The Welsh Government has defended the employment by NHS Wales of partially trained medics known as “physician associates”, despite concerns that they can pose a danger to patients.
PAs, as they are referred to, receive some medical training, but it falls far short of the level required for qualification as a doctor.
Critics argue they are a cost-cutting measure and fear safety standards are being compromised.
An assessment carried out by Health Education England (HEE) , and considered by all four of the UK’s health departments, concluded that patients were at high risk of harm from PAs. The health departments have therefore recommended the introduction of statutory regulation for the profession.
Image of the Green Party’s Carla Denyer on BBC Question Time.
Responding to news that energy regulator Ofgem has raised the price cap by 9.5 per cent just before the onset of winter, Green Party co-leader Carla Denyer said:
“Consumers are paying high prices for a crisis not of their making. This will be deeply worrying news for all those people already struggling to pay their bills.
“The government has said that establishing GB Energy will reduce bills in the future, which would be welcome. However, that aim will only be achieved if the government invests in improving the energy efficiency of homes too.
“We need a nationwide programme of government-backed, council-delivered home insulation starting immediately to help people keep their bills down for good.
“We also now need the government to maintain the winter fuel payments for all pensioners and end means testing so that they know they can afford to keep warm.
“We could reduce bills for the long term and help reduce greenhouse gas emissions by building new homes that are easier and cheaper to heat and boosting insulation in existing homes. Insulating people’s homes means they can stay warm while using less energy, save money and produce fewer harmful carbon emissions.”
Campaigners fear increase by £149 in energy price cap by Ofgem will put more pressure on household
…
Households in Great Britain will begin the run-up to winter with a 10% increase in their energy bills after the industry regulator increased its cap on gas and electricity prices from October.
Under the new price cap, the average annual dual-fuel energy bill will rise to £1,717 a year, up £149 from its current level of £1,568, which has been in place since July.
The price cap is set every quarter by Ofgem, the energy regulator for Great Britain, and imposes a maximum on how much suppliers can charge their 28 million household customers per unit of gas and electricity.
It is expressed in terms of how much the average home would pay at this rate for their typical annual energy use, which means a cold autumn and winter could push bills even higher if households need to keep the heating on for longer.
Households in Great Britain will begin the run-up to winter with a 10% increase in their energy bills after the industry regulator increased its cap on gas and electricity prices from October.
Under the new price cap, the average annual dual-fuel energy bill will rise to £1,717 a year, up £149 from its current level of £1,568, which has been in place since July.
The price cap is set every quarter by Ofgem, the energy regulator for Great Britain, and imposes a maximum on how much suppliers can charge their 28 million household customers per unit of gas and electricity.
It is expressed in terms of how much the average home would pay at this rate for their typical annual energy use, which means a cold autumn and winter could push bills even higher if households need to keep the heating on for longer.
THE bad news is that the typical yearly household energy bill in Britain will rise by about £150 from this autumn.
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Energy Secretary Ed Miliband, who should know better, put a superficial gloss on the situation by arguing: “The rise in the price cap is a direct result of the failed energy policy we inherited, which has left our country at the mercy of international gas markets controlled by dictators.”
The first part of that statement is spot on in as far as Labour has made a few steps to reverse the Tory barriers to a more sustainable energy policy — although not as many as Miliband would like. And Russian President Vladimir Putin is an unsavoury character but actually he wanted to keep on selling his cheap gas to the Germans and us.
Western oil and energy monopolies have long been in partnership with dictatorial regimes in the Middle East who lack even Putin’s pretensions to democratic accountability.
Labour could tighten up the regulatory regime to control consumer prices, could tax energy profits more, could use the sovereign powers that leaving the EU confers by asserting domestic controls over wholesale energy prices.
But the quickest and best way to put the energy industry at the service of the people is to take it into public ownership, use the profits to retrofit our housing stock to save energy, invest in renewables and keep consumption and prices down.
‘Hastings three’ pursued criminally next week for General Dynamics protest
Three local men, one of them a pensioner, go on trial next Tuesday, 27 August, at Hastings Magistrates Court on charges of aggravated trespass for taking part in a peaceful demonstration at a local arms factory in February.
The ‘Hastings3’ took part in the cross-community demonstration outside the General Dynamics site on Sidley Little Road on 29 February, supported by representatives of Jewish groups, Quakers, trade union bodies, parent groups and political parties. Demonstrators held placards, sung songs calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and handed out leaflets – but several were roughly arrested and dragged off to police vans.
Laurance Holden, 71, Clem McCullough, 31, and Thomas Delves, 24 will plead not guilty to the charges, which carry a maximum penalty of a fine of up to £2500 and a jail term of three months.
Hastings & District Palestine Solidarity Campaign chair Katy Colley said:
The pursuit of these men is clearly political and designed to deter peaceful protests. We have been demonstrating at General Dynamics consistently since the genocidal assault on Gaza began 10 months ago to draw attention to the merchants of death in our hometown complicit in these atrocities.
General Dynamics makes all the casings for the bombs being dropped on Gaza – their Hastings sites makes avionic and communication systems for fighter jets and combat vehicles used by the Israeli military.
Over 40,000 men women and children have been brutally slaughtered in what the world court has deemed a ‘plausible genocide’.
There is a clear legal imperative to stop arming Israel, as was underlined this week when British diplomat Mark Smith resigned on this point, saying it was clear to everyone that Israel was “flagrantly and regularly” perpetrating war crimes in plain sight.
And yet our government continues to issue export licenses to companies like General Dynamics, allowing Israel to continue its barbaric and murderous campaign against the trapped civilian population in Gaza.
The Hastings Three are brave, principled people who do not want our town to be complicit in war crimes. They are with the majority. Poll after poll show that most people want an end to arms sales to Israel immediately. We stand with them, the side of the people, the side of the law and the side of justice.
Dozens of supporters are expected to attend a protest rally at the Magistrates court from 9am in support of the three, and a benefit concert is being held in the evening to raise money for people in Gaza as well as money for court costs.
[S?]imon Hester, Chair of the Hastings & District TUC, said:
Protesting against genocide is not a crime. The Hastings and District Trades Union Council supports the Hastings 3 and demands an immediate end to arms sales to Israel.
Kathy Shapiro of Hastings Jews for Justice added:
Hastings Jews for Justice is outraged that the Hastings 3 are facing trial.
It is General Dynamics that should be on trial, not concerned citizens. As Jews of conscience we will continue to exercise our right and moral obligation to speak out against this criminal complicity until there is an arms embargo of Israel, a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, and justice and freedom for Palestinians.’
Leah Levane, Co-Chair of Jewish Voice for Labour (JVL), said:
The more than 10 months of carnage in Gaza demands a serious response. The ICJ decision makes stopping arms trading with Israel and obligation and these three people have been arrested for protesting in favor of International Law.
I am disappointed, to put it mildly, that the Court’s precious and expensive time is being used to try three men whose acts show their commitment to International Law as well as to justice for Palestinians and, of course, peace.’
