UK Health Minister Aneurin Bevan introduced the National Health Service (NHS) pointing out that “Illness is neither an indulgence for which people have to pay, nor an offence for which they should be penalised, but a misfortune the cost of which should be shared by the community.” Advancing age brings with it infirmity and a Continue reading »
Health
Aged care staff are unhappy and many older people in residential aged care are unhappy. Certainly, the NSW Health Minister and the hospitals are unhappy because there are 600 people sitting in acute hospital beds who could be in aged care facilities. Unfortunately, there are no appropriate places for them as their problems and behaviours Continue reading »
Australia is conducting its first climate risk assessment and developing an adaptation plan. Not only humans experience heat stress, so do other animals and plants. If you must feed wild birds, listen to the experts’ tips. Assessing Australia’s climate risks The Commonwealth Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) has released the Continue reading »
The prospects for significant health reform looked good at the end of 2023. A mid-term review of the main Commonwealth-state agreement – the National Health Reform Agreement (NHRA) – had recommended that the focus of a new agreement, due mid-2025, should be broader than public hospital funding. States seemed to be on board and the Continue reading »
The Express suggested that £100 million of NHS spending on translators should be spent on nurses – but ensuring patients get the care they need is fundamental and a legal requirement, writes NHS consultant David Oliver
Unpacking the care economy, Dr Robbie Lloyd investigates some of the key issues impacting our communities in a series of articles that explore ageing, disability, mental health reform, the challenges of health policy and reform, drugs and alcohol and domestic family violence. (A repost from 2023). Crushing the human connection: Managerialism does not deliver good Continue reading »
Here I write as a 62-year-old person, formulating the persistent issues of my life by giving my ongoing attention to Friedreich’s Ataxia. I can hardly avoid doing this because it has so shaped my entire life since it’s onset when I was 14 – that means I have had to deal with it for nearly Continue reading »
The appalling mistreatment of ME/CFS patients continues, based on the myth that it’s all in the mind. By George Monbiot, published in the Guardian 12th March 2024 It’s the greatest medical scandal of the 21st century. For decades, patients with ME/CFS (myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome) have been told they can make themselves better by changing […]
Outside the European Union, the UK is becoming a dumping ground for toxic substances. By George Monbiot, published in the Guardian 18th March 2024 It’s a benefit of Brexit – but only if you’re a manufacturer or distributor of toxic chemicals. For the rest of us, it’s another load we have to carry on behalf […]
NHS doctor David Oliver explains why the results of a damning new survey should alarm patients and healthcare professionals