austerity

‘Responsibility for ambulance crisis is with a Government that has failed to invest in NHS’

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https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/responsibility-ambulance-crisis-government-failed-29768725

The average time for an ambulance to arrive for someone suffering stroke, severe burns or chest pain is now 93 minutes. This is five times longer than the target of 18 minutes

NHS sign

Each day 120 people on average die before an ambulance can reach them.

Many of these lives could have been saved if we had an NHS that was fit for purpose.

But under the Tory Government, emergency response times have hit a record high.

The average time for an ambulance to arrive for someone suffering stroke, severe burns or chest pain is now 93 minutes. This is five times longer than the target of 18 minutes.

The blame cannot be laid at the door of paramedics, who provide the best possible service under increasingly stressful conditions.

The responsibility lies with a Government that has failed to invest in the NHS.

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https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/responsibility-ambulance-crisis-government-failed-29768725

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Ofgem’s new rules ‘fail to deal’ with energy debt facing struggling households

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Image of cash and pre-payment meter key
Image of cash and pre-payment meter key

https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/b/ofgems-new-rules-fail-deal-energy-debt-facing-struggling-households

OFGEM’S new prepayment meter rules “fail to deal” with the energy debt mountain facing struggling households, campaigners have warned, as the watchdog revealed a new code of practice for suppliers today.

The body said that energy firms in England, Scotland and Wales had agreed to the code, which includes a ban on forcibly installing prepayment meters in the homes of people over the age of 85.

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End Fuel Poverty Coalition coordinator Simon Francis also said the code does not go far enough, and that the voluntary aspect “undermines its objective.”

He said: “There are really vulnerable groups which have been omitted from its full protection and we have serious concerns about how it will be implemented, such as how people will prove their medical conditions without being humiliated by an energy firm health inspection.

“The plans also fail to deal with the elephant in the room — the growing household energy debt mountain.”

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/b/ofgems-new-rules-fail-deal-energy-debt-facing-struggling-households

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Sky-high stress could cause NHS exodus

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/b/sky-high%20stress-could-cause-nhs-exodus

MORE than three-quarters of NHS staff are considering quitting due to stress, burnout and anxiety, according to shocking figures published today.

A massive 78 per cent of the 2,500 NHS workers surveyed by campaign group Organise reported experiencing stress and over half (55 per cent) had taken time off because of stress, anxiety or burnout as the crisis in the NHS deepens, with 25 per cent staying away from work for more than a month.

Most NHS workers pointed to the impact that this was having on patient care, with over half saying that patients had experienced “medication errors, delays in procedures and a compromised quality of care.”

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Organise head Nat Whalley said: “NHS workers are exposing a ticking time bomb at the heart of our healthcare system.

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“We don’t need empty promises, we need tangible investment in the NHS that allow workers to thrive in their roles without suffering from stress, anxiety and burnout.

“Listen to us, invest in the well-being of our NHS workforce and ensure the future of the NHS.”

https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/b/sky-high%20stress-could-cause-nhs-exodus

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Caroline Lucas explains how we are governed by millionaires in the interest of millionaires

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Caroline Lucas, Green Party MP for Brighton Pavilion

https://bright-green.org/2023/03/17/caroline-lucas-explains-how-we-are-governed-by-millionaires-in-the-interest-of-millionaires/

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On the latest episode of Radio 4‘s Any Questions Green Party MP Caroline Lucas made this exact point. Responding to an audience member who asked, “How have we got a situation where strikes are effecting the majority of public sector services?”, Lucas explained that the government is “made up of millionaires and is running the country for the millionaires”.

She told the audience in Sussex: “Well, we’ve had 13 years of austerity, and a government that frankly is made up of millionaires and is running the country for the millionaires, and doesn’t much care about the rest of us.”

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“I think there’s a real concern that they were just hoping they could sit out these strikes weren’t they. They were hoping that there wouldn’t be enough public support for public sector workers and that they would just be able to tough it out.”

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“And when you see as well, the government’s priorities – that they will find the money for the richest, but they won’t find the money for some of the poorest.”

https://bright-green.org/2023/03/17/caroline-lucas-explains-how-we-are-governed-by-millionaires-in-the-interest-of-millionaires/

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NHS workers in despair over pay, staffing shortages, and plummeting standards of care

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/b/nhs-workers-in-despair-pay-staffing-shortages-plummeting-standards-of-care

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A DEVASTATING picture of the NHS facing catastrophe has been laid bare in one of the largest workplace surveys in the health service.

Tens of thousands said they would not trust the NHS to treat their own relatives, the poll of more than 600,000 staff found.

Nurses, midwives and other workers expressed their utter despair over pay, staffing shortages, plummeting standards of care, lack of time to do their jobs properly and their own wellbeing.

Almost a quarter said they will probably look for a job outside the NHS in the next 12 months.

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/b/nhs-workers-in-despair-pay-staffing-shortages-plummeting-standards-of-care

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