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

I’m glad to see some commentary and analysis concerning the breast implant scandal and the NHS. Many private cosmetic surgery companies are refusing to replace sub-standard breast implants made by the French company PIP.

There are lessons here about private companies involvement in healthcare.

Firstly, the French company producing the sub-standard implants did it in the pursuit of profit. The company disregarded the health effects to patients of using prohibited substances and deliberately deceived inspectors to make more profits.

Secondly, many private cosmetic surgery companies are quick to take your money and hesitant in assisting their former patients when it becomes known that they have been pedalling sub-standard products. Clearly, this is the profit motive again. There should be no place for the profit motive when it comes to peoples’ health.

Thirdly, the NHS is there as a last resort … for now. What would happen once the NHS is abolished according to the scum Con-Dem coalition government’s plans? There would be nobody to care for people as a last resort. Former patients would be forced to pay again after botched surgery or suffer the consequences. Again, there should be no place for the profit motive when it comes to peoples’ health.

Dr Richard Horton, the editor of medical journal the Lancet discusses the NHS and the breast implant scandal.

NHS ‘will be destroyed’ by private health care companies, warns doctor – Telegraph

Dr Richard Horton, the editor of medical journal the Lancet, said the NHS was paying the price for a lack of regulation that has led to the breast implant scandal.

His comments came as Health Secretary Andrew Lansley prepared to make another statement to the Commons about what the NHS can do for women with PIP implants that are at risk of rupturing.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme, Dr Horton said: “What we have seen in this latest episode is private sector providers of health care simply walking away from their responsibility to patients.

“The Secretary of State has absolutely no ability other than pleading with private sector companies to fulfil their duty of care to patients. We saw Andrew Lansley; all he was able to say was they have a moral duty and he asked them to do what the NHS was doing.”

He raised concerns about other kinds of common implants and devices such as hip and heart valve replacements.

“The way it was described at a recent safety of devices meeting was that we have a smokescreen of device regulation, which is unfortunately putting patients and surgeons at risk,” he said.

“What we will see with private providers is a fragmentation of the NHS, with no accountability, we will see no transparency, we will see the diminution in the quality of care.

“And unfortunately what we are seeing with the breast implant scandal is the future of the NHS, it will be destroyed.”

It has been estimated that the breast implant scandal could cost as much as £11 million after a top cosmetic surgery clinic refused to pay for operations to remove faulty implants.

The Department of Health said it would “pursue private clinics” but said it would help women who were refused surgery or care.
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Cosmetic surgery companies’ responses:

Breast implant scandal: 9 in 10 women will use NHS – Telegraph

So far, eight private firms have offered to remove and replace faulty breast implants free of charge, if they performed the operation in the first place.

However, most of these only used the French-made implants on a relatively small number of women.

In total, the eight firms offering free removal performed breast enlargement operations used the implants on between 3,000 and 4,000 women.

By comparison, at least 40,000 women have been given the implants, made by now-defunct firm Poly Implant Protheses (PIP), in Britain over the last decade.
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The firms that have agreed to offer removal and replacement are as follows:

Nuffield Healthcare

The first company to say it would fund removal (on Wednesday January 4) it used PIPs on about 150 women. The firm said it would meet all costs of investigation, further surgical treatment and removal, if needed, for all of them.

Spire Healthcare

Agreed on Friday January 6 to fund removal and replacement for the 1,500 women who had received PIPs through the company.

Linia

Said at the weekend it would remove and replace implants for some 1,540 women who had received them at the firm’s clinics, but only “when appropriate” and on a “case-by-case” basis.

BMI Healthcare

Has announced it will remove and replace implants for women who received PIPs at BMI’s clinics “at no cost”, and will also remove and replace implants for women who originally received them elsewhere for “a guaranteed fixed price package”.

In total, the two categories include some 1,311 women, although a spokesman refused to say how many had originally received them at BMI.

Ramsay Healthcare

Has agreed to fund removal and replacement after consultation with a clinician for some 150 former clients.

MYA

Will remove and replace PIP implants for the 46 clients who received them there in the past, free of charge.

Aspen

Has agreed to fund removal and replacement after consultation with a clinician for “just over” 150 former clients.

HCA

Has stated HCA will “meet the cost incurred” for those former patients who received PIPs and “require clinical investigation or further surgical support, including the removal of the PIP implant due to clinical need”, including the distress of having them.

UNISON Press | Press Releases Front Page

UNISON, the UK’s largest union, is calling on the government to learn lessons from the implant replacement disaster, and put a stop to its plan to hand over large swathes of our NHS to private companies.

The union has consistently warned that the moves – outlined in the Health and Social Care bill – would see profits put before patients. The case of rich medical groups refusing to remove potentially dangerous implants from worried patients is deeply alarming.

Christina McAnea, UNISON head of health, said:

“The Secretary of State is handing over large parts of our NHS to the private sector and he will be unable to control them. Appealing to these companies to do the right thing will not be enough. When will Andrew Lansley realise that his own Bill will render him increasingly impotent in intervening in such cases in future? It is time to drop the Bill to protect patients.”

In other news:

BBC News – BBC wins right to broadcast prisoner interview

The High Court has ruled that Justice Secretary Ken Clarke was wrong to stop the BBC filming a terrorism suspect held for seven years without trial.

The court said there was public interest in interviewing Babar Ahmad, due to the case’s exceptional nature.

The Justice Secretary had argued an interview was not necessary to inform the public about Mr Ahmad’s story.
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Tories would have avoided coalition if boundary changes were in place in 2010 | Politics | The Guardian

The Conservatives may have been able to avoid entering a coalition with the Liberal Democrats had the 2010 election been carried out using the new proposed boundaries for the United Kingdom, analysis by the Guardian suggests.

Publication of new electoral boundaries for Wales comes in the wake of similar proposals for the other parts of the union and allows, for the first time, modelling of the effects of the proposed changes across the country.
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Decision due on torture charges against MI5 and MI6 | Law | guardian.co.uk

British spies are expected to find out on Thursday whether they will face charges over their alleged complicity in the torture of terror suspects.

Several MI5 and MI6 agents are understood to be at the centre of criminal investigations into the treatment of former detainees including UK resident Binyam Mohamed. Prisoners at Guantánamo Bay have claimed British security and intelligence officials colluded in their torture and abuse.

The Crown Prosecution Service will issue a statement “announcing a number of decisions in relation to the investigations into the alleged ill treatment of detainees”. The announcement comes after human rights campaigners condemned the US government’s ongoing failure to close Guantánamo, 10 years after the arrival of its first inmates.

An inquiry into British complicity in torture and rendition is expected to begin after the police investigation delivers its report.
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Liberal Democrats’ biggest donor arrested in the Caribbean | Politics | The Guardian

The Liberal Democrats’ biggest donor, who has been on the run for three years after being convicted of a multimillion pound theft, has been arrested by police in the Dominican Republic, the Guardian can disclose.

Michael Brown, who bankrolled the party with £2.4m of stolen money, was detained near the resort of Punta Cana on the easternmost tip of the Caribbean island this week. Interpol has been informed.

Named by City of London police as one of Britain’s most wanted fraudsters,

Brown, 45, disappeared while on bail for a £40m fraud and was sentenced in his absence to seven years in prison.
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A few recent news articles about the UK’s Conservative and Liberal-Democrat (Conservative) coalition government – the ConDem’s – brutal attack on the National Health Service.

Run to London from Bevan’s statue in Cardiff will highlight ‘threats to the NHS’ – Health News – News – WalesOnline

A 160-mile protest run will start in Cardiff tomorrow to highlight doctors’ fears about plans for NHS England. Leading Welsh doctor Stefan Coghlan explains why he’s taking part in Bevan’s Run

BEVAN’S Run, which starts from the statue of Aneurin Bevan, the founder of the National Helath Service, in Queen Street, Cardiff, tomorrow, is the idea of Dr Clive Peedell, a clinical oncologist from Middlesbrough.

He plans to run 160 miles to the Department of Health in a protest about the Health and Social Care Bill, which will transform the NHS in England.

Dr Peedell, like many other doctors, believes the proposals will undermine Bevan’s founding principles.

Dr Stefan Coghlan, the British Medical Association’s Welsh Council chairman, will be running alongside Dr Peedell when he starts his cross-country protest.

Here he explains why:

“I THINK what Clive is doing is fantastic – it’s a big feat to run 160 miles in five days. I’m only going to make a relatively small contribution compared to that by seeing him off and running 10k myself.

“The Health and Social Care Bill poses such a great threat to a publicly- owned and publicly-funded NHS in England that every citizen should be concerned about it.

“The impact isn’t confined to England, as it will also affect Wales because a proportion of NHS services, like specialist care, are provided in England.

“We have to be concerned about ensuring these services are of the same quality as we have now.

“The Health and Social Care Bill is about the privatisation of the NHS – it’s not just about providers of care looking to make profits but there’s also the potential for commissioners to be making money from their patients.

“The only way they will be able to do this is by trimming services; rationing services and by providing lower quality services and that will affect our patients, more so in England.
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Overseas nurse numbers rise by 40% | News | Nursing Times

The number of nurses coming to work in the UK from overseas rose by 40% last year, new figures show.

According to the Sunday Mirror, there were 3,197 nurses from the EU registered in the NHS between November 2010 and November 2011. This was compared with 2,256 during the previous 12 months.

NHS leaders say they are increasingly looking to recruit more nurses from Europe due to senior staff members retiring and the falling number of trainee nurses in the UK.

Of the 660,000 nurses working in the NHS, around 87,000 are from overseas. The majority of these hail from the Philippines, Australia, India and South Africa.

The trend has seen many hospitals running language classes to help their staff understand commonly used English phrases.

Royal College of Nursing general secretary Peter Carter told the Sunday Mirror: “We fully support nurses’ rights to work in other countries around the world. But patient safety must remain the top priority and staff must have the skills for the job.

“Britain should plan ahead and train enough staff to meet our needs.”
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NHS Pensions, BMA Launches Final Survey Of Its Members, UK

About 130,000 BMA Doctors and medical students across the UK will be questioned regarding the government’s final offer in negotiations on the future of the NHS pension scheme in a major survey that has been launched by the BMA (British Medical Association).

The BMA intends to learn whether the participants’ views on the offer are acceptable or not. If they are not acceptable, they want to know what action the participants are prepared to take, which could potentially lead to a formal ballot on industrial action.

Even though improvements have been negotiated on the original offer, all doctors still remain to be hard hit. The deductible amount for their pension will be increased from their pay this April, with further increases to follow in 2013 and 2014. For those at the beginning of their career this means they possibly pay more than £200,000 in additional lifetime contributions, whilst the normal pension age would increase, with many doctors having to work until the age of 68 years before they are able to receive a full pension. In addition, the current final salary scheme would be changed to a new career average scheme, which would leave the majority of doctors with worse overall benefits.

Dr Hamish Meldrum, Chairman of Council at the BMA, declared:

“We want doctors and medical students to be fully aware of what’s coming their way, and to have their say on what happens. Everyone will be affected, and it’s up to the whole medical profession to influence what we do next. Either way, the implications are huge. We face either major, damaging changes to our pensions, or the first ballot of doctors on industrial action since the seventies.

The BMA, along with the other unions, has not accepted the offer. That, quite rightly, is for our members to help decide. Throughout intensive negotiations, we repeatedly pointed out that the NHS pension was radically overhauled only three years ago, and is actually delivering a positive cash flow to the Treasury.” …

Unite rejects “pernicious” NHS pension proposals | PJ Online

Unite, the parent trade union of the Guild of Healthcare Pharmacists, has officially rejected the latest Government proposals on NHS pension reforms.

The union’s Health Sector National Industrial Committee unanimously threw out the Government’s recommendations, as outlined in the “Heads of agreement” document published last month (20 December 2011).

The proposals were described as pernicious by Unite’s general secretary Len McCluskey. He said they are an attempt to force NHS staff to work longer until reaching retirement, as well as pay higher pension contributions for a lower payout.

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BBC News – Ministers back call to quiz patients on lifestyles

NHS staff in England must adapt their roles to ensure they promote good health under plans being published.

An independent panel of government advisers says health professionals should take every opportunity to discuss diet, exercise, smoking and drinking habits.

Ministers have backed the proposal from the NHS Future Forum to “make every contact count”.

But the Royal College of GPs says the move could drive some patients away.

The recommendation is part of a series of papers from the panel of independent experts. Their first report last year outlined changes to the Health and Social Care Bill.

They are now setting out their conclusions on four other areas – public health, information, improving links between services and education and training.
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