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Ed Miliband highlights the huge increase in quangos and costs associated with the ConDems’ destruction of the NHS – quangos are to increase from 163 to 521. The RNIB reports that operations are not being performed because of cuts. Tower Hamlets GPs support striking public sector workers.

Conservative election poster 2010

A few recent news articles concerning the UK’s Conservative and Liberal-Democrat coalition government – the ConDem’s – brutal attack on the National Health Service.

NHS redundancies to cost public £852m – UK Politics, UK – The Independent

Taxpayers face an £852m bill for redundancies as a result of the Government’s shake-up of the National Health Service.

The Labour Party leader Ed Miliband, who challenged David Cameron over the figure at Prime Minister’s Questions, warned that many of the staff being sacked by strategic health authorities and primary care trusts (PCTs) would be re-employed by the GP commissioning consortiums replacing PCTs.

Mr Miliband said the U-turn over the original reforms would increase the number of statutory organisations in the NHS from 163 to 521, instead of cutting bureaucracy as the Government suggested. “Is this what you meant by a bonfire of the quangos?” Mr Miliband asked.

The Prime Minister insisted the shake-up would save £5bn by cutting bureaucracy. He told Mr Miliband: “What we inherited was a situation where the number of managers was going up four times as fast as the number of nurses. What’s happened since we took over? The number of doctors has gone up, the number of bureaucrats has gone down.”

Patients denied sight-saving ops as NHS tries to save cash, RNIB warns – mirror.co.uk

PATIENTS are being denied sight-saving operations in an effort to save money, a charity claimed yesterday.

More than half of primary care trusts have introduced arbitrary tests for those who want cataracts removed, research by the RNIB found.

It said: “Patients are being forced to live with unnecessary sight loss. It is pretty clear this is cost-cutting.”

The RNIB found 70 of 133 PCTs that responded applied their own rules and ignored surgery guidelines. It said hip, teeth and knee operations are also under threat.

Pulse – GPs take to the streets to support public sector pension strikes

Dozens of GPs and practice staff in east London are to publicly protest in support of teachers, civil servants and other public sector colleagues striking over pension cuts.

Around 600,000 public sector workers are expected to walk out tomorrow over the Government’s proposed changes to pensions. It comes as the BMA’s annual representative meeting in Cardiff prepares to debate a motion calling for a ballot on ‘all forms of industrial action’ if consultants’ final-salary pensions are replaced by a career average scheme.

GPs and staff from practices across Tower Hamlets are planning two protests in high-visibility spots in the borough: one outside the council offices on Roman Road, the other on a traffic island in the middle of the A13.

Dr Anna Livingstone, a GP in Tower Hamlets and member of City and East London LMC, told Pulse: ‘We in Tower Hamlets feel very strongly against the [health] bill and in support of public service workers.’

‘GPs normally work through their lunch break, but tomorrow we won’t be doing so. Tomorrow we’ll use the time to make a statement in solidarity with those on strike.’

She added that the stark inequalities between rich and poor communities in the borough, which ranked in the top ten areas listed in the 2010 Indices of Deprivation, compelled herself and her colleagues to act.

 

27/11/13 Having received a takedown notice from the Independent newspaper for a different posting, I have reviewed this article which links to an article at the Independent’s website in order to attempt to ensure conformance with copyright laws.

I consider this posting to comply with copyright laws since
a. Only a small portion of the original article has been quoted satisfying the fair use criteria, and / or
b. This posting satisfies the requirements of a derivative work.

Please be assured that this blog is a non-commercial blog (weblog) which does not feature advertising and has not ever produced any income.

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