The Audit Commission reports that NHS organisations face “the worst financial situation they have ever experienced”.

Pulse reports that “Private companies are poised to bid to run huge chunks of NHS care across the country”.

Waiting times rise despite David Cameron’s pledges.

A few recent news articles about the UK’s Conservative and Liberal-Democrat coalition government – the ConDem’s – brutal attack on the National Health Service.

Funding crisis looms over NHS / Britain / Home – Morning Star

NHS organisations face “the worst financial situation they have ever experienced” as a result of government funding cuts, the Audit Commission claimed today.

It found that most trusts were only able to balance their books with financial help in 2010-11.

Sixteen NHS trusts needed £90 million to help them keep on track while cash was also distributed from underspending primary care trusts to those that had overspent.

The public-service watchdog said that although only nine out of the 276 NHS organisations in England were in deficit, six in the south-east, trusts face a challenging 12 months trying to keep on top of a £20 billion efficiency savings target by 2015.
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Related: NHS faces growing financial pressure, says auditor | Healthcare Network | Guardian Professional

PCTs clamour to put entire care pathways out for tender – newsarticle-content – Pulse

Exclusive Private companies are poised to bid to run huge chunks of NHS care across the country, as a host of PCTs follow NHS East of England’s controversial lead in placing entire care pathways out to tender.

NHS East of England plans to auction off £300m of services to GPs, private companies or a combination of the two, in pathways including respiratory and musculoskeletal medicine.

Eight PCTs are now planning to replicate the NHS East of England plans, which Pulse first revealed in March and are backed by an adviser to the Government’s QIPP programme.

Pulse has established that NHS Bassetlaw, NHS Hampshire, NHS Coventry, NHS Brighton and Hove and NHS Outer North East London, a cluster covering four PCTs, are all considering putting entire care pathways out to tender, with several having started discussions with GP commissioners about the move.

NHS Outer North East London said it would tender out entire care pathways and would ‘provide an outline programme of these once prioritised and agreed with GP consortia and existing service providers’. NHS Bassetlaw said it had already awarded tenders for musculoskeletal and dermatology pathways, worth £680,000 and £775,000 respectively, to NHS providers.
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Leap in waiting times for key NHS health tests despite Cameron’s pledge – Health News, Health & Families – The Independent

The number of NHS patients waiting more than three months for tests has increased nine-fold in a year.

In June, 1,763 people had been waiting for at least 13 weeks for one of 15 diagnostic tests – including MRI and heart scans, ultrasound and colonoscopies – according to Government figures released yesterday. This compares with only 190 in June 2010.

The figures came a month after the Prime Minister personally pledged to keep waiting times low. Health ministers were quick to point to a small month-on-month improvement in June, but with nearly 600,000 people in total waiting for a test to diagnose or exclude a medical condition, June is the worst month of 2011 so far.

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Related: Nine-fold increase in patients waiting for diagnostics » Hospital Dr  Number of NHS patients waiting more than six weeks for tests quadruples in one year | Mail Online

BMA calls on every GP to join pensions fight – newsarticle-content – Pulse

The BMA has issued a rallying cry for every GP in the country to join the fight to protect NHS pensions by responding individually to the Department of Health’s ongoing consultation.
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BBC News – Bupa calls for ‘urgent’ action over care home crisis

Ray King, chief executive of medical group Bupa, has called for a “chronic underfunding” of the care homes system to be addressed “urgently”.

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27/11/13 Having received a takedown notice from the Independent newspaper for a different posting, I have reviewed this article which links to an article at the Independent’s website in order to attempt to ensure conformance with copyright laws.

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dizzy