A review of where the UK is in its response to the Covid-19 pandemic 1. Policy failure Richard Horton, editor of the prestigious medical journal ‘The Lancet’, described the management of COVID-19 as the “greatest science policy failure for a generation” in his book on the pandemic. Currently the numbers of newly diagnosed patients are […]
Category: Government Policy
Doctors in Unite is delighted that the government have seen sense and ended the NHS surcharge for overseas health workers. We all owe health workers from overseas a huge debt. They often carry out the work which attracts the lowest pay, and without them the NHS would collapse. They don’t just contribute in the hours […]
The rising death rate from COVID-19 and the pressure of the pandemic on a weakened NHS have caused warranted anxiety. There were reports from Italy of rationing, when life saving equipment was simply unavailable for some sick patients, and difficult triage decisions had to be made by doctors. Many deaths in the UK are occurring […]
Doctors in Unite reiterate our opposition to any scoring system being used as a blanket cut-off to people accessing hospital care. We understand that conversations with patients about their wishes with regard to treatment and end of life care can be very helpful to ensure dignity in dying, but these must be undertaken with the […]
Doctors in Unite would like to remind the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care that the NHS is not a charity but a government funded health service, set up in 1948 with the specific intention to remove health care from the precarious state of reliance on income or beneficence. Matt Hancock has his […]
The co-chair of Keep Our NHS Public, Dr John Puntis, joins the podcast today to discuss the use of DNARs during the coronavirus pandemic.
Charging those with uncertain immigration status for NHS services was introduced as part of Theresa May’s ‘hostile environment’. Non-payment of bills can result in being reported to the Home Office and used as a reason for not being granted settled status. This system remains in place during the Covid-19 pandemic, actively discouraging health care seeking […]
The solidarity expressed through weekly applause for the NHS, carers and key workers has been truly inspiring, and a great source of support for all staff. But we need those in power to do more than just clap for us. The NHS and local authorities have been starved of resources for the last ten years. […]
In recent weeks we have among others seen Boris Johnson, Matt Hancock and members of the Royal family (all of whom it’s safe to guess have never used the NHS) joining in the public applause for key workers. Additionally, there have been a number of structural changes and commitments to increased funding that make it […]
The benign intent of the government in its request that citizens self-isolate to protect others against spreading COVID-19 is not in question. But national and international crises can and have been used to justify an erosion of human rights. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) explains that “man-made conflicts, natural […]
Doctors in Unite 