Archive for NHS
Judith Jolly on competition in the NHS
Speaking at tonight’s Islington Liberal Democrats pizza and politics, Lib Dem peer Judith Jolly took members through the health bill in impressive detail, outlining the main areas of contention and of Liberal Democrat pressure. One issue that inevitably came up was the question of competition in the NHS. As I’ve written previously: Health experts at [...]
What effect does competition have on healthcare?
Health experts at the University of Bristol have been looking into the impact of the competition introduced into the NHS by the last Labour government: Hospitals rated as better by the health quality regulator before the policy reform attracted more patients and from further away post reform. This suggests that patient choice is having some [...]
A trio of Tory / Liberal Democrat disagreements in government
Like London buses, Tory / Liberal Democrat disagreements are coming along all bunched together at the moment: Energy Secretary Chris Huhne has criticised “climate sceptics” and others who he argues are decrying the UK’s potential for renewable power … His comments are being interpreted by some as a riposte to Chancellor George Osborne who is believed [...]
In other news…
On the NHS: Liberal Democrats may win a key concession on the controversial Health and Social Bill before the legislation is passed, PoliticsHome has learned. Sources have indicated that the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats, including key rebel Baroness Williams, have struck a deal which would allow Lib Dem peers currently opposed to the legislation to [...]
Personal Demographics Service: Department of Health
I’ve blogged before about some of the security issues around the NHS’s Personal Demographics Service – a mammoth database with 80,000,000 personal records in it, yet with 700,000 people granted access to it – and with such limited auditing systems that experts have concluded it is “incredibly difficult if not impossible” to detect or trace [...]
The Health and Social Care Bill: what next for the Liberal Democrats?
Cross-posted from the MHP Communications blog: The plan for the party’s autumn conference was straight-forward: talk up the party’s achievements in getting the Health and Social Care Bill changed, have a question & answer session to let people discuss but not disrupt the revised legislation and move on to talk about other issues. That plan [...]
“Prime Minister David Cameron’s Liberal Democrat deputy has quietly emerged as the more successful Whitehall operator”
So writes Paul Goodman in the Daily Telegraph: That Clegg persuaded his party to cohabit with the Conservatives is a tribute not only to his powers of persistence and his colleagues’ appetite for office, but also to the Coalition Agreement itself. Its importance can be over-stated. The Government has done things that aren’t in it, [...]
Did journalists really not misuse one of the UK’s largest databases of personal contact details?
Here’s a little conundrum for you. Imagine you are a journalist working on one of the many titles that the Information Commissioner found was involved in dubious practices to get hold of personal information about people. Don’t you think it’s quite likely you would now and again have wanted to get hold of someone’s home [...]
Tamed and reshaped – Clegg on the NHS White Paper
Speaking last night at an excellent anniversary dinner to mark 25 years (yes, 25 years) of Liberal Democrat control on Sutton Council, Nick Clegg said the party has been successful in taming and reshaping the NHS reform plans. The run of political and electoral success achieved by Liberal Democrats in Sutton is, as Clegg pointed [...]
