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.
Category: Government Policy
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 […]
Michael Walsh, a shoulder surgeon, has been sacked by Spire Healthcare and accused of subjecting scores of patients to unnecessary operations that left many in pain, traumatised and unable to work. This is a depressingly familiar story, with echoes of the case of Ian Paterson, the rogue breast surgeon who also worked for Spire. Paterson […]
Life expectancy is falling for the first time in over a century, driven by growing social inequality and a decade of ideological Conservative austerity. Sir Michael Marmot, the director of University College London’s Health Equity Institute, specifically cited government policy as a driver of worsening health and shorter lives for people in the UK. “England […]
Wuhan Novel Coronavirus (CoVid-19) has claimed over 1,300 lives and infected 60,000 worldwide so far, with no sign of slowing down. The NHS has become an increasingly fragmented service supplied by multiple providers, which is at risk of failing to deliver the co-ordinated, effective response that Coronavirus requires. The last potential pandemic the NHS responded […]
In the late 1980s our union first published proposals for a citizen’s income – what we would now call universal basic income. This was long before the idea became fashionable. Our proposal was simple – we would give an income of two thirds the average GDP per person to everyone, so long as they contributed […]
The Doctors in Unite conference focussed its attention on the destructive effect of alcohol this year, and committed to making tackling alcohol harm its key priority for 2020. There are over 80 alcohol related deaths each day in the UK, and over a million hospital admissions a year are associated with alcohol use. In England, […]
Doctors in Unite 