Embed from Getty Images Privatisation. It’s a word which strikes fear into the hearts of progressives everywhere. Perhaps understandably so; previous governments have made a complete mess of privatising our NHS. From signing contracts for building hospitals without reading the small print to providing poor healthcare, privatisation has often been a failure. That doesn’t […]
Op-eds
Jim Hume MSP: SNP risks making GPs an exclusive service that many can’t access
I was interested to see this report in today’s Scotsman which featured Labour and the SNP slugging it out over cuts to GP training posts. People are finding it more and more difficult to get an early appointment with their GPs. You would think that the service that is the most common way for us to […]
Jim Hume MSP: SNP risks making GPs an exclusive service that many can’t access
I was interested to see this report in today’s Scotsman which featured Labour and the SNP slugging it out over cuts to GP training posts. People are finding it more and more difficult to get an early appointment with their GPs. You would think that the service that is the most common way for us to […]
Disgraceful attitude to mental health disguised by the warm words of Iain Duncan-Smith
Listening to Iain Duncan-Smith can be enough to send anyone to sleep. He drones on and one can be lulled into thinking he is being quite reasonable. However, behind his warm words, there is a chilling attitude to disabilities and particularly to mental illness. He seems to be saying: There must be something you can […]
Lunchtime debate – should e-cigs be prescribed by NHS?
On 16th September, it’ll be 17 years since I last had a cigarette. I was one of those smokers who never really wanted to give up, who really enjoyed a cigarette. However, my consumption was a bit worrying – at least a pack of 20 a day. It was pregnancy which forced my hand. From […]
Opinion: We need to be more aware of neural diversity
It’s obvious that whomever wins the leadership we’re going to have to nurture a lot of new people (as well as the `old hands`. I think it’s important that we do so working with the grain of that individual’s personality to allow it to grow for the benefit of the Party. After all, celebration of […]
Opinion: A life discarded
View image | gettyimages.com Mr K. had arrived on the wing at Brixton Prison on the Friday. By Monday morning he was dead. He had managed to hang himself using a sheet tied around the window bars. No-one knew what time he had died. It would be interesting to know whether the inquest showed […]
Opinion: Ending mental health inequality
I joined the Liberal Democrats partially due to the importance that has constantly been put on mental health issues by the party. I have suffered from extreme depression and have ended up in A&E due to self-harm and suicidal thoughts. A couple of weeks ago I was officially discharged from psychiatry and I’m using my […]
Opinion: We made Mental Health an issue – now we must lead the fight to make it possible
Having worked as a frontline mental health social worker for the past 15 years, there was no-one prouder than I was to see Nick Clegg and Norman Lamb push mental health care (and its place within the NHS) up the political agenda . There is no doubt that without the determination of our gutsy Party, […]
Opinion: Conservative health policies are short on detail
What have the Conservatives said on health so far? Their manifesto makes big promises – but is vague on detail. NHS England’s Five Year Forward View called for £8 billion more annually by 2020 (alongside £22 billion efficiency savings) to maintain NHS standards. Liberal Democrats were the first to sign up to this – and […]