- Britain Now Leading Europe On Public Health - Tessa Jowell. Department
of Health Press Release 98/165 Thursday 30th April 1998
- Marianne Rigge and Graham Lister lament the failure of the Government to
come up with a workable Patient's Charter and point to a system in the
Netherlands which we would do well to copy.
Guardian Tuesday January 19, 1999
-
Fidel Castro, who spent his first 30 years in power training tens of thousands
of Latin American guerrillas, is today training doctors for the continent and
playing the genial host to its leaders at their annual Ibero-American summit.
Tom Gibb in Havana
Tuesday November 16, 1999 The Guardian
-
From the viewpoint of most patients, the French health service is outstanding: they are free to go as often as they like to as many of the country's 94,000 GPs or 89,000 specialists as they like, ask for whatever treatment or medicines they like, and expect to get most of the cost reimbursed by the state. Guardian 21 June 2000
-
Cubans tell NHS the secret of £7 a head healthcare. Patient-centred and cost
effective system could inspire NHS. Sarah Boseley, health correspondent, The
Guardian
Monday October 2, 2000 The Guardian
- Health bosses propose sending patients to Germany. Guardian
Society Monday July 30, 2001
- 35-hour week puts French hospitals at risk Jon Henley in Paris Guardian
Unlimited Thursday September 6, 2001
- Insurance policy for NHS. Guardian
letters Monday November 26, 2001
- Life's healthier across the Channel. France's medical system is recognised
as superior to the NHS. Anthony Browne in Paris reports on the lessons that
Britain can learn. Anthony Browne Guardian
Society Sunday November 11, 2001
- Sick Britons could head for Greece. Sarah Boseley, Guardian
Unlimited
Friday December 7, 2001
- Britain gets more health for its money. Tories will find spending alone is
not key. David Walker Guardian
Unlimited Friday December 7, 2001
- First patients ready for NHS ops abroad. Ten people to have joints
replaced or cataract treatment in Lille as initiative to reduce long term
waiting lists begins. Guardian
Unlimited Friday January 11, 2002
- Q&A: treatment abroad. Guardian
Society Friday January 18, 2002
-
First NHS patients arrive at French clinic Some 200 Britons will be operated
on abroad in next three months but health service remains coy over cost of
treatment. Guardian
Saturday January 19, 2002
- It healed me - and it could cure the ills of the NHS. Spain's system
of public and low-cost private healthcare works well. Peter Preston Guardian
Unlimited Monday January 21, 2002
- Generation of health tourists is born. The successful treatment of
national health service patients in a French hospital means the NHS faces a
new challenge to its healthcare monopoly, writes Patrick Butler. Guardian
Society Monday January 21, 2002
- NHS patients see the future in Lille. Leader Guardian
Unlimited Monday January 21, 2002
- 'This is just not an issue in France...' Jon Henley in Paris. Observer
Sunday February 10, 2002. My son Nathan was one last month and is,
according to the handy vaccination calendar sent to all parents by the
French national health service, due for the MMR jab. The shot is fully
reimbursable, and while not compulsory is 'strongly recommended'.
- French health minister offers beds to NHS patients. Guardian
Society Tuesday February 26, 2002
- The health secretary, Alan Milburn, reached agreement last night with his
French counterpart, Bernard Kouchner, on plans for a joint working group to
explore opportunities for more patients to cross international borders to
get quicker treatment. Guardian
Society Wednesday February 27, 2002
- NHS heart patients could travel to SA. James Meikle Guardian
Friday March 22, 2002
- Brown sees new NHS as model for developing world Michael White, political
editor Guardian
Friday April 26, 2002
- Your reports (Finance Notebook; and interview with the World Trade
Organisation's incoming director general, Supachai Pantichpakdi, May 25)
suggest that developing countries could make balance of payments gains by
supplying health services to foreign patients from the overstretched
national health systems of Europe. This is an irresponsible
suggestion.. Guardian
letter Tuesday May 28, 2002
-
America sneezes, we catch a cold. Importing the US model will
undermine the health service. Allyson Pollock Friday
June 21, 2002 The Guardian
- Milburn offers Europe slice of NHS. Guardian
Tuesday June 25, 2002
- Milburn woos foreign health firms to UK. John Carvel, social affairs
editor Wednesday
June 26, 2002 The Guardian
- Patients ready to go abroad, BMA poll finds. John Carvel, social
affairs editor The
Guardian Monday July 1, 2002
- NHS patients give
approval to operations abroad. Scheme to cut waiting
lists to be extended over staff objections. James Meikle, health
correspondent
Guardian Tuesday August 13, 2002
- Minister makes French hypochondriacs cough up for 'imaginary' medication.
Jon Henley in Paris
Thursday July 17, 2003 The Guardian
- If you are retiring to a country permanently you cannot rely on form E111,
which entitles travellers to free or cheaper emergency medical treatment in
most European countries and some non-European countries. Mark King and Moira
O'Neill
Monday August 11, 2003
- Doctors are set to revise ethical guidelines established after the fall of
the Nazi regime to protect patients taking part in clinical trials - raising
fears that a watering down of their language may lead to the exploitation of
people in poor countries by drug companies. Sarah Boseley, health editor
Wednesday September 3, 2003 The Guardian
- Their methods may have come as a shock to one British family, but Spanish
doctors operate within a transplant code that saves many more lives, argues
Nick Cater.
Friday September 5, 2003
- Vital tests to diagnose infections and protect public health will be
thrown into chaos under quality control measures being demanded by the
government, the health protection agency warned last night. James Meikle,
health correspondent
Thursday September 18, 2003 The Guardian
- A high court judge opened the floodgates yesterday for NHS patients facing
"undue delay" on hospital waiting lists to have their operations elsewhere in
the EU and claim reimbursement from the NHS. Clare Dyer, legal correspondent
Thursday October 2, 2003 The Guardian
- The case of Yvonne Watts tells us what is wrong with the law, not what is
wrong with the National Health Service. Leader
Friday October 3, 2003 The Guardian
- The ruling that a patient can force the NHS to fund treatment abroad if UK
waiting lists are too long could change the provision of healthcare more than
any government initiative over the past 55 years (NHS to pay price in rush for
EU surgery, October 2). Letter
Monday October 6, 2003 The Guardian
- An international trial of a drug that can prevent breast cancer recurring
has been suspended because it had such high success rates it was decided that
all the women taking part should be given the drug, it was announced
yesterday. Sarah Boseley, health editor
Friday October 10, 2003 The Guardian
- John Reid, the health secretary, will today give his seal of approval to
plans for the NHS to import methods used by private healthcare corporations in
the US to reduce patients' stays in hospital by as much as two-thirds. John
Carvel, social affairs editor
Thursday October 23, 2003 The Guardian
- US prescription is wrong. Letters
Monday October 27, 2003 The Guardian
- Inertia and opposition would stop the NHS from wholeheartedly adopting
successful US healthcare practices, says Peter Davies.
Friday October 31, 2003
- Singapore's founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew risks sparking a row with
Britain following comments that his wife only received treatment after
suffering a stroke in London once Downing Street intervened to get her
preferential care at an NHS hospital. John Aglionby and Rebecca Allison
Tuesday November 4, 2003 The Guardian
- The health secretary, John Reid, today attacked critics of his plans to
link-up with an American healthcare company and accused them of being "opposed
to learning" and so committing the NHS to "steady decline". Helene Mulholland
Tuesday November 4, 2003
- This week, a team of US health experts who work for an organisation that
excludes hundreds of thousands of low income and unemployed people from access
to medical care will be touring England telling doctors, nurses and managers
how to save the NHS.
Wednesday November 5, 2003 The Guardian
- Plans to permit doctors, nurses and social workers from other European
countries to work unregistered in the UK have been rejected by the European
parliament amid fears over public safety. David Batty
Friday November 28, 2003
- Doctors, trade unions and opposition MPs yesterday united to heap
criticism on plans by the conservative French government to reform the
country's widely praised but nearly bankrupt health service. Jon Henley in
Paris
Wednesday May 19, 2004 The Guardian
- Ireland leads the way. The tobacco barons were right. The smoking ban in
public places introduced in Ireland this year has had unintentional
consequences, though not the dire economic ones predicted by the tobacco
trade. The main aim of the ministerial ban was to protect bar and restaurant
staff from the damage wreaked by passive smoking. Large numbers of non-smokers
die every year - or suffer severe disabilities - from inhaling other people's
smoke. The Irish ban has not only helped these people but smokers too. The
number of smokers has fallen since the ban while others are smoking less. As
70% of smokers want to give up, this is good news. Even better are the signals
from Scotland implying they intend to follow suit. Leader
Friday
September 3, 2004 The Guardian
- The health secretary, John Reid, told his European counterparts yesterday
that Britain's tax-funded NHS will be able to cope with the health needs of an
ageing population better than their social insurance systems. His bullish
speech at an informal gathering of EU ministers in the Netherlands showed
growing confidence in the NHS after years of apologetic humility caused by
failure to tackle long hospital waiting lists. John Carvel, social affairs
editor
Saturday September 11, 2004 The Guardian
- Models for the NHS.
Letters
Monday October 4, 2004 The Guardian
- The US-led war in Iraq has created a healthcare disaster in a country where
20 years of war, mismanagement and sanctions had already left public health in a
fragile state, a UK-based medical charity said today. Medact reported that the
health of Iraq's people had deteriorated since the 2003 invasion, both as a
direct result of violence and through the collapse of medical facilities, public
health provision and essential infrastructure such as water supplies. The report
specifically blamed the tactics of the US-led occupying forces for exacerbating
the country's health problems, particularly the decision to sideline the UN,
which has traditionally handled humanitarian relief efforts. Sarah Left and
agencies
Tuesday November 30, 2004
- A proposed EU directive that would let European health companies run
clinics in Britain outside national regulatory controls threatens the safety
of patients, the Royal College of Nursing said last night. John Carvel, social
affairs editor
Monday
December 6, 2004 The Guardian
- In the health trade. A controversial new European directive is in danger
of placing the interests of business above the safety of workers and
consumers. David Rowland
Thursday
January 20, 2005 The Guardian
- British companies have been involved in the diversion of cut-price Aids
drugs intended for people in poor countries, some of which have been sold at a
profit to the NHS, it emerged yesterday. Sarah Boseley, health editor
Monday
April 25, 2005 The Guardian
- The longest-serving health secretary of the United States has described
healthcare provision across the developed world as "deeply dysfunctional"
systems that are struggling to keep abreast of the fast pace of change. Hélène
Mulholland in Birmingham
Thursday June 16, 2005
- The US is pressing the UN to block the use of needle exchange programmes
in countries where drug use is driving the spread of Aids, arguing that the
schemes encourage users to continue their habit. But critics, including
Britain, believe that the fight against Aids in eastern Europe, central Asia
and other parts of the world could be jeopardised if the US manages to water
down the UN's policy. Sarah Boseley, health editor
Tuesday June 28, 2005 The Guardian
- Africa's health sector needs more resources, but preventing skilled
workers from coming to Britain won't help resolve that, says Salil Tripathi.
Tuesday August 9, 2005
- Doctors in Asia fear western countries will grab the lion's share of
vaccines and other drugs needed to fight an avian flu pandemic. James Meikle,
health correspondent
Friday August 12, 2005 The Guardian
- The government will today invite the private sector to compete with the
NHS for a contract to help rebuild the health service in Iraq. About 50
medical teams will be invited to come to Britain over the next two years to
update their skills. But, in a sign of the times, ministers think this
assistance need not necessarily be provided by the flagship hospitals of the
NHS. John Carvel, social affairs editor
Thursday
August 25, 2005 The Guardian
- The government was yesterday accused of burying a report into whether
women who want late abortions are being encouraged to use clinics abroad.
Julian Glover, political correspondent
Wednesday
August 31, 2005 The Guardian
- Representatives of the world's richest countries meet today in London to
decide how much each will put into the global fund to fight Aids, TB and
malaria but while some look prepared to be generous, there are signs that the
United States may not want to pay its full share. Sarah Boseley, health editor
Monday September 5, 2005 The Guardian
- Your article (Out of Africa, G2, November 18) reminds us of the enormous
debt the NHS owes to some of the poorest countries in the world. It is vital
that the NHS puts something back - and that's exactly what a growing number of
hospitals and NHS trusts across the UK are doing through voluntary links with
their counterparts in Africa and elsewhere. Letter in The Guardian
Monday November 21, 2005 The Guardian
- Gran's test case could force state to fund surgery abroad. Gaby Hinsliff
Sunday December 11, 2005 The Observer
- UK kidney patients head for China. Britons are being targeted by an
internet company offering the organs of dead prisoners in a trade condemned as
'disgusting' by surgeons. Jo Revill, health editor
Sunday December 11, 2005 The Observer
- The government will today for the first time confront the pharmaceutical
industry over the high cost of new Aids drugs and call for lower prices for
poor countries. Until now Britain has preferred to do business with the drugs
industry behind closed doors, using its influence as a country with
substantial pharmaceutical research, development and manufacturing interests.
But today the international development minister, Gareth Thomas, will publicly
signal the government's decision to take on the multinationals over the prices
of newer Aids drugs. He will also point to the absence of drug formulations
suitable for children. Sarah Boseley, health editor
Wednesday December 14, 2005 The Guardian
- Maryland's
medicine. The American state of Maryland is set to pass a law requiring
corporations to pay 8% of their payroll to employee health benefits or pay any
shortfall from this level into a state fund to help people without health
insurance cover. With health costs rising companies have been steadily scaling
back welfare benefits for their employees. The FT says: "It could be an
economic mistake to put any more of the burden of welfare financing on to
companies, as shown by the experience of France and Germany, where relying on
payroll taxes to fund welfare systems has contributed to high unemployment…US
businesses gripes about the advantage their Canadian rivals gain from having a
national health system. Insurance is about pooling risk. The bigger the pool,
the more efficient the insurance. The US solution has been to pool it at the
company level, a role that business is increasingly reluctant to assume."
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of Financial Times 12 January 2006
- Maryland puts
health tax on big business. The American state of Maryland has passed a
bill to force companies that employ over 10,000 staff to pay 8% of their
payroll in health contributions. Wal-Mart is practically the only company
affected. Meanwhile two Republican presidential hopefuls have sought advice
from Bill Clinton's former health adviser in a sign of the growing awareness
among US politicians that they must address rising healthcare costs. President
Bush said this week that health care is becoming "an unmanageable cost",
especially for small businesses.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of
Financial Times 13 January 2006
- Prescription
for a healthcare fiasco. President Bush's Medicare programme to subsidise
the cost of drugs to the elderly has run into serious problems. Only 1 million
of the 21 million eligible citizens have signed up for the scheme because it
is too complicated. Crucial aspects of the plan are delegated to insurance and
pharmaceutical companies. The FT says Bush "believed that private-sector
involvement would promote efficiency and help control costs. But when it comes
to healthcare, which is by its nature not a transparent consumer market, this
assumption is not necessarily justified. Government is well suited to pool
risk and provide insurance. The insistence on writing private insurers into
the equation buys off a powerful interest group but adds expense and
complexity."
Summary by Keep our NHS Public
of Financial Times 19 January 2005
- Bush moves on
Medicare costs. The Bush administration has been forced to intervene in
the new Medicare prescription drug programme, following confusion and chaos in
the system launched on January 1. The administration has had to promise to
reimburse states for money they have spent to provide medicine to people whose
benefits were delayed.
Summary by Keep our NHS Public
of
Financial Times
25 January 2005
- US health
spending reaches a sixth of gross domestic product. Total spending on
health care in the United States grew by 7.9% in 2004 and now accounts for 16%
of the gross domestic product. Total health spending in the US in 2004 was
$6280 (£3520) per person, or a total for the population of around $1.9
trillion. Most western nations' health spending is around the area of 8% of
GDP.
Summary by Keep our NHS Public
of
British Medical Journal 27 January 2005
- Money-saving and efficient - on weekdays. The latest big idea for the NHS
is nothing new in Europe. The concept of the polyclinic - where patients can
see a range of specialists under one roof - owes its inspiration to a 19th
century doctor who once treated Goethe, and to socialist East Germany. Luke
Harding in Potsdam
Tuesday
January 31, 2006 The Guardian
- Americans want
a health service too. Just as Hewitt and Blair transplant American ideas
and companies like UnitedHealth into the heart of the NHS, a new poll shows
that a vast majority of Americans believe their system is in need of
fundamental change and that the federal government should guarantee healthcare
to the whole population. 56% of respondents to a CBS News/
New York Times poll believed the health care system needs fundamental
changes, and 34% thought it should be completely rebuilt. Only 8% said that
system works well and only needs minor changes. 62% said the federal
government should guarantee health insurance for all Americans, while 31%
thought that is not the government's responsibility. 61% said they were
concerned "a lot" about the health costs they face. Summary by Keep our NHS Public
of PollingReport.com 10
February 2006
- Supporters of
Canada's health system express fears about new government. The appointment
of Tony Clement as health minister by Canada's newly elected prime minister,
Stephen Harper, has alarmed some supporters of the country's publicly funded
national healthcare system. They regard Mr Clement, who was previously
Ontario's health minister, as preferring a two-tier (public-private) system.
Mike McBane, executive director of the Canadian Health Coalition, said: "It
sends a very clear signal that the prime minister would appoint someone who is
ideologically committed to privatising the delivery of the public healthcare
system, someone who was aggressively involved in dismantling the Ontario
healthcare system, in firing nurses and shutting down hospitals." Summary by Keep our NHS Public
of British Medical Journal 17 February 2006
- Bush proposes
cutting Medicare budget by $36bn. President Bush has proposed reducing the
Medicare budget by $36bn (£21bn) over five years by reducing the rate of
increase in payments to healthcare providers and by increasing the premiums
for people on higher incomes. Until now all beneficiaries of Medicare - the
federal health insurance programme for elderly and disabled people - have made
the same level of monthly payments to cover doctors' and outpatient services -
$88.50. Summary by Keep our NHS Public
of British Medical Journal 17 February 2006
- Booked your
hospital bed in India? Taj Hotels, Resorts and Palaces is poised to work
alongside Apollo Hospitals in a partnership that reflects a surge in medical
tourism to India for low-cost hospital treatment. The sector is expected to
boom to £1.38 billion a year by 2012, from a current value of £180 million a
year, according to the CBI. Summary by Keep our NHS Public
of
Telegraph 20 February 2006
- Wal-Mart to
expand healthcare cover. America's biggest private employer is to expand
healthcare cover for part-time workers, as it continues to battle criticism on
the issue. It will reduce the two years that part-time workers have to wait to
become eligible for health plans and extend healthcare cover to the children
of part-time workers. Wal-Mart has been targeted by a new law in Maryland
requiring it to pay more towards its employees healthcare, and is facing a
string of similar bills in states across the US. But chief executive Lee Scott
said: "The soaring cost of healthcare n America cannot be sustained over the
long term by any business that offers health benefits to its employees."
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of Financial Times 24 February 2006
- Controlling the
costs of US health care. Poor uninsured Americans, and middle-class
households upset at rising health-care bills, have long been arguing for
health-care reform. Now, growing numbers of the most wealthy Americans -
including many business leaders - are joining the campaign for change. With US
health expenditure rising past 16% of the country's total economic output - a
level almost 50% higher than in any other country - politicians and business
executives are scrambling to avoid the bills for America's ragged patchwork of
public and private health systems. A recent study by the Kaiser Commission on
Medicaid and the Uninsured indicates that a reduction in mortality of 5% to
15% could be achieved if the uninsured were to gain continuous health coverage
and that at least 18,000 Americans die prematurely each year solely because
they lack health coverage. What is more America's privately managed system now
relies more on public subsidies than the publicly managed systems in the UK,
Canada, western Europe, and Japan, as the public's share of health care
expenditures in the USA is now the highest in the world.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of
Lancet 24 February 2006
- Whatever happened to the Sars pandemic? Iain Hollingshead
Saturday
February 25, 2006 The Guardian
- Radical reforms
may end Canada's public health service monopoly. Fundamental changes to
Canada's public healthcare system are likely after Alberta became the latest
province to propose opening up more services to the private sector. Canada is
the only industrialised country where private clinics are not legally allowed
to provide services covered by the public system.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of
British Medical Journal 10 March 2006
- The £700m privatisation of the NHS agency that delivers food and medicines
to hospitals across Britain is to be announced by the government tomorrow,
despite one of the firms involved being investigated by the US Senate. The
American medical supply company Novation is part of a consortium which will
take over NHS Logistics Authority, the non-profit body that takes products,
ranging from food and blankets to medical equipment, to hundreds of hospitals
and clinics every day. Novation is the subject of a Senate investigation for
alleged anti-competitive behaviour. The inquiry, which began in 2002, centres
on medical supply companies that use a complex system of rebates and discounts
to supply US hospitals. It is alleged that the federal-funded programme
Medicare is being charged more than hospitals are actually spending. Smaller
suppliers have claimed the company is so powerful it can squeeze them out of
the market, even if the quality of their goods is better. Novation denies that
it has violated any US regulations. Nevertheless, ministers have given the
go-ahead to the deal, apparently persuaded that a private contract is likely
to deliver more value for money for the NHS at a time when it is under serious
financial pressures. The details of the contract have yet to be finalised. But
the consortium, which also includes Exel Logistics, part of the German
delivery giant DHL, will be expected to use its market muscle to drive down
prices for everything from telephones to medical supplies. There are fears,
however, that getting vital supplies to hospitals on time will be too
demanding for a private company, raising the risk that services will be
disrupted. Last month, there was consternation when vital oxygen cylinders
failed to reach patients in their homes, resulting in a number of deaths of
elderly people. The long delivery delays happened after the government had
privatised the supplies of oxygen. Jo Revill, health editor
Sunday April 2, 2006 The Observer
- Bird flu
around the world: a guide. James Sturcke and David Batty
Thursday
April 6, 2006
- US healthcare.
The American state of Massachusetts has passed a law requiring all citizens to
have a health insurance policy, making it the first state to have
comprehensive health cover. There will be subsidies for the poor to buy
premiums, and companies that fail to provide health insurance for their
employees will be charged fees. The Financial Times says: "Overall, the US has
managed the feat of building a system that not only costs a lot, but also
delivers a mediocre outcome for the average citizen. Partly, this is because
the current patchwork of private provision and state-run programmes for the
poor and the elderly leaves some 46m Americans uninsured… Making insurance
mandatory, subsidising it for the poor and penalising companies and
individuals alike if they still refuse to contribute, would solve the problem
[of people opting out of insurance]. Unfortunately, it also risks increasing
the cost of administration, which is arguably the main reason as to why US
healthcare is already so inefficient in comparison with other countries."
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of
Financial Times
6 April 2006
- We can beat bird flu if Europe helps the world.
Sunday April 9, 2006 The Observer
- US lags in
health care despite largest investment, survey shows. Ill people in the
United States were more likely than those in other countries to report
receiving the wrong drugs and incorrect or delayed test results, according to
a survey of similar patients in six developed countries carried out by the New
York based Commonwealth Fund, a private foundation that works towards
improving healthcare coverage and quality. The US scored last in four of six
categories - efficiency, patient centredness, equity, and patient safety -
even though it spends upwards of $2500 (£1440) more per person on health care
than the next highest spending country surveyed. The survey showed that the
amount spent on health for each person in the US, adjusted for cost of living,
was $5635.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of
British Medical Journal 15 April 2006
- British surgeons yesterday condemned the use of executed prisoners' organs
for transplants in China, saying that shortages in the UK were tempting
British patients to travel despite the grave ethical issues involved.
Sarah Boseley, health editor
Thursday
April 20, 2006 The Guardian
- Only two-thirds of people travelling to the UK from countries where
tuberculosis is rife are being screened for the disease on entry, the Health
Protection Agency says today. Sarah Boseley, health editor
Friday
April 21, 2006 The Guardian
- Long
live the NHS. A coalition of groups have sent a joint letter to the Times
defending a tax funded healthcare system against attacks from groups like
Reform. The letter is signed by the British Medical Association, the Chartered
Society of Physiotherapy, Diabetes UK, the Family Planning Association,
Macmillan Cancer Support, the New Health Network, the NHS Confederation, the
Royal College of Midwives, the Royal College of Nursing, Unison, the Sainsbury's
Centre for Mental Health, and Turning Point. It says: "In the week of the 60th
anniversary of the second reading of the NHS Bill, we would like to take the
opportunity to state our belief that the United Kingdom is fortunate to have one
of the fairest health systems in the world where no one need fear becoming
bankrupt because of their need to fund their healthcare. It has dedicated staff
who are driven by a passion for patient care and has been transforming itself
into a 21st-century healthcare system of which we can all be proud. The
continued commitment of
funding through tax ensures
equity
for patients but also makes economic sense because it is the cheapest way of
collecting money. If a system is unaffordable through tax it is not affordable
through any other funding system.
International experience
shows there is no necessary link between how systems perform and how they are
funded. Any move to a health insurance system to charge patients for their care
would increase bureaucracy and would leave those who need the most care with the
greatest financial burden. We are not complacent. The NHS will need to respond
to the tide of rising expectations and need by improving efficiency and
responsiveness. With the dedication and commitment of staff we believe that the
NHS can continue its transformation and be a model for other countries."
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of Times 27 April 2006
- A few health
insurers monopolise US
market.
Mergers between health insurance companies have created virtual monopolies
that limit consumer choice, do not offer savings on premiums, and give doctors
little or no bargaining power, a report from the American Medical Association
has found. The past decade has seen more than 400 mergers among health
insurance companies and managed care organisations. As of 2005, in 95% of
these metropolitan areas, one insurer had at least a 30% market share. In 56%
of areas, one insurer had more than half the market share. And in 4% of areas,
one insurer had more than 90% of the market share. WellPoint and UnitedHealth
Group now control a third of the US health insurance market and cover 61
million US citizens.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of
British Medical Journal 28 April 2006
- The government has been forced to warn 14 countries
that patients are in danger of developing the human form of mad cow disease as
a result of
contaminated British blood products sold abroad.James Meikle and Rob Evans
Tuesday May
2, 2006 The Guardian
-
Americans 'sicker' than their English counterparts.
A new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association has
shown that white, middle-aged
English people
are healthier than their American counterparts. The health of the richest
people in the US is as low as that of the lowest-paid, least educated among
the English. People in the US have far higher rates of diabetes, heart
disease, stroke, lung disease and cancer in the 55-64 age group. In both
countries people with higher socio-economic status, as measured by income and
education levels, tend to enjoy better health. But because the national
differences are so great, those at the top of the education and income scale
in the US suffer diabetes and heart disease at a similar rate to those at the
bottom of the scale in England. The study found that in England, 7.8% of
people in the highest income bracket had heart disease, compared to 12% of the
same group in the US. The lowest income groups in England and the US had heart
disease rates of 11.6% and 17.1% respectively. The researchers' analysis shows
that lifestyle factors, particularly people in the US being more obese, cannot
account for the whole discrepancy but might provide a partial explanation.
Different health systems might also be part of the story. The researchers note
that the US spends $5,274 (£2,879) a head on medical care while in the UK,
taking both nationally funded and private healthcare into account, that number
is just $2,164, adjusted for purchasing power. But the NHS provides publicly
funded medicine for everyone, while people in the US under the age of 65 have
to rely on private insurance.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of
New Scientist 3 May 2006
- Number of
uninsured middle class US citizens grows. An increasing number of US
citizens with modest to moderate incomes lack health insurance or have had
gaps in coverage, according to a Commonwealth Fund study. In 2001, 28% of
people with household incomes of $20 000 to $40 000 lacked insurance for at
least part of the year. By 2005, the proportion was 41%. About 48 million US
adults aged 19-64 lacked health coverage at some point in 2005. Most people
(67%) who are uninsured are in working families. More than half of households
(53%) with incomes below $20 000 did not have health insurance in 2005.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of
British Medical Journal 5 May 2006
- Jack and Jill
and the NHS. In a letter to the Times, Alex Nunns of Keep Our NHS Public
writes: "Jamie Whyte suggests that
healthcare
should be privatised because "Jack smokes, drinks and overeats. Jill does
not. Jack's behaviour means he consumes more healthcare than Jill. It would be
unfair if healthcare cost Jack and Jill the same" ("You want fairness, you pay
up", May 5). What happens when Jill gets breast cancer
? Is it fair that she should die if she can't afford the radiotherapy
? There is already a privatised healthcare system - it has had a
perfectly fair test in the richest country in the world.
Americans spend 16 per cent of their GDP on healthcare - twice what
Britons spend. Yet 45 million Americans have no health insurance at all,
whereas the NHS covers everybody. The inefficiency of a market system is shown
by the astronomical cost of management and administration in the US - 30 per
cent of total health spending. Perhaps this explains why Jack and Jill
consistently say that the NHS is their most valued institution.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of
Times 9 May 2006
- One in three
German hospitals faces bankruptcy. Every third hospital in Germany is
facing bankruptcy, according to a report from the consulting firm McKinsey.
The main reason is the introduction of a new financing system by 2009, under
which fixed uniform charges will be paid for a standard treatment per case.
This will reduce the overall German hospital budget by £3.4bn. But it will
mean that large hospitals receive the same money for an appendicitis case as
small hospitals, which have potentially greater overhead costs.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of
British
Medical Journal 12 May 2006
- NHS patients have the right to be treated abroad
at public cost if they
face "undue delay" getting surgery at home, the European court of justice
ruled yesterday. In a ruling centring on the case of a 75-year-old woman from
Bedford, EU judges said health authorities had to pay the bill if one of their
patients could establish urgent medical reasons for seeking quicker treatment
in another member country. John Carvel and Clare Dyer
Wednesday May 17, 2006 The Guardian
- A suitable case for treatment. Leader
Wednesday
May 17, 2006 The Guardian
- Patients
'should be repaid for care in EU states'. The FT says the victory of
Yvonne Watts at the European Court "is likely to be seen as a further step
towards the establishment of a single market for healthcare in the EU, despite
the member countries' very different health systems. It will also oblige
primary care trusts to assess individually each patient who claimed that a
waiting list was too long and sought treatment overseas, rather than make
blanket judgments on waiting times."
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of
Financial Times 17 May 2006
- NHS patients could win right to free
dentistry
abroad. British citizens frustrated by the lack of
dentist provision might soon be able to receive treatments and check-ups
throughout the European Union and charge the cost back to the NHS. Last month,
in the case of arthritis patient Yvonne Watts, the European Court of Justice
ruled that the NHS was liable to refund the costs of private medical treatment
in the EU for UK citizens if their NHS treatment at home was subject to 'undue
delay'. The judgment applies in the first instance to hospital treatment, but
legal and dental sources say it opens the way for people unable to register
with a health service dentist to seek NHS-paid for treatment in nearby EU
countries. In order to inoculate dentistry against the legal precedent set by
the Watts case, the government would be forced to argue that UK citizens have
no right to free or subsidised dental check-ups and treatment.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of
Public Finance 9 May 2006
- Merkel rejects
plan for radical health reform. Angela Merkel has rejected a radical
proposal by her coalition partner for a largely tax-financed health insurance
system based on the Scandinavian model. The Social Democrats' proposal - a
massive, €45bn tax rise to fund a halving of employer and employee health
insurance contributions - would turn the funding of the system on its head.
The current social insurance model has fuelled unemployment by making German
workers among the most expensive in the world to employ. Because it would
considerably reduce the cost of labour, economists think the SPD's proposal
could come some way towards solving Germany's dramatic unemployment situation.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of
Financial Times
23 June 2006
- Key NHS reform
plans put on ice. The expansion of a key NHS reform has been put on ice
after specialist services started to suffer.
Payment by
Results has caused cash problems in specialist children's hospitals due to
the complex nature of their work. Ministers said they would get extra money to
plug the
shortfall and said there was now no timetable to extend it into other
services not covered. It was originally envisaged that adult critical care
would be incorporated this year. Mental health and other community services
were also due to be covered by the funding system by 2008. But Lord Warner
said the system would not be expanded at all next year. And he added: "We will
not be specific about what comes after that." His announcement comes after the
government was criticised for the way the tariff for this year was introduced.
A government-commissioned report by John Lawlor, chief executive of the
Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust, on the handling of the
announcement said in the future ministers must publish it earlier, employ more
staff to calculate it and even consider contracting out the process. He also
agreed it should not be rolled out further in 2007-8 to give the system chance
to "bed down". It comes after children's hospitals started to lobby
government, warning services may have to be but because they were not
receiving enough money under Payment by Results. The Department of Health has
agreed to give the
Liverpool's Alder Hey Hospital £4.9m this year,
London's Great Ormond Street Hospital £3.4m and
Sheffield's children hospital £900,000. The payments are likely to be
repeated next year, Lord Warner said. The NHS system of Payment by Results has
attracted controversy because it goes much further than its
continental equivalents which tend to only cover
elective operations. Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of BBC Online 18
July 2006
- Mental health
PbR could cover 85 per cent of users. A new system of
payment by
results for
mental health could result in care for 85 per cent of service users being
covered by the system. Proposals being tested by the Department of Health
would mean trusts were paid for an average treatment package in one of 13
'clusters' of care. The clusters would be designed according to how much care
service users require under a needs assessment. The idea is being piloted in
seven mental health trusts. Countries such as Australia
and the United States have attempted to introduce systems similar to PbR
in mental health, but have never succeeded. The wide range of presentations
people with mental health can have and the number of intervention options are
thought to have made them too complicated to run. Originally the DoH said
payment by results would be implemented in mental health in 2008. The project
is also exploring whether social care could be included under PbR, and whether
this would be best pooled or decoupled from the healthcare costs, as well as
how payment would be made for 'one-off' interventions. Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of Health
Service Journal 10 August 2006
- The procurer.
Novation, the
private
American outfit to whom Health Secretary Patricia
Hewitt intends to award a £4bn contract to supply the NHS, has been involved
in some disturbing events in the US. Medical Supply Chain, a Missouri company
that develops software which enables hospitals to order supplies direct from
manufacturers, has alleged that Novation and Neoforma, a dot-com company whose
bubble burst in 2000 shortly after it went public in 2000 and in which
Novation has a fifty percent stake, conspired with manufacturers, distributors
and suppliers to charge $100bn in excess costs to US hospitals since 2002. As
the largest Group Purchase Organisation (GPO) in the US, Novation was also
recently involved in a $420m anti-trust judgment in a Los Angeles federal
court over its reluctance over several years to provide doctors with a new
kind of pulse oximeter that they wanted. It measures a patient's blood oxygen
levels and is produced by Masimo Corp, but Novation had an agreement to
purchase an inferior product from another company. Private Eye says: "Hewitt's
decision is all the more surprising coming as US doctors are complaining that
GPOs like Novation don't save hospitals money and don 't always procure the
equipment staff believe is of most benefit to patients. In addition, America's
largest trade union, the 1.6 million-strong Service Employees International
union (SEIU), has also voiced concerns about Novation. Giving evidence to the
US senate judiciary committee, the SEIU testified that it was 'concerned that
questionable practices by the nation's largest GPO, Novation, lead to rising
costs in the health care supply chain, while at the same time limiting
provider choices in a way that risks the safety of both health care workers
and their patients...' Hewitt does know what she's doing, doesn't she
?" Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of Private Eye 16 August 2006
- HIV treatment on rise but still falls short. 10-fold increase in
number of Africans receiving drugs. But total treated in world is well
below WHO target. Sarah Boseley in Toronto
Thursday
August 17, 2006 The Guardian
- Foreign op
woman seeks NHS funds. A woman from Kent who spent her life savings on a
hip replacement operation in France has said she hopes to get the NHS to pay
towards her treatment. Jacqueline Baoudi, from Dover, needed special care
because of a back injury, which was unavailable in the UK. She said she was
offered NHS surgery but chose the £10,000 trip because of the lack of suitable
aftercare.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public of BBC
Online 5 September 2006
- Patients across the EU will be given the
right to seek medical
treatment in other countries if they face "undue
delays" back home, under plans unveiled yesterday. Nicholas Watt in Brussels
Wednesday September 6, 2006 The Guardian
- More US
citizens lack health insurance. The number of US citizens without health
insurance reached a record 46.6 million this year - an increase of 1.3 million
on last year. This is according to the latest US Census Bureau's survey.
Almost one in six US residents lacks health insurance. The number of uninsured
people has increased by seven million since 2000. Nearly all the new people
without insurance were working adults aged 18 to 64, who might previously have
had employer based insurance cover. The proportion of people covered by
employer based plans, the most common form of insurance, fell from 59.8% to
59.5% of the population. The percentage of US residents with any form of
private coverage, through an employer or otherwise, also decreased. The
percentage of US residents who bought private health insurance, which is
usually more costly than insurance through an employer, decreased as well.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of British
Medical Journal 8 September 2006
- NHS, tax and
electable Tories. A letter from Alex Nunns of Keep Our NHS Public reads:
"You report that the Tories will imminently adopt a policy which would force
NHS primary care trusts to
compete for
business, emulating the US model of health
maintenance organisations (HMOs), the insurance companies that vet doctors'
clinical decisions. Before taking this leap, it would be wise for the Shadow
Cabinet to assess the performance of HMOs in the States. Their original
rationale was to stop the overuse of healthcare, because American doctors have
a financial incentive to overtreat patients. But the result was an
astronomical increase in bureaucracy and administration costs, leading to
double-digit healthcare inflation. The US now spends 16 per cent of its GDP on
healthcare, yet 46 million Americans are without any health insurance; Britain
spends half that, and the NHS covers everyone. If the Tories adopt this
proposal, it should provide Labour with an open goal. But with its NHS
privatisation programme, the Labour Government has sadly forfeited its natural
appeal as a guardian of the NHS and opened the door for the Tories to espouse
such a disastrous policy.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public of Times
5 October 2006
- Uninsured
Americans and the new Democratic Congress. At any point in time, around 45
million Americans have no health insurance. About another 20 million formally
insured Americans have limited coverage, with many subtle exclusions and
coverage caps. About a quarter of these people could probably afford private
coverage if it were available on reasonable terms. Most of them, however, are
in families headed by one or two low income workers, and they could not afford
the $13 000 (£7 000) or so that it costs to provide an average family of four
with good health care in the United States (and much more if anyone in the
family is chronically ill). Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of British
Medical Journal 1 December 2006
- US cancer
patients have problems with insurance and care, says survey. Patients with
cancer in the United States are poorly served by their health insurance
companies and healthcare systems and often suffer financially, says a national
survey by the newspaper USA Today, the Kaiser Family Foundation, and the
Harvard School of Public Health. Half of US cancer patients and their families
had problems with coordination of care. Most patients were treated well by
their employers, but 25% of families (including both the insured and the
uninsured) said that the person with the disease used up most or all of their
savings and some money borrowed from relatives. Having health insurance during
treatment limited the financial consequences, but, even so, 20% of those who
had always had insurance used up most or all of their savings, and some had to
borrow money. Some people couldn't buy health insurance after their diagnosis,
and some lost their health insurance during diagnosis and treatment.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of British
Medical Journal 1 December 2006
-
The free
market must free, not restrain, research. In a comment piece John Sulston,
who shared the Nobel Prize for medicine in 2002, writes: "The disadvantage of
depending on the free market for research and development is that areas that
do not have the potential to yield financial return are neglected. Such areas
are extensive in human health. 90% of the disease burden of humanity is served
by less than 10% of biomedical spending. This is a direct consequence of the
huge differences in wealth between nations, which make diseases specific to
poorer countries unreachable by the market. Are we heading towards a global
health service that is free at the point of delivery, such as the NHS and
other European systems, or towards a privatised system that is pay per
treatment, such as that in the US ?
In Europe, healthcare is a right; in the US, it is a commodity that is not
equitably available. There is a battle over which system will prevail. For me
the choice is clear: as a matter of principle I do not have private medical
insurance and am dismayed by attempts to weaken the state system. The NHS
model is the ethical choice, the US one is not. We must not allow the free
market to become a bad master rather than a good servant. Summary by
Keep our NHS Public
of Financial
Times 1 December 2006
- DoH to contest
free market proposal in health care. The Department of Health is to
challenge a European Commission proposal to establish a free market in health
care across the European Union. The commission's intentions are outlined in
the document Consultation regarding Community action on health services. This
follows the European Court of Justice's May 2006 ruling that NHS patients
subject to 'undue delay' must be given permission to receive treatment
elsewhere in the EU at the NHS's expense. But the commission has now taken
that ruling a step further and states in its consultation document that
non-hospital care - including dentistry, diagnosis and primary care - does not
need prior permission and patients can receive it at any time and anywhere in
the EU, at the NHS's expense. NHS professionals have also raised concerns that
a free market could exacerbate health inequalities. Travel costs would not be
reimbursable and so only the well-off could afford to travel aboard for care.
The Commission's consultation closes January 31. Summary by
Keep our NHS Public of Public
Finance 5 January 2007
- US clinical
guidelines often influenced by industry, NEJM says. Many clinical
guidelines for doctors in the United States are
influenced by the
pharmaceutical industry and special interest groups, said an article in
the New England Journal of Medicine last week. "The quality of guidelines
varies considerably," and some are controversial, says a commentary by the
journal's national correspondent, Robert Steinbrook. Summary by
Keep our NHS Public of British
Medical Journal 26 January 2007
- NHS models.
In a letter to the Times Professor Harry Keen writes: "Sir, The sentiments
regarding healthcare expressed by your correspondent David Chandler (letter,
Jan 24) remind me of the bitter objections raised in the mid and late 1940s
against the basic concept of a National Health Service in which risks and
costs were shared. The vast majority of the public enthusiastically supported
the great social advance embodied in the NHS. Perhaps Mr Chandler seeks his
model across the Atlantic where, despite an annual per capita spend on health
approaching three times that in Britain, an estimated 40 million citizens have
no insured health cover and a like number have only partial cover, so that
serious illness means financial catastrophe. Few people now recall the
economic anxieties that added to the fear of disease before the NHS, with
people delaying and denying the need for healthcare. The NHS has its problems
but it provides a level of care and protection to the public as a whole of
which none of us need be ashamed. David Chandler can rely on his "safety net"
if he wishes. The vast majority of the population want a sound, well-provided,
forward-looking service which is primarily concerned with its patients, not
its profits." Summary by
Keep our NHS Public of Times
29 January 2007
- The plague of bird flu will erupt out of Java, not Suffolk. The
west has failed to back up its rhetoric by helping countries that will be on
the front line of any human pandemic. Mike Davis
Wednesday February 7, 2007 The Guardian
- Hospital dumped
man on Skid Row, police say. A hospital van abandoned a paraplegic man in
Los Angeles 's Skid Row district, allegedly leaving him crawling in the street
with nothing more than a soiled gown and a broken colostomy bag, the Los
Angeles Times reported. Witnesses took the van's details and the police traced
it to Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Centre. Police said it was a case of
"homeless dumping". "I can't think of anything colder than that," said a
detective, Russ Long. A hospital official said he was "very concerned". The
city is prosecuting the Kaiser Permanente health group over a similar
allegation. Summary by
Keep our NHS Public of Guardian
10 February 2007
- The World Health Organisation, the drugs company and the $10,000
funding offer. Patients' group 'was asked to act as covert channel'.
UN body denies attempt to bend donation rules. The
World Health Organisation is facing allegations that it attempted to secure a
$10,000 (£5,100)
donation
from a drugs company by asking a patients' group to act as a covert
channel for the funds, in the light of documents published today. The alleged
arrangement would have broken the WHO's own rules on accepting money from the
pharmaceutical industry. Emails between Benedetto Saraceno, the WHO's director
of mental health and substance abuse, and the European Parkinson's Disease
Association appear to suggest that the WHO was willing to take $10,000 from
Britain's biggest drug company, GlaxoSmithKline, to help pay for the
preparation of a report on neurological disorders, for which GSK makes drugs.
However, Dr Saraceno made it clear that the money must pass through the
coffers of the EPDA first because of the rules on WHO accepting drug industry
funding. Michael Day and Sarah Boseley
Friday
February 16, 2007 The Guardian
- US health
system getting worse, says expert. The problems of the US healthcare
system are growing, according to Karen Davis, President of the Commonwealth
Fund. The United States is the only major industrialised nation without
universal health insurance. Coverage varies widely between states and has
deteriorated in recent years. The number of uninsured people has increased
from 40 million in 2000 to nearly 47 million in 2005. Gaps in coverage lead to
inequalities in access to care, poor quality care, lost economic productivity,
and avoidable deaths. The Institute of Medicine estimates that 18,000 lives
are lost annually as a consequence of gaps in coverage. It calculates the
annual cost of achieving full coverage at $34bn - $69bn, which is less than
the loss in economic productivity from existing coverage ($65bn - $130bn
annually). Furthermore, expanding coverage would disproportionately help
people on low incomes, who make up two thirds of the uninsured, thus
increasing equity in access to health care and health outcomes, says Davis.
Several states have enacted plans to make cover affordable for all uninsured
residents, using state programmes to subsidise care for the poor and creating
an insurance pool for small businesses and the self employed. Although these
efforts are encouraging, most are taking place in states with relatively small
uninsured populations, and there is little prospect that the federal
government will legislate to make insurance affordable and mandatory for all.
What is clear is that the problem is getting worse, not diminishing, she
warns. The fragmented, uncoordinated healthcare system is plagued by high
administrative costs and missed opportunities to control chronic conditions
and prevent life threatening conditions. Summary by
Keep our NHS Public of British
Medical Journal 16 February 2007
- Babies die as
hospitals skip tests to save money. At least 350 newborn babies are dying
in British hospitals every year because financial pressures are deterring
doctors from checking for a life-threatening abnormality during pregnancy.
Senior consultants have privately admitted they do not carry out the necessary
scan for the condition - vasa praevia - to avoid the costs of caring for
affected mothers. Other developed countries including America, Germany and
Holland routinely check for the condition, which has a near-100% survival rate
if diagnosed during pregnancy. In Britain, the mortality rate for otherwise
healthy babies whose mothers suffer from it is more than 90%. The scandal has
been exposed by a husband-and-wife team of lawyers, one an expert in clinical
negligence. Daren and Natalie Samat have formed an action group to campaign
for all mothers to be scanned. National Health Service trusts are understood
to be resisting introducing checks as those diagnosed with vasa praevia must
be funded to spend between four and 15 weeks under close monitoring in
hospital before having a caesarean. A forthcoming study on vasa praevia is
expected to show that fewer than 10% of NHS hospitals have guidelines
requiring expectant mothers to be checked.
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public of Times
18 February 2007
- Effective eye
treatments - at home and abroad. In a letter to the Guardian, Simon Kelly,
a consultant ophthalmic surgeon, writes: "Nigel Crisp's report to the prime
minster on the UK contribution to health in developing countries (Report,
February 13) should help us see Africa's healthcare problems and offer
some solutions. Private sector surgeons and nurses from South Africa are doing
rather nicely here in independent sector treatment centres - paid for by the
NHS - while ministers and rock stars worry about health and poverty in Africa.
Ophthalmic personnel from South Africa come here on lucrative short breaks to
undertake NHS cataract surgery in ISTCs. This costs UK taxpayers more than if
local NHS services undertook the same work. The irony is that there is a
backlog of public sector patients blind from untreated cataracts or for want
of spectacles in South Africa. Meanwhile, NHS eye departments are suffering
from disinvestment due to this resource reallocation to the private health
provider from South Africa, while schemes such as the National Refractive
Error Program for South Africa are supported by international agencies and
gift aid. Surely local eye healthcare staff are more needed in Africa than in
ISTCs. Our needless mobile cataract units would be ideal for Africa's eye
care. Perhaps Nigel Crisp would agree that such ophthalmic equipment not
needed by NHS could be sent overseas ?"
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public of Guardian
19 February 2007
- Prescription abuse outstrips illegal drug use, UN warns.
Counterfeit market has lethal consequences. Crackdown on appetite
suppressants urged. The abuse and trafficking of prescription drugs, including
painkillers and stimulants, has overtaken the use of nearly all illegal drugs
with the sole exception of cannabis, the United Nations drug control board
warns today. The International Narcotics Control Board says the demand for
painkillers, stimulants, sedatives and tranquillisers is so great that a
global counterfeit market is rapidly developing. It also calls for a crackdown
on the illicit availability of appetite suppressants, known as anorectics,
which are fuelling a "slimming obsession" and led last year to the death of a
Brazilian supermodel, Ana Carolina Reston. Alan Travis, home affairs editor
Thursday March 1, 2007 The Guardian
- UK nears
European average in proportion of GDP spent on health care. Between 2000
and 2004 the increase in spending on health in the United Kingdom as a
percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) was bigger than the increases in
France, Germany, and Italy, says a new report from the Office of Health
Economics (OHE). This means that the gap between the UK and other European
countries such as Germany and France in total spending on health as a
percentage of GDP has narrowed. Total spending on health care in the UK rose
to an estimated £120bn in 2006, representing 9.4% of GDP, up from 7.1% in
2001. Summary by
Keep our NHS Public of British
Medical Journal 2 March 2007
- Doctors attack Lancet owner's arms fair links. The publishers of
The Lancet are under fire from leading doctors who are complaining about their
escalating involvement in arms fairs. Across three pages of today's edition
the medical journal publishes letters from top doctors, led by the Royal
College of Physicians, who say that Reed Elsevier's commercial interest in the
arms trade undermines the journal's efforts to improve health worldwide. Polly
Curtis, health correspondent
Friday
March 23, 2007 The Guardian
- Scottish university starts nursing college in Egypt. A Scottish
university has increased its influence over shaping the future of nurse
education in the Middle East. Queen Margaret University in Edinburgh yesterday
revealed it had signed a deal to create a new nursing faculty at the
University of Egypt in Cairo. The university has already worked in Saudi
Arabia with businesses and the British Council to establish a college of
nursing studies in Jeddah, which opened last September with 50 students.
Debbie Andalo
Friday
March 23, 2007 EducationGuardian.co.uk
- Report blames bureaucracy for UK cancer deaths. UK cancer patients
are more likely to die from the disease than those in other developed
countries as they are being denied access to the latest drugs, researchers
said today. The study by the Karolinska Institute in Sweden found that the
"excessive bureaucracy" involved in approving drugs for use in the NHS
condemned British patients to an early death. Uptake in the UK of 67 drugs for
breast, lung and colorectal cancers launched since 1985 has been "low and
slow", according to the study, funded by the Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche
and published in the latest Annals of Oncology. More than half (51% to 52%) of
patients in France, Germany, Italy and Spain have access to new drugs,
compared with just 40% in the UK. French women with cancer are more than a
third (34%) more likely to still be alive five years after diagnosis than
their UK counterparts - 71% compared with 53% respectively. Meanwhile French
men are nearly a quarter (23%) more likely to be alive after the same period -
53% compared to 43% respectively. David Batty
Thursday May 10, 2007 Guardian Unlimited
- UK 'worst' on
cancer drug access. The UK has been criticised for its "slow and low" uptake
of new cancer drugs by a Swedish study that has found massive inequalities in
drug treatment for cancer across the world. The UK was ranked in the bottom
group by the Karolinka Institute and Stockholm School of Economics research,
with Austria, the US, France and Switzerland performing the best. They said that
getting new cancer drugs to patients quickly and effectively was reflected in
survival rates. France had the highest five-year survival rates. The research
was funded by drug firm Roche. The greatest difference in uptake was found with
bowel and lung cancer treatments. Lead researcher Dr Bengt Jonsson said: "It is
our hope that this report will inspire policy-makers and decision-makers to take
action to address these imbalances so that access to new innovative cancer drugs
does not become dependent on the patient's country of residence. Cancer research
continues to grow, with many new drugs and treatments expected to be introduced
in the coming years. Countries need to address urgently how they are going to
accommodate newer drugs into health care systems and pay for them." The National
Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) has recently come under criticism for
not assessing and approving new drugs for the NHS quickly enough. However a
Department of Health spokesperson said that NICE was vital for ensuring the NHS
had the most effective treatments and that the approval process for new drugs
had been speeded up. "We are making good progress in ensuring cancer patients
have access to the drugs they need," he said. "For example draft guidance was
available within two weeks of Herceptin for early breast cancer being licensed."
Summary by
Keep our NHS Public of BBC
10 May 2007
- 25 per cent of medicines used in Africa are fake. Bogus
medicines flood Africa - Conservatives propose EU “track and trace barcode“ to
crush illegal trade.
Care and Health 17 May 2007
-
Doctors call for ethical
procurement. The NHS Purchasing
and Supply Agency (PASA) and individual hospital trusts must develop ethical
purchasing guidelines to stop the exploitation of poor workers in developing
countries, the British Medical Association (BMA) has urged .
Care and Health 17 May 2007
- Drug firms and patient groups join in fight to overturn advertising
ban. Drug companies in Europe, faced with declining sales and a shortage
of new products, appear to be making ground in their attempt to enlist a major
new ally in their struggle for profits - the patient. Sales soared in the US
after companies were allowed to advertise their prescription medicines on TV
and radio and in magazines and newspapers. Patients in America began demanding
more drugs and specific, expensive brand-name drugs from their doctors. Now
the firms want to target the UK in the same way, and are strongly challenging
a ban on direct consumer advertising in the EU. Sarah Boseley, health editor
Monday
May 21, 2007 The Guardian
- Labour contender calls for halt to privatisation in NHS. The 4
million Labour activists who have a vote in the deputy leadership election
were offered their first real choice by candidates yesterday when Jon Cruddas,
the former Downing Street aide financially backed by the union Unite, called
for a halt to privatisation in the NHS. David Hencke, Westminster
correspondent
Monday
May 21, 2007 The Guardian
- GSK suffers as doctors avoid allegedly risky diabetes drug.
GlaxoSmithKline took another hit yesterday amid signs that doctors in the US
were avoiding its blockbuster diabetes drug Avandia after a study linked it to
increased risks of heart attacks and death. Data from ImpactRX indicated that
the drug's share of the market for newly prescribed oral anti-diabetics in the
US fell to around zero from about 10% in the two days after the study was
published on May 21st. ImpactRX, a market intelligence firm, tracks the impact
of pharmaceutical promotion on the prescribing behaviour of physicians in the
US. Marianne Barriaux
Wednesday May 30, 2007 The Guardian
- Formula milk is even more deadly in disaster zones. Support for
breastfeeding during a humanitarian crisis should be a top priority, says
Marie McGrath.
Wednesday
May 30, 2007 The Guardian
- US to spend extra $30bn to fight HIV/Aids, pledges Bush.
Washington becomes campaign's biggest backer. Critics praise president's
commitment to fight. Ewen MacAskill in Washington
Thursday
May 31, 2007 The Guardian
- Nigeria sues Pfizer for £3.5bn over 'illegal' child drug trials.
The Nigerian government is suing the world's largest drug manufacturer,
Pfizer, for £3.5bn in damages for allegedly carrying out illegal trials of an
anti-meningitis drug that killed and disabled children. The children died or
suffered serious side effects when the antibiotic Trovan was administered in
Kano during a meningitis outbreak in 1996. The government of Kano, a northern
state in Nigeria, also has civil and criminal cases pending against Pfizer.
The Nigerian authorities say 200 children were involved in the Trovan
experiment, without the approval of local regulatory authorities. They allege
that as many as 11 died because of the treatment and that others developed
deformities, including brain damage and paralysis. Trovan was approved in the
US in 1997 for use by adults but not by children. Two years later the US Food
and Drug Administration warned that the drug could cause liver damage. The
medicine has since been discontinued. Chris McGreal, Africa correspondent
Wednesday June 6, 2007 The Guardian
- Contaminated Aids drug is recalled throughout Europe. An
unprecedented emergency recall of all stocks of an Aids drug in the UK and the
rest of Europe was ordered last night because the tablets contain a
dangerously high level of a cancer-causing chemical. All those taking the drug
Viracept are being asked to see their doctor immediately so that they can be
prescribed an alternative medicine. Investigators are trying to find out what
happened at the plant in Switzerland where Viracept is manufactured. It is
understood that the contamination could have occurred in March and affected
supplies of the drug for three months. That would mean large quantities of
contaminated drugs have already been consumed. The European Medicines
Evaluation Agency, which ordered the first all-Europe recall in its history,
said they had no reason to suspect foul play. Sarah Boseley, health editor
Thursday June 7, 2007 The Guardian
- EU Health Strategy- consultation shows support for increased EU
cooperation. There is general support for a new overarching European
Health Strategy and a desire for more cooperation between the European
Commission and EU Member States to further improve and protect health in
Europe, the results of a public consultation process reveal.
Care & Health 8 June 2007
- Closing the Gap. The Wales Centre for Health has
produced
a report as part of the three-year Closing the Gap project calling for an
end to health inequalities across Europe.
Care & Health 26 June 2007
- Pregnant migrants are unfairly denied NHS treatment, says charity.
Report tells of lack of access to antenatal care. Clinic says findings
'rebut myth of health tourist'. Pregnant women are being denied antenatal care
by the NHS because of their immigration status, endangering mother and baby, a
medical charity has found. Médecins du Monde, which
normally works in deprived and developing parts of the world, set up a clinic
in London a year ago because of concerns that some people were struggling to
get healthcare in one of the world's richest cities. One year on, its
experience shows that the NHS, intended to be free to all, is not available to
some of those who need it and who, under the letter of the law, are entitled
to medical help. Sarah Boseley, health editor
Wednesday July 4, 2007 The Guardian
- UK residents
labelled as 'health tourists' have problems accessing health care. Some
people in the United Kingdom are struggling to access routine medical care,
including consultations with GPs and antenatal care, because they are wrongly
being labelled as "health tourists," says a report. The report, from the charity
Médecins du Monde UK, analyses the first year's activity
of the charity in London, where it set up a clinic in the east end to improve
access to health care for vulnerable people in and around the capital. The group
says that regulations introduced in April 2004 to charge "overseas visitors" for
NHS hospital treatment is making it difficult for some people who have
legitimate rights to NHS treatment to get routine care. In 2006 a total of 349
people came to the Médecins du Monde clinic for 435
consultations. The most common request was for help to register with a GP. But
worryingly, 39 pregnant women came to the clinic, half of whom had had no
previous antenatal care, and nearly a quarter of whom were at least 20 weeks
pregnant. Late access to maternity services is a risk factor for maternal death,
says the report. But it found that 70% of the pregnant women who had come to the
clinic had had difficulties in accessing primary care or antenatal services. At
least 30% had not been tested for HIV. Instead of saving money, as was intended,
the policy is likely to lead to increased costs because "those who are denied
care become so ill that they need to access emergency treatment," said Susan
Wright, director of Médecins du Monde UK. Paul Hunt, United Nations special
rapporteur on the right to the highest attainable standard of health, says in a
foreword to the report that "the rules governing entitlement to free NHS care in
England, which introduced new and greater restrictions on access to health care
for some migrants, seem to be taking us in the wrong direction. The legislation
appears to be incompatible with fundamental right to health principles."
Médecins du Monde, which generally provides health services to people in regions
of conflict, poverty, and natural disasters, is calling for the restrictions on
accessing UK health care based on immigration status to be removed, especially
to maternity services. In a joint statement, the heads of nine campaigning
groups, including Crisis, Doctors for Human Rights, Medact, and the Terrence
Higgins Trust, backed the charity's demands. "Any restrictions on access to NHS
health care based on immigration status pose public health problems, violate
international law, compromise the independence of health professionals, and are
likely to cost more than they save," they say in a statement. "We urge a return
to NHS principles to ensure that everyone living in the UK has access to medical
care, free at the point of need." Summary by
Keep our NHS Public of British
Medical Journal 13 July 2007
-
NHS doctors challenge high drugs prices. British doctors are to rebel
against high prices set by pharmaceutical companies for their products by
giving patients a cheap but unlicensed drug that prevents blindness, the
Guardian has learned. Unable to afford to treat all those losing their sight
with a licensed and extremely expensive drug, Lucentis, some primary care
trusts are giving NHS doctors the green light to use tiny shots of a similar
drug, Avastin, which is marketed for bowel cancer, but costs a fraction of the
price. Avastin is widely used for eye complaints in the United States. A call
from the former health secretary, Patricia Hewitt, for Avastin's manufacturer
to put the drug through trials for wet age-related macular degeneration went
unheeded. Now the NHS is funding a groundbreaking trial which will compare
Avastin directly with Lucentis. Both drugs are manufactured by Genentech. The
moves represent the first real challenge in this country to high prices set by
drug companies. There is growing unease at the cost of new drugs and high
prices have led to the banning or rationing of some medicines in the NHS by
the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice). The
companies say they need billions of dollars in sales to recoup their research
and development costs, but critics accuse them of profiteering. Meanwhile, in
the developing world, unaffordably high drug prices have brought the
pharmaceutical industry into disrepute, forced their prices down and led to
successful campaigns to allow generic copycat companies to sell cheap versions
of drugs. Sarah Boseley, health editor
Monday July 30, 2007 Guardian
-
Britain launches plan to improve developing countries' healthcare. A
radical strategy to help developing countries improve their healthcare and
retain desperately needed doctors and nurses was launched by the prime minister,
Gordon Brown, yesterday. While increasing amounts of money and effort have gone
into initiatives to fight specific diseases such as HIV/Aids and immunise
children against polio, it has become clear that the fight against disease in
poor countries is being lost. Of the UN's eight millennium development goals (MDGs),
the health targets - such as cutting the deaths of babies and women in
childbirth - are the least likely to be achieved. One woman dies giving birth
every minute and 28,000 small children a day die of largely preventable causes.
Yesterday Mr Brown launched an international health partnership bringing
together donor countries, non-governmental organisations and international
agencies who pledged to work together to improve the flow of aid into health.
They will work initially with seven developing countries which have undertaken
to improve their healthcare systems - the delivery of care in hospitals and
clinics, the numbers and training of medical staff and the supply of drugs.
Sarah Boseley, health editor
Thursday
September 6, 2007 The Guardian
- First world results on a third world budget. According to Michael
Moore's latest film Sicko, Cuba's medical care puts America's to shame. Rory
Carroll investigates.
In pictures: healthcare in Cuba.
Graphic: Key health statistics in Cuba, the US and UK (pdf)
Wednesday September 12, 2007 The Guardian
- Case for going Dutch on NHS monitoring. David Brindle
Wednesday September 19, 2007 The Guardian
- Campaigners attack UK over Aids funding. The British government was
yesterday accused of breaking its G8 pledge to help defeat Aids when it
revealed it would only marginally increase its contribution to the Global Fund
for Aids, Malaria and Tuberculosis. The international development secretary,
Douglas Alexander, promised £1bn over the next eight years to the fund, but
campaigners said this fell far short of the G8 pledge to treble contributions
by 2010. Sarah Boseley, health editor
Wednesday
September 26, 2007 The Guardian
- Boy's death
highlights US health debate. George Bush is set to veto congressional
health legislation that would extend health care to 4 million children, saying
it goes beyond its remit of providing care for low-income families. The case
was highlighted in February by the death of Deamonte Driver, a 12-year-old boy
who died because his parents could not afford private dental care. One
Thursday the boy complained of toothache, the following Saturday he had
emergency surgery because an abscess had spread to his brain. He died a few
weeks later. Deamonte's mother could not afford private health insurance and,
although there is free Medicaid for the poorest, not all dentists or doctors
accept it and Deamonte's mother could not afford to have his tooth removed.
Some 45 million Americans are without health insurance, nine million of them
children. Many consider the issue to be America's national scandal and
Washington political opponents have come together on the issue with both
Democrats and Republicans coming together to support a bill that would help
fund insurance. The bill passed 67 - 29 in the Senate but did not achieve the
two-thirds majority in the House of Representatives necessary to override the
presidential veto. The proposed bill extends the State Children's Health
Insurance Programme (Schip) that subsidises insurance for families who may not
be the poorest, but who cannot afford private insurance. Supporters propose to
pay for the bill by increasing tax on cigarettes. Mr Bush says the move goes
against the principles of private health care and to provide care would create
a disincentive for people to purchase care themselves. Mr Bush says he
supports tax breaks for poorer families purchasing care and that the
legislation "directs scarce funding to higher incomes at the expense of poor
families". One Democratic Congressman, Elijah Cummings, from Maryland has gone
further in proposing "Daemonte's Law" to ensure all children have access to
dental care. "It's shocking, it's sad," Mr Cummings said of Deamonte's death.
"It provides a wake-up call to us all that we have to do better." Summary by
Keep our NHS Public of BBC
29 September 2007
- Only dogma and corporate capture can explain this. It beggars
belief that US health privateers straight out of Michael Moore's Sicko are
being lined up to run core NHS services. Seumas Milne
Thursday October 18, 2007 The Guardian
- EU Considers Greater Integration of Health Services. On the 20
November this year, the EU is to release a draft directive setting out
proposals for cross border healthcare. This follows on the back of a series of
cases in the European Court, most notably the case of Watts where a UK
resident sought to recover from her Primary Care Trust, the costs of a
bilateral hip replacement operation she had undergone in France.
Care & Health 31 October 2007
- What's the verdict on Sicko? Let us know what you think about Michael
Moore's film on US healthcare. Michael Moore's latest film, an appraisal
of the US healthcare system, opened in cinemas this weekend - and if you've
seen it, we'd really like to hear from you. Sicko compares healthcare
provision in the states with our national health service.
Guardian blog October 29, 2007
- The fruits of Kiwi health reform. Slowly but surely, the health
reform tide in England is turning. Gordon Brown and health ministers have
signalled their intention to place much greater emphasis on public health than
their predecessors, alongside a continuing commitment to improve the
performance of the NHS. Lord Darzi's interim report on the NHS specifically
highlighted the need to make more progress in tackling health inequalities.
With a boy born in Manchester likely to die almost 10 years earlier than a boy
born in Kensington and Chelsea, a concerted drive to improve health by
focusing on people most in need seems certain to loom large in the next stage
of health reform. Last week's announcement that the government is planning 10
eco cities, designed to make it easier for people to exercise, is an
indication of the way in which ministers are thinking. The risk with this
approach is that it will become just another initiative unless it is part of a
well-designed public health strategy. Ministers should look to New Zealand for
lessons on how to avoid risk. Recent analysis showed that the widening of
health inequalities there has been stemmed and, to some degree, reversed.
Although the precise reasons are not fully known, inequalities in New Zealand
appear to have been tackled successfully as a result of a long-term commitment
to public health and primary care. Under prime minister Helen Clark, New
Zealand turned its back on the failed internal market experiment of the 1990s,
and set up health boards - integrated organisations whose members are made up
of some people elected by the public and others appointed by the health
minister - with responsibility for planning and providing health and
disability support services. Health inequalities in New Zealand are most
evident in the poorer health experienced by Maori and people from the Pacific
Islands. To address these inequalities, Clark's government developed a health
strategy in 2000 in which public health received as much attention as
healthcare services. The strategy included health boards working with public
agencies and third sector organisations to implement population-wide
programmes to address risk factors such as unhealthy diet and lack of
exercise. A major focus of these programmes has been to target support at
hard-to-reach groups by working with Maori and Pacific Island organisations.
In the case of people from the Pacific Islands, health boards have capitalised
on the role that religious life plays in these communities, by delivering
health advice and medical care with and through churches. Similarly, tribal
structures have been engaged to reach the groups most in need among Maori.
Equally important has been the emphasis on primary healthcare. Concerned at
the adverse effects of charging patients to see a GP, Clark's government
developed a primary care strategy that has resulted in an investment of
NZ$2.2bn (£0.81bn) over seven years. The fees paid by patients and the costs
of prescriptions have fallen considerably, making it easier for families on
low incomes to get care. This has contributed to a stronger emphasis on
prevention in primary care, with a particular focus on the management of
people with diabetes. Patients in New Zealand find it much easier to make an
appointment than their counterparts in the UK because GPs lose income if
patients seek primary care from a practice other than the one where they are
registered. The Brown government would do well to consider how to adapt this
arrangement. An option would be to claw back funds GPs receive from the
government where practices have higher than expected use of services by
patients out of hours. This could be done while maintaining care free to
patients at the point of access - an aspect of the NHS superior to that found
in New Zealand. Another lesson from New Zealand is the value of local people
involved in health boards. The two-thirds of members elected by the public are
chosen every three years, with elections held at the same time as those for
local authorities. Turnout is around 40%, and most candidates stand as
independents. New Zealand's system has the twin virtues of engaging the
community directly and avoiding the risks of overcentralisation to which the
NHS is so prone. There is a greater willingness to deal with the challenges of
the health system at a local level, instead of pulling these challenges in to
the government in Wellington. At a time when the NHS is entering a much more
difficult financial climate, Brown and health ministers may well be attracted
to an arrangement where the blame for the NHS no longer gravitates towards
Whitehall, but is dealt with by locally-accountable bodies. Chris Ham
The Guardian Wednesday November 7 2007
- Competition in
a publicly funded healthcare system. A report by Steffie Woolhandler and
David Himmelstein in the British Medical Journal begins:
Why would anyone choose to emulate the US healthcare system?
Costs per capita are about twice the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and
Development average. Forty seven million people are completely uninsured. Many
others with insurance face high out of pocket costs that hinder care and
bankrupt more than a million annually. Mortality statistics lag behind those
of most other wealthy countries, and even for the insured population, clinical
outcomes and patient satisfaction are mediocre. This dismal record arises, we
contend, from health policies that emphasise market incentives. Even as the
public share of health spending in the US has risen to 60% investor owned
firms have eclipsed the public, professional, and charitable bodies that
previously managed the financing and delivery of care. The development and
effect of US policies that mix public funding and private management has wider
relevance because politicians in Europe and beyond are pushing analogous
schemes. Summary by
Keep our NHS Public of British
Medical Journal 30 November 2007
- EU promises free care for health tourists. Patients will be able to
travel to hospitals across Europe for health treatment and claim back the
costs on the National Health Service under proposals introduced by the
European Commission.
Care & Health 19 December 2007
- EU delays move allowing patients to travel for care. The European
commission yesterday postponed publishing a plan to give NHS patients access
to free treatment in any EU member country. The proposal sparked a row in
Westminster where it was welcomed by the Conservatives as an extension of
patient choice but Labour MPs and health unions feared it might subvert the
NHS by allowing wealthy patients to jump the queue for treatment. John Carvel,
social affairs editor
The Guardian,
Thursday December 20 2007
- Setback for NHS
patients' treatment abroad. Patients hoping to receive treatment abroad
paid for by the National Health Service received a setback. The European
Commission postponed at the last minute a draft directive that would have made
it easier to seek healthcare in other EU member states. The commission claimed
the delay, until the new year, was caused by "congestion" and "purely for
agenda reasons". But it left British health ministers and others with
reservations delighted. Recent versions of the draft directive would allow
patients to travel to other countries and be reimbursed domestically, without
prior authorisation, up to the cost of the treatment in their own health
system. Summary by
Keep our NHS Public of Financial
Times 20 December 2007
- Humana sued in
federal court over incentives for doctors. Humana Inc., one of the
nation's largest managed-care companies, was accused in a Federal lawsuit of
misleading health plan members by failing to disclose financial incentives to
doctors and case reviewers intended to keep down costs by limiting or denying
care. The suit, filed on behalf of workers in Florida and Texas, asked a
United States District Court in Miami to certify a class action on behalf of
more than 6m customers of Humana health plans nationwide. The plaintiffs say
they did not get the health coverage that they thought they were selecting
because the company did not disclose incentives to doctors to deny care. The
suit contends that there was a ''breach of trust'' because plan members
thought that medical guidelines would solely determine their treatment. Shares
of Humana fell 6.25 cents, to $7, on the New York Stock Exchange. Shares of
the three biggest managed-care companies, Aetna Inc., the United Health Group
and the Cigna Corporation also declined. These stocks have been battered
recently after reports that several big law firms across the country were
planning class-action suits against the health care insurers as well as
uncertainty about proposed legislation that could open the health plans to
malpractice lawsuits. A Supreme Court judge in New York recently refused to
dismiss a lawsuit that accused a Prudential health plan of relying on
guidelines from an actuarial firm in deciding questions about medical care. On
another front, the United States Supreme Court is reviewing a Federal appeals
court decision that said managed-care plans violated their duty to members
when doctors withhold or delay treatment to obtain bonuses or financial
rewards from the companies. Summary by
Keep our NHS Public of New
York Times 9 January 2008
See
International recruitment for articles on the recruitment of staff, in
particular from under-resourced countries.
American Health Care Model
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