Wes Streeting

‘These cuts will place yet more strain on an NHS already creaking at the seams’

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/these-cuts-will-place-yet-more-strain-on-an-nhs-already-creaking-at-the-seams

(left to right) Health Secretary Wes Streeting, Dr James Marsh, Group Deputy CEO for Epsom and St Helier Hospitals, Prime Minister Keir Starmer, and NHS CEO Amanda Pritchard during a visit to Elective Orthopaedic Centre in Epsom, Surrey, January 6, 2025

Labour warned that workers expect better as anger mounts over welfare cuts and public-sector pay

WORKERS expect better, Labour has been warned by the country’s biggest trade union as anger mounts over cruel welfare cuts and public-sector pay.

Protests met Health Secretary Wes Streeting’s address to Unison health conference in Liverpool yesterday, following a sharp rebuke to the government from its general secretary Christina McAnea on Tuesday.

Ms McAnea had thanked the government for taking steps to improve workers’ conditions through the upcoming Employment Rights Bill.

But she said that some of Labour’s decisions, such as stopping winter fuel payments and inflicting “heartless” cuts to welfare, had left her “baffled and speechless.”

“These cuts will place yet more strain on an NHS already creaking at the seams,” she warned.

“They’re counter-productive, will cost more in the long run and are morally wrong.

“The best way to turn the NHS around is by focusing on the workforce.

“There’s simply no route to fixing the NHS that doesn’t first involve sorting health workers’ pay,” which declined in real terms for over a decade under the Tories.

She called Labour’s 2.8 per cent pay rise for workers “ludicrous,” adding that it “won’t encourage experienced staff to stay in the NHS, nor will it be enough to persuade new recruits to join.”

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Article continues at https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/these-cuts-will-place-yet-more-strain-on-an-nhs-already-creaking-at-the-seams

Keir Starmer says that his Labour Party is intensely relaxed about assaulting the very poorest and most vulnerable.
Keir Starmer says that his Labour Party is intensely relaxed about assaulting the very poorest and most vulnerable.
Continue Reading‘These cuts will place yet more strain on an NHS already creaking at the seams’

More than half of A&E patients not given critical medicines, report warns

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/more-than-half-of-ae-patients-not-given-critical-medicines-report-warns

A pharmacist stocking shelves

PATIENTS in A&E face serious complications from missing doses of prescription medicines while waiting days to be seen, a new report warns.

The Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) study, released today, found that more than half of patients are not identified as being on time-critical medicines (TCM) within 30 minutes of arriving at an A&E.

Nearly seven in 10 doses are not administered within 30 minutes of the expected time.

TCM is prescribed to a patient for existing conditions, such as insulin for diabetes, Parkinson’s drugs, epilepsy medicines and tablets for preventing blood clots.

Last December, it emerged that an elderly man was left unable to swallow after waiting over two days in A&E without being given regular medication, and died four weeks later.

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Article continues at https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/more-than-half-of-ae-patients-not-given-critical-medicines-report-warns

Continue ReadingMore than half of A&E patients not given critical medicines, report warns

How long do we have to wait for action on Britain’s dentistry crisis?

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/how-long-do-we-have-wait-action-britains-dentistry-crisis

Toothless in England campaigners for NHS dentistry

MARK JONES of Toothless in England says the devastating report from MPs on Britain’s worsening dental crisis shows we need immediate action — and explains what must be done

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Over the past four years, Toothless in England has highlighted the deepening crisis in NHS dentistry, exposing the profound suffering of patients and the apparent lack of resolve from successive governments and NHS England to address the dental crisis. Despite some policy promises, the plight of dental patients remains dire in 2025, with access to care still elusive for many, perpetuating a public health emergency that affects both individuals and society at large.

Dental patients continue to suffer in 2025, a stark reminder of the government and NHS England’s failure to deliver systemic change. The statistics are grim: up to 97 per cent of new patients seeking NHS dental care are turned away, and 90 per cent of practices are not accepting new adult NHS patients. Waiting lists stretch to years, forcing desperate measures — with some patients resorting to DIY dentistry with pliers, while others travel abroad for “affordable” treatment.

Stories abound of crumbling teeth, chronic pain, untreated infections, deaths caused by dental sepsis and undiagnosed mouth cancers, with vulnerable groups like the elderly and low-income families hit hardest. For instance, cancer patients face delays in life-saving treatments due to inaccessible dental check-ups, a ripple effect Toothless has repeatedly highlighted.

The consequences extend beyond oral health. Untreated dental issues cost the economy through lost productivity, burden A&E departments with non-dental emergencies, and widen health inequalities.

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/how-long-do-we-have-wait-action-britains-dentistry-crisis

Continue ReadingHow long do we have to wait for action on Britain’s dentistry crisis?

NHS trust apologises as man’s tumour death investigated for manslaughter

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https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/apr/01/nhs-trust-apologises-royal-sussex-county-hospital-brighton-tumour-death-richard-harris-police-investigation

Richard Harris had to wait weeks to be seen despite complaining of ‘red-hot poker pain’. Photograph: Jimmy Edmonds

Guardian Exclusive: Richard Harris, 71, died last July after series of errors at troubled Royal Sussex County hospital in Brighton

A troubled NHS trust has apologised to the family of a man who died after a series of potentially fatal delays to treat a tumour, in a case that is being investigated by police as possible corporate manslaughter.

Richard Harris, 71, died last July after a series of errors in the neurosurgery department at the Royal Sussex County hospital in Brighton, which is part of University Hospitals Sussex NHS foundation trust (UHSussex).

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An internal review of Harris’s care found that doctors failed to arrange a routine MRI scan for him when he was first urgently referred to neurosurgery in 2017. Harris, who was fit and a regular swimmer, only received a scan when he contacted the department again in 2019.

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Eventually Harris, who had worked as a gardener, delivery driver and massage therapist, was referred to neurosurgery early last year suffering with acute pain. He had to wait weeks to be seen, despite repeatedly pleading with his consultant in emails complaining of “red-hot poker pain” that was “scaring me to death”. There were yet further delays in arranging MRI scans, the review found.

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Months later, the tumour was assessed to be cancerous and inoperable. Harris was discharged to hospice care and died a few weeks later.

Sussex police have confirmed to Harris’s family that his death is being investigated as possible corporate manslaughter, as part of its expanding Operation Bramber investigation.

Police documents seen by the Guardian show that more than 90 deaths in the general surgery and neurosurgery departments are being reviewed as possible manslaughter. Detectives and a clinical panel are examining alleged medical negligence and cover-ups between 2015 and 2021. The allegations were first made by two internal whistleblowers: Krishna Singh, a consultant surgeon, and Mansoor Foroughi, a consultant neurosurgeon, who lost their jobs after raising concerns.

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https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/apr/01/nhs-trust-apologises-royal-sussex-county-hospital-brighton-tumour-death-richard-harris-police-investigation

Continue ReadingNHS trust apologises as man’s tumour death investigated for manslaughter

Why should people with disabilities get a new car for free on top of their benefits?

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In short, this doesn’t happen and is part of a frenzy of demonization of disabled benefits claimants whipped-up by the right-wing including Labour Health Secretary Wes Steeting. The Guardian explains:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/mar/24/monday-briefing-motability-myth

Queen Elizabeth inspects the classic Invacar, as she hosts a ceremony to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of Motability, at Windsor Castle in 2017. Photograph: Richard Pohle/AFP/Getty Images.

A common refrain in the coverage – “Do you want a free new car?” the Times’ Alice Thomson asked – but one which misses a central point: the Pip funding that goes to Motability is money that customers would have been getting anyway.

If they weren’t getting a car, they’d have it to spend on something else. And if they want a more expensive car – perhaps needing a bigger vehicle for essential equipment, perhaps shockingly able to have preferences despite also having a disability – they have to make a down payment out of their own pocket.

The cars are new, meanwhile, so that they retain a significant resale value at the end of the lease. “It’s just not true that it’s ‘free’,” Carew said. “And because it comes out of an existing Pip award, it’s at no additional cost to the taxpayer.” Scrapping Motability wouldn’t save a penny from the benefits bill.

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So where did this story come from?

Allegations that Motability is infested with people making bogus claims have existed for many years. Hardy perennial though the story is, it’s also worth tracking the genesis of the latest iteration. Part of the timeline is familiar enough: first a fascinating Bloomberg piece focusing on Motability’s impact on the car market, then the Daily Mail, then everyone else.

Before that, though, the story gained momentum in a stranger corner of the internet – through a couple of rightwing X accounts, @loftussteve and @maxtempers, with fewer than 28,000 followers between them. The anonymous user behind Max Tempers, in particular, has been banging the drum since at least December, when he suggested that claimants should only be allowed to drive a hideous old car with MOTABILITY written on it. A few weeks later, a post of his about grooming gangs was shared by Elon Musk, and became the ground zero of a whole other dodgy social media frenzy.

As the Motability story went viral, it got picked up by accounts like Politics UK, a popular X news source, and later by prominent users like GB News’ deputy political editor Tom Harwood, who even borrowed Max Tempers’ idea for a car of shame. With crushing inevitability, after the Daily Mail piece, Wes Streeting told GB News the story showed why the welfare system needs reform.

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Read the original article at https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/mar/24/monday-briefing-motability-myth

Keir Starmer explains the moral case for cutting disability benefits. He says work will set you free.
Keir Starmer explains the moral case for cutting disability benefits. He says work will set you free.

Continue ReadingWhy should people with disabilities get a new car for free on top of their benefits?