NHS care of older people
A report from the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman today highlights ten examples of poor care given to older people in the NHS. The report looks at 10 cases which it said were inadequately investigated by the NHS, in which older men and women were treated badly, often towards the end of their lives. Dr Peter Carter is quoted widely in the newspapers saying: “There can be no hiding place for inhumane treatment or poor care. The overwhelming majority of nurses will join us in condemning the failures outlined by the Ombudsman. However, we know that the NHS is expected to save up to £20bn in England alone, and with 27,000 posts already earmarked to be lost there will be an impact on frontline care.”
No Bonus for GPs
Letter in The Guardian from Anne Milton MP responding to last week’s comments on GPs receiving financial rewards if they do not spend the whole of their allocated annual budget. In the letter she reassures Dr Peter Carter and Dr Clare Gerada that there is no way GPs will be able to pocket any money not used from their allocated budget as a bonus.
Lib Dem revolt over government plans for the NHS
The Guardian reports that leaders in the Liberal Democrat party are trying to douse a growing revolt over the government’s controversial NHS reforms. Party critics claim the reforms will increase health inequalities and simply provide profits for private firms asked to take on the task of commissioning care.
Millions spent in surgery that never took place
The Daily Telegraph reports that according to figures obtained by the Freedom of Information Act, taxpayers have been paying private clinics more than £50m a year for operations that were never carried out. Under minimum payment contracts, 25 independent sector treatment centres (ISTCs) in England were paid a set amount, regardless of how many operations they actually carried out.
Early medical abortions bid to change law fails
A legal bid to allow women having an early medical abortion to take some of their pills at home has been rejected by the High Court. The Department of Health opposed the change, which would have covered England, Scotland and Wales.
Parliamentary Update
House of Commons
Health and Social Care Bill Committee
(10.30am & 4.00pm)
Health Select Committee
Complaints and litigation
Witnesses: Anna Abraham, Health Service Ombudsman, NHS Litigation Authority, Department of Health and Ministry of Justice officials
House of Lords
Pensions Bill (Lords): Second reading
Lords HIV and AIDS in the United Kingdom Committee
HIV and AIDS in the United Kingdom
Witnesses: Professor Mike Kelly, Director, Centre for Public Health Excellence, NICE, John Nawrockyi, Director of Adults and Older People’s Services, London Borough of Greenwich and Joint Chair of the ADASS Physical Disabilities, HIV and Sensory Impairment Network, Paul Elfick, Senior Specialist Social Worker, Adults and Family Wellbeing, Buckinghamshire County Council, and Andrew Pearmain, HIV Consultant Practitioner, Essex County Council, Association of Directors of Adult Social Services
Other business
Reform health summit Paying for long term care in London from 8.30 am – speakers include: Lord Warner Commission on Long Term Care & Conservative Chairman of All Parliamentary Group for Ageing & Older People Penny Mordaunt
Prime Minister David Cameron due to welcome four-year old tabby cat from the Battersea Dogs & Cats Home, believed to be called Larry, to join him & his family in his official residence