Archive for August, 2009
The value for money of ISTCs
Posted by James Gubb in Health on 13/08/2009
Last week, when discussing the quality of care provided by ISTCs in relation to a briefing issued by the BMA, a run-through of value for money was promised. So here goes.
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Can the Tories take on the Europhiles in Brussels?
Posted by Claire Daley in European Union, Uncategorized on 12/08/2009
Four years ago David Cameron announced his intention to leave the centre-right European People’s Party (EPP) – the largest group in the European Parliament – and form a new centre-right group in 2009, writes Ariane Poulain, which would specifically oppose the EPP’s pro-European stance. Bucking the EU trend of rhetorical talk and no action, the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group was established after this year’s European elections and officially formed on 14th July, 2009.
How to Stop Meddlesome Mandy Messing Up the Life Chances of Middle-Class Children
Posted by David Conway in Education, European Union on 11/08/2009
Twelve years of incessant meddling by the Government with education has failed to improve the chances of pupils at ‘bog-standard’ comprehensives gaining sufficiently good A level grades to satisfy the entry requirements of the country’s better universities. So, now Lord Mandelson has seemingly set his sights on these universities agreeing to lower their entry requirements for such pupils to enable them gain admittance to them.
How Hospitals Can Survive the Budgets Cuts
Posted by Laura Brereton in Health on 10/08/2009
England’s 115 foundation trust hospitals have been told by Monitor, the organisation responsible for their regulation, that the three-year budget forecasts they submitted are overly optimistic, considering the NHS’s tightened funding in the coming years. They have now been given until the end of September to re-submit their financial plans. Read the rest of this entry »
Primary concern
Posted by Anastasia de Waal in Education on 07/08/2009
This week Key Stage 2 (KS2) Sats have, once again, been under close scrutiny. Today’s Times Educational Supplement (TES) reports that ‘National test results for 11 year-olds have remained largely static’ though the Guardian has gone for a more hard-line ‘record drop in English results – a quarter leave primary school unable to read and write properly’.
‘Evidence’ BMA style
Posted by James Gubb in Health on 06/08/2009
A few weeks ago now the BMA launched a campaign to end market-based reform in the NHS. Their vision: the NHS ‘restored as a public service working co-operatively for patients’, that is publicly funded through central taxes, publicly provided and publicly accountable. Ok. Very good. It’s a nice idea, but we should also remember why the Thatcher/Major government and then the Blair government sort to introduce competition in the first place (and we should also remember that this is competition for provision… the service is still publicly funded).