Public Services Bulletin

1.  BAD PUBLIC SERVICES GET BRITAIN RATED 37TH-BEST PLACE TO LIVE IN

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/tm_headline=britain--the-37th-best-country-in-the-world&method=full&objectid=18538286&siteid=94762-name_page.html

BRITAIN has only managed 37th in a league of the best places to
live - making it worse than Panama, Mexico and Argentina.

The UK was marked down for its bad weather, poor transport,
high cost of living and health service.

But we did score highly for our economy and our social freedoms.

Britain was trounced by many countries which have a similar
climate, such as Holland, Denmark, Luxembourg and Germany,
because they were seen to have a better health service and
infrastructure.

France topped the 191-strong list as the nation with the best
quality of life, followed by Australia, Holland, New Zealand
and the US.

The French scored extra points thanks to their high-speed TGV
trains, spare hospital beds, culture, ski resorts, beaches and
warmer climate.

International Living magazine judged countries on their cost
of living, culture and leisure, economy, environment, freedom,
health, infrastructure, safety and risk, and climate. A
spokeswoman for the magazine said: ‘Britain is still relatively
high on the list and it is undoubtedly an economic powerhouse
with a strong and identifiable culture.

‘But it is also expensive, its transport lets it down and it
rains a lot.’

Italy - 8th in the survey - scored a perfect 100 for culture.
Its climate, lower cost of living and transport service also
bumping it up the rankings.

A lower cost of living and increased safety compared with
previous years sent Panama (34th), Mexico (25th) and Argentina
(10th) storming up the list.

Their natural environments and climate also helped their rankings.

Iraq, Somalia, Yemen, Sudan and Afghanistan were judged to be the
five most dangerous places on earth.

Haiti was the most corrupt. The Pacific island of Nauru was ranked
as the cheapest place to live.

mirrornews@mgn.co.uk

THE TOP 50 PLACES TO LIVE:

1 France
2 Australia
3 Netherlands
4 New Zealand
5 United States
6 Switzerland
7 Denmark
8 Italy
9 Luxembourg
10 Argentina
11 Norway

[List continues online]

2. DOCTORS HIGHLIGHT POLITICAL DAMAGE TO NHS

http://www.news-medical.net/?id=21508

The message from politicians that Britain cannot afford healthcare
- even though it is one of the richest economies in the world
- is damaging the NHS.

That's the warning from an A&E consultant columnist writing in
BMA News this week. 'If we tried caring instead of business models,
it might fit better as an NHS ethos,' says 'Frontline Medicine'
columnist Charles Lamb, noting that the caring element is being
forced out of the NHS.

Alongside, a junior doctor tells of his experiences trying to
obtain plastic surgery urgently needed for a patient with a
gaping arm wound. 'After nearly two hours of continuous effort,
a plastic surgeon understood my desperate situation and agreed
to help.'

The shocked patient learnt that hospital reconfiguration meant
he had to travel during the night to a theatre 100 miles away to
get the crucial treatment.

The 'Vital Signs' columnist writes: 'I felt sorry not only for
the patient but also for my plastic (surgeon) colleagues who
were so overloaded with extra work just because of the
‘resource crunch’ we all face nowadays.

'This problem has become an inherent part of every hospital
doctor's life.'

The BMA, as part of its 'Caring for the NHS' campaign, is
currently working on an alternative vision for the NHS to
counter what they see as conflicting and damaging reforms.

http://www.bma.org.uk


3.   FURY OVER NHS GOLDEN HANDSHAKES

http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/localnews/display.var.1152241.0.fury_over_new_nhs_golden_handshakes.php

More health bosses could be walking away with golden
handshakes from a health trust which has handed out almost
£500,000 to senior managers.

Gina Brocklehurst, former chief executive of the Eastbourne
Downs Primary Care Trust, was given £230,00 after standing
down from her position following a reorganisation of health
trusts in Sussex.

Earlier this month it was reported Dr Iheadi Onwuke, a former
director of public health, was paid £243,000 after working at
the same trust for just three weeks.

East Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust chief executive Annette Sergeant
received a £231,000 termination payment in 2005.

Nick Yeo chief executive of East Downs and Weald Primary Care
Trust claimed pay-offs were part of the reorganisation of health
trusts which would save £1 million a year.

Mr Yeo said there had been no further pay-offs since October last
year when the reorganisation took place but warned there would
probably be more to come.

He said: ‘We are at the early stages of reorganisation. There will
probably be others, sadly, who there won't be a place for.’

Mr Yeo said efforts were being made to find senior managers
positions elsewhere in the NHS. He said more details about the
reorganisation would be released at the trusts board meeting in
March.

According to an NHS website, Ms Brocklehurst left the trust to
take up a ‘transitional role’ with Surrey and Sussex Strategic
Health Authority.

Yesterday the authority, now called South East Coast SHA, released
a statement which said: ‘Gina Brocklehurst only had a contract
with the PCT and didn't work for the strategic health authority
or any other NHS organisation in our area.’

The pay-offs come amid concerns for the future of services at
Eastbourne District Hospital (EDH) and Hastings Conquest Hospital.

Save EDH campaigner Monica Corrina-Kavakli said: ‘It's outrageous.
There is no excuse, no reason for anybody to get that money.
It's not come as any surprise to us. ‘The money would pay for
300 cataract operations and more than 40 heart by-passes.’

Norman Baker, MP for Lewes, called the NHS pay-off a national
scandal and said he would be bringing the issue up with the secretary
of state for health.

Mr Baker said: ‘We were told reorganisation was to help the
service but they're helping individuals who are being paid off.

‘I'm horrified these people can re-apply for jobs in the NHS. It
is absolutely disgraceful.’


4.  NHS STAFF ASKED TO EASE BUDGET PROBLEMS BY WORKING FOR FREE

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23383211-details/NHS+staff+asked+to+ease+budget+problems+by+working+for+free/article.do

An NHS trust is asking staff to work a day for free to help
ease its financial crisis.

Workers at the Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust have
been sent a letter asking them to help balance the books.

It said donating ‘just one extra day of work without additional
pay as a voluntary contribution’ would benefit the trust, which
has a historic debt of almost £17 million.

And, to the anger of health campaigners, the trust wants to
implement a raft of measures so it can sign a contract with a
private company under the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) scheme.

Plans are formulating to build a multi-million hospital and
mental health unit in Pembury under PFI, but the letter hints
at dire consequences if the trust fails to hit its March targets.

The leaked memo, from Terry Coode, director of human resources to
all staff,said the trust was ‘facing a very significant challenge
this year’.

It added: ‘To be unsuccessful in our target will have serious
consequences for the trust that will affect us all.

‘It will jeopardise our investment and development plans,
including our ability to build the PFI and will weaken our
stance as we strive to ensure a strong position for (Maidstone
and Tunbridge Wells) in the 'fit for future' reconfiguration
of healthcare services in Kent that will take place in the years
ahead.’

It continued: ‘To date we have avoided significant job loss as
part of our financial recovery activity, unlike many trusts
across the country.’

The letter sets out how job losses can be avoided, including
‘inviting enquiries about the possibility of voluntary redundancy’.

It also offers staff the chance to take a six-month unpaid break
‘to pursue a personal ambition or just to take a well-earned break’.

Staff would be able to return to their original jobs or one in a
similar position, it added.

The letter also encouraged staff to carry forward five days'
holiday to the next year to ‘help avoid additional costs this year’.

Asking staff to work for free, it said: ‘We are also asking staff
to contribute just one extra day without additional pay as a
voluntary contribution to year-end.

The trust is waiting to hear from the Treasury on whether plans
to build a £300m, 512-bed hospital and mental health unit at
Pembury under the PFI scheme will go ahead.

International consortia Equion has been chosen by the trust as
its first choice developer for the project, which is due to get
under way in the autumn subject to ministerial approval.

Geoff Martin, head of campaigns at the group Health Emergency, said:
‘This slaps the nut on the Government's health care policy.

‘Nurses and other members of the healthcare team are called on to
work for nothing so that speculators and banks can cream off another
fat profit from an NHS PFI scheme.

‘This is Robin Hood in reverse, robbing the poor to fill the
pockets of the rich and it's happening right under the noses of
a Labour Government who are ripping the heart out of the NHS.’

The trust said staff were being asked to work a day unpaid on
an entirely voluntary basis.

In a statement, it said: ‘Our staff have suggested this idea to
help reduce agency use as part of plans to stay within our budgets.

‘This informal request was extended to all staff and we've had doctors
offering to work extra hours for free.

‘This is not about saving our PFI, but getting our finances right.’

An Audit Commission report published last January said the trust
would need ‘very significant additional external support’ to recover
from a deficit of almost £17m.

Liberal Democrat health spokesman Norman Lamb said: ‘This is an
unacceptable consequence of the Government placing a deadline on
the NHS to clear its deficits this year.

‘Patricia Hewitt said she would take personal responsibility for
the NHS breaking even this year, but now it seems doctors and
nurses are expected to pay the price.

‘The stark reality is that trusts cannot quickly clear deficits
which have taken years to accumulate without making damaging
clinical cuts or cutting the pay of their hard-working employees.’

5.  NHS 'BEING PARCELLED UP AND PRIVATISED BIT BY BIT'

http://www.thecnj.co.uk/islington/012607/news012607_07.html

Actress Emma Thompson and former Labour MP Tony Benn added their voices this
week to a major campaign against ‘patchwork’ privatisation of the NHS.

Ms Thompson has signed a letter expressing her fears that market-based schemes
are being pushed through with the minimum of debate.

Other signatories include Helena Kennedy QC, agony aunt Claire Rayner and Keep
the NHS Public co-founder Professor Wendy Savage, who lives in Islington.

Ms Thompson writes: ‘These untested rapid changes – the most extensive since the
service was founded – threaten the values that bind the NHS together.’

At the same time, Mr Benn, a former Labour minister, told a packed conference at
Friends Meeting House in Euston on Saturday that soon only the very wealthy will
be able to afford health care.

He said: ‘The NHS came about because of the power people exercised at the ballot
box. They brought health care with their votes instead of with their wallets,
but now with NHS privatisation it’s going the other way. Soon only people with
money will be able to afford the best health care.’

He added that, instead of ‘spending all this money on Iraq’, cash should be
spent on the NHS.

The 300-strong audience heard that the private company which took over
Islington’s care homes and then halved workers’ salaries is about to run a
hospital at Lymington in the New Forest.

Professor Savage said that this was the first time an entire hospital has been
privatised.

She added: ‘Care UK will be taking over the running of the Lymington this
summer. Their first actions when taking over Islington care homes was to reduce
the wages of staff. Profits should not be made out of health and social care.’

She added that, unlike the Thatcher privatisations of the 1980s, this time the
whole NHS is not being put up for auction.

Professor Savage said: ‘Instead, it is being parcelled up into bite-sized
pieces, and handed over to private control bit by bit. This is happening on such
a scale and at such a pace as to make it a unique phenomenon.

‘The government’s greatest achievement has been to push through the biggest
change in the history of the NHS – under the radar and without a public mandate.
It’s time for an open debate about whether people want the patchwork
privatisation of their health service.’

Kentish Town consultant Dr Jacky Davis told the conference that the government
has squandered the goodwill of health workers. She said: ‘The frontline workers
who have always put patients first will be struggling with the consequences of
these reforms long after the architects retire to write their memoirs.’

According to calculations made by the Keep Our NHS Public campaign, the private
sector will pocket at least £23 billion of NHS money in profits and interest
over 30 years through the private finance initiative hospital building scheme.

6.  PRIVATE FINANCE INITATIVE FIRMS TAKE £23BN PROFIT FROM NHS

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6279889.stm

The private sector will make £23bn in profits and interest over the next 30
years by building NHS hospitals, campaigners have calculated. Under the private
finance initiative, a company builds a hospital and then gets ‘rent’ from the
NHS for a set term.

A report by the Keep Our NHS Public claims the government is carrying out
‘patchwork privatisation’ of the NHS. The Department of Health said it ‘did not
recognise the figures’ and was ‘committed to a publicly funded NHS’. The report
was being launched at a conference for health campaigners in London on Saturday.

It says: ‘Unlike the Thatcher privatisations of the 1980s, the whole NHS is not
being put up for auction. ‘Instead, it is being parcelled up into bite-sized
pieces and handed over to private control bit by bit. ‘This is happening on such
a scale and at such pace as to make it a unique phenomenon.’

Alex Nunns, of Keep Our NHS Public, said: ‘Unbeknown to the public, the NHS is
paying astronomical sums of money to the private sector.

‘When the NHS is making cuts and closures across the country, it's time to ask
if this is the best use of public money.’

As recently as October, the government disclosed some of the figures involved in
the NHS's use of PFI schemes to finance new hospitals. The figures, which
emerged in a response to a Parliamentary Question tabled by Shadow Health
Secretary Andrew Lansley, showed that the NHS would pay a total of £53bn to the
private firms involved.

That amount was the total cost, as opposed to the numbers in the report by Keep
Our NHS Public, which relate to profits. But the Tories claimed at the time that
the new hospitals themselves were only worth £8bn, leaving ‘completely
unjustifiable’ extra costs of £45bn.

A spokesman from the Department of Health said in response to the new report
that the annual payments made by NHS trusts to private sector partners covered
financing charges, repayment of capital, building maintenance and, in most
cases, all the non-clinical support services like cleaning and catering.

He said the last two of this list could account for between 40% and 50% of the
annual payments. ‘The NHS has always used the independent sector for treating
patients,’ he said ‘But the difference is now that we pay much less for this
extra capacity for NHS patients thanks to our robust contracting.’

He said more than 250,000 people had received treatment faster than they would
otherwise have done thanks to the independent sector.  

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