We have stood on the streets and applauded our front line NHS staff. We have wondered at their resilience in the biggest health crisis of our lifetimes. We have sympathised with them when they have fallen ill and with their families when they have died. The reward health service workers will get for their efforts […]
NHS
Waiting for the all clear
It’s great news that our wonderful NHS staff and volunteers are storming forward with the UK’s vaccination programme. Still, I worry about people being lulled into a false sense of security once they have had their first and even second jab. Most of us will have had, or be getting, the AstraZeneca (Oxford) vaccine. It […]
We need to talk about the Healthcare workforce – again
So what’s changed since my last piece for LDV on this ten months ago? – nothing and everything, in a phrase, it’s got much worse. Last March the fear of an unknown, rapidly spreading and possible deadly virus, the prospect of the NHS being overwhelmed; inadequate ventilators and ITU beds, terrifying pictures from Italy of […]
Protect the NHS?
It is the second part of this Government strapline that causes me more than a little concern. “Protect the NHS”. To me, it is the one thing that successive Conservative Governments have failed to do. We only need to look back at those years of austerity to know just how much the NHS has been […]
Why can’t NHS screening services include trans patients?
NHS patients are regularly invited to screening tests for different conditions. The tests can be inconvenient or uncomfortable, but the evidence on screening clearly shows it identifies risks early, prevents disease, and saves lives. Patients are at greater risk if they don’t receive invitations, or receive the wrong information. Trans patients can request to alter […]
Christine Jardine’s Bill to give NHS staff right to stay in the UK to be debated on Friday
Our NHS is under more pressure than it has ever been. As I write, brave nurses, doctors, cleaners, porters, health care assistants are putting in superhuman effort to keep people alive, to comfort them and their families when they can’t and to treat more critically ill people than they have ever had to at the […]
Should patients be charged for missed GP appointments?
Embed from Getty Images With millions across the UK calling for a pay rise for our health heroes, maybe it’s also time we start charging serial offenders abusing one of the fundamental parts of our NHS, the GP appointments system. Our NHS knows no bounds and rightly so; the vast majority of people are proud […]
Civil Liberties and the NHS App
The NHS has launched a tracing App for trialling in the Isle of Wight. How does it measure up against the civil liberties checklist that I authored on Lib Dem Voice on 15th April, along with some excellent additions within the comments? First, the positives: I urged that opting in should be voluntary. It is. […]
We must revive Britain’s history of bold policy
Coronavirus has blown open many of the issues contemporary society faces as a whole. The UK Government has acted radically in the last few weeks. The furlough scheme has guaranteed many workers pay, and a huge effort has provided support for charities and businesses. Yet many have been left behind. Those laid off have joined […]
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times
Embed from Getty Images ‘It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity’ (A tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens) In the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, we […]