-backed putsch in Kiev to instigate war-mongering against Russia, prove that the EU is… Continue reading
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The right-wing nationalism of the United Kingdom Independence Party By Jordan Shilton
Over the last months there has been a concerted media campaign to promote the anti-immigrant and nationalist policies of UKIP as the expression of popular sentiment. Despite the party not having a single representative in parliament, UKIP leader Nigel Farage was given two prime television spots to supposedly debate the pros and cons of the… Continue reading
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NHS Foundation Trusts – a democratic failure? By Richard Berry
10 years ago Alan Milburn launched the first Foundation Trusts. But despite his rhetoric of ‘greater local control’ the reality is apathy and powerlessness. Is it time for a different approach? Continue reading
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Nuffield Trust report exposes Tory lies on Welsh NHS By Tony Beddow
David Cameron claimed last week that the Welsh border was “the dividing line between life and death”. A new Nuffield Trust report shows such rhetoric is dishonest. In fact a thorough comparison of the UK health systems – published earlier that day by the independent Nuffield Trust – showed that overall, NHS Wales compares well. Continue reading
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The Guardian’s Zoe Williams tries to rehabilitate Tony Blair By Julie Hyland
“Stop calling Tony Blair a war criminal. The left should be proud of his record”, implored journalist Zoe Williams in the Guardian last week. The occasion for Williams’ plea was an article by the former Labour prime minister for the Guardian on the 20th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide, along with comments Blair made on… Continue reading
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NHS racism: You can’t tackle a problem if you deny it exists, Earl Howe By Roger Kline
Discrimination against ethnic minority NHS staff is rife – and it’s bad for patient care too. The author of a major new report here reveals how the government is misleading parliament by claiming the problem is being addressed. Continue reading
The New Dark Age 