Dr David Wrigley

Since June 2009 the NHS in the UK has been told it MUST make 'efficiency savings' (cuts) of£20bn. The original edict came from Sir David Nicholson - then chief executive of the NHS and now chief executive of the all powerful English NHS National Commissioning Board. Since that time no one has been able to properly explain why these cuts are needed - and I mean proper evidence based reasoning. Many reasons have been given, and often they are ideological. The impact of the cuts are huge and indeed will affect patients and their illnesses so it is vital we hold politicians to account for their constant mantra of the need to cut the NHS budget. I believe these cuts are hugely damaging to the NHS and are being used to degrade the service and soften it up and allow many more private companies to move in - in a similar way that the British railway system didn't have the investment it required in the 80s and 90s so it became a 'basket case' and the politicians could sa...

We hear all the time that the NHS budget will increase year on year. A political promise that holds a lot of sway. It reassures patients that their healthcare is safe and secure and won't be cut or rationed. The NHS budget promise was made in the coalition agreement by Messrs Cameron and Clegg in 2010 -  see page 24 here  - the first bullet point under 'section 22 - NHS'. I have discovered though that this promise is not entirely truthful. HM Treasury issue detailed figures on expenditure by each Governmental Department and figures I have discovered show that in 2010-2011 the NHS budget FELL. The actual NHS budgetary figures can be found on tab 1.9 of this spreadsheet  which is downloaded from the official HM Treasury website - a shorter version is copied and pasted here... It is quite clear that NHS spending has risen enormously in recent years but the promises made by the coalition that the budget is safe in their hands is not true. Yes the country ...

I have launched a survey tonight called the NHS Pledge. The idea is to get as much support as possible for four statements that support a fair and equitable NHS. The changes happening to our NHS are very worrying as I have outlined in my previous postings and I am hoping this survey will get huge support which will make politicians and policymakers sit up and listen. We really must do all we can to protect a fair and equitable NHS. I would be grateful if you could have a look at the survey and then forward the link on to anyone you know. The more support we can get the better. Please do send the link far and wide. This is the website link which you can click and also copy and paste in order to send on to friends via email. https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/NHSpledge Many thanks indeed, David

My sister lives in South Africa. A country with huge variations in standards of living. It is also a country with huge differences in health care . Some of this is due to the hangover from apartheid but they have a radically different system of healthcare in South Africa. High quality publicly provided and funded healthcare is a basic human necessity and it needs to be this way across the world - but sadly this is not the case. In South Africa there are 43 infant deaths per 1000 live births compared to 5 infant deaths per 1000 live births in the UK.  Average life expectancy is South Africa is 50 years whilst in the UK it is 80 years. I saw my sister last week for the first time in a few years and we decided to go out for a bite to eat. Just before we left she was rifling through her bag saying she had lost something. I asked her what she was looking for and she said she couldn't find her 'medical insurance card'. She told me this was the card she used to receive her h...

We have just seen a report from the Institute for Fiscal Studies ( full report here ) which raised the issue of charging for NHS services and even for  GP appointments  - something that is roundly rejected by all those who wish to defend the NHS as a service available to all no matter what their background or income is.  All this flows from the constant political dogma we hear that the NHS is 'unaffordable' and 'we can't continue like this'. The NHS has been told to 'save' £20bn - we have never been given robust evidence or reasons for this and they are seen by many as cuts. The £20bn 'efficiency savings' as they are called, were initially instigated under the New Labour government  - a policy continued by the coalition. However the real reason for these austerity measures meted out on the NHS are now coming to light. On the day we were told the country  couldn't afford £2bn to care for our elderly  when they are at their most vulnera...

We have seen doctors take industrial action for the first time in nearly 40 years. Unprecedented stuff and it shows that there must be real problems with relations between the coalition government and the medical profession. We know that every profession in the NHS opposed the coalition Health Act but the government forced it through with the vital support of the Liberal Democrats. This pension dispute though has a more sinister reason for it. It is well known that the NHS will be moving towards a much more commercialised business style ethos - mostly thanks to the Health Act . Private companies know that the single biggest expense in a business is the staffing costs. Following on from that are the cost of pensions to the employers. The coalition have realised this and are now seeking to impose a pension deal on ALL NHS staff that increases their costs and reduces the employers costs. The evidence is in the speech by the Rt Hon Danny Alexander when he states  " The new pe...

We have heard much about the Health Act and how it will lead to increased competition within the NHS (and therefore increased cost) and also open up the NHS to private providers in a big way, meaning the lawyers and accountants will have a field day making money from negotiating market-driven NHS contracts. Something very sinister remains at the centre of the Act. Something that could seriously undermine, or even destroy, the doctor patient relationship. It is called the ‘quality premium'. This concept is all around paying clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) a ‘bonus' if they find themselves with a surplus on their budget at year end and they have met certain ‘targets'. In fact here is the exact DH quote on what the quality premium will be for: ‘ We will e nsure that commissioning groups receive a quality premium only where they can demonstrate good performance in terms of quality of patient care and reduced inequalities in healthcare outcomes.' Now that soun...