Archive for category Uncategorized
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Posted by admin in Uncategorized on 06/11/2009
To make life a little easier for our regular contributors you can now register a username and an email address. Once registered, your first comment will require approval, but when your initial comment has been approved further comments can be made without waiting for moderation.
Silence is golden
Posted by David Conway in Health, Uncategorized on 13/10/2009
Although I’m pretty certain my children would want to contest the claim, the prize for being the world’s grumpiest old man must surely go to the nineteenth century German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer.
More than practically all else, what got up his nose was noise — especially that caused by traffic. Writing a century a half ago before the age of mechanised transport, he remarked:
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.
Labour’s New Election Battle-Cry: ‘Educashin, Educashin, Educashin’
Posted by David Conway in Education, Uncategorized on 16/06/2009
How bold must New Labour have seemed to itself in 2001, when it re-branded the Department of Education the Department for Education and Skills. And again, in 2007, when it reconfigured the DfES and the DTI into three new departments: one for Children, Skills and Families (DCSF), a second for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) and a third for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR). The second departmental reorganisation was a veritable job-creation scheme in itself!
First night of the PROMs
Posted by James Gubb in Health, Uncategorized on 14/05/2009
The HSJ today carries the revelation that the NHS is spending £144m annually carrying out operations on people who either have no significant complaints about their health before surgery or report that their condition is unchanged or worse afterwards. Should we be surprised? Probably not. Read the rest of this entry »
When Outsiders are Called in
Posted by Laura Brereton in Health, Uncategorized on 11/05/2009
Health sector employment of external management consultants has been making headlines lately. The HSJ reports DH board member anger over the appointment of McKinsey and Company to advise a panel of experts on how to measure GP quality, and today, the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) announced it has obtained, through use of the Freedom of Information Act, figures on the amount the NHS in England spent on such consultants in the past year: a reported £350 million. If the comments following related news articles are anything to go by, the reaction among patients and NHS employees alike is one of alarm. Read the rest of this entry »