July 2015 – Vox Political

NHS Wales should be praised for employing agency nurses to keep care standards high

July 31, 2015 Mike Sivierabroad, agency, attract, Barnett formula, Conservative, Department, doctor, Dr Peter Carter, FOI, foreign, freedom, government, health, information, lure, Mike Sivier, mikesivier, National Health Service, NHS, NHS Wales, nurse, Nursing, people, politics, RCN, request, royal college, service, Tories, Tory, Vox Political, Welsh Conservatives8 Comments

A Freedom of Information request by the Welsh Conservatives has revealed that NHS Wales had to spend £190 million on agency doctors and nurses in the last four years. Shame on NHS Wales, right? Well, no. This merely demonstrates the cack-handed way the Conservatives have been running the health service since taking office as part of the Coalition Government in 2010. Does anybody remember reports last year that the Conservative-led Coalition Government had dumped 4,000 senior nurses since 2010, considering them to be “disposable” and “a quick way to save money”?…

Conflict of interest? Tories are planning to legalise bribery and corruption

July 30, 2015July 30, 2015 Mike SivierAct, backhander, Bribery Act, business, Coalition, Conservative, corruption, facilitation payment, government, legalise, lobbying, Mike Sivier, mikesivier, people, politics, Tories, Tory, transparency, Vox Political19 Comments

The Conservative Government is considering whether the public is stupid enough to accept the legalisation of bribery and corruption. And why not – some of us were stupid enough to vote David Cameron back into office, after all. The pretext is a claim that UK businesses are finding it hard to do business overseas, so apparently it’s Johnny Foreigner’s fault for wanting backhanders before letting our goods into his country. The government is now consulting on whether facilitation payments – money or goods paid to foreign government officials to perform…

If Jeremy Hunt will go to A&E rather than wait for a doctor…

July 29, 2015July 31, 2015 Mike Sivier24-hour, 24/7, adapt, change, Conservative, contract, David Cameron, force, government, Jeremy Hunt, letter, Mike Sivier, mikesivier, money, MP, people, politician, politics, Prime Minister, Rachel von Stimson, service, Tories, Tory, unsociable, Vox Political, waste6 Comments

… why shouldn’t Dr Rachel von Simson go to David Cameron rather than waiting to see Mr H*nt at an inconvenient time? It seems the fashion this summer will be for people to challenge the Conservative Government’s inconsistencies (hypocrisies?) with open letters, and this one is published to follow the missive published by This Blog on Tuesday by Tony Cartwright. This Writer’s favourite parts are highlighted in bold. Dear Mr Hunt, I would like to come and see you this Saturday at 3am to discuss the issue of street lights…

A doctor writes on Sarah Vine’s decision to take Michael Gove to the wrong NHS facility

July 28, 2015 Mike Sivierchoice, choose, health, hospital, Michael Gove, Mike Sivier, mikesivier, National Health Service, NHS, Sarah Vine, Tony Cartwright, Vox Political, wrong35 Comments

Please enjoy this letter, posted by “emigrated consultant” Tony Cartwright on Facebook. Ms Vine I am another UK doctor who is writing a letter to government, if only to satisfy my own anger and frustration. You must all be getting quite tired of this, really. Ms Vine, you took your husband to a 17 bed community hospital out of hours… and you really expected the full flow of a trauma centre ? This is an unrealistic expectation and will never be the case. We could staff Shepton Mallet Community Hospital…

“Numbers should be a light, not a crutch” | Telling it as it is

July 28, 2015July 28, 2015 Mike Sivier4 Comments

The government reckons most mandatory reconsiderations of ESA decisions take place within 14 days, and this is correct – 52 per cent of them do. But around 44,000 took longer than a month. Maggie Zolobajluk’s article paints the whole picture – that the DWP remains keen to obscure. Source: “Numbers should be a light, not a crutch” | Telling it as it is

Why Are Labour So Scared, When Their Opponents Seem Permanently Terrified? | TheCritique Archives

July 28, 2015July 28, 2015 Mike Sivier18 Comments

The modern Tory Party is as mediocre as it has ever been, not only intellectually, but also in terms of moral fibre. With the odd exception here and there, today’s Tories are neither intelligent, nor ethical, nor courageous. Defeating them therefore, for anyone with a half-decent brain, really should just be a matter of holding one’s nerve. What really bothers me is comparing the way the ‘Blue Labour’ faction, from which most of the leadership candidates have emerged, reacts to something that is genuinely disastrous for millions of people, with…

Disability assessment system ignores evidence and pushes claimants towards death

July 28, 2015 Mike Sivierallowance, assessment, Atos, Atos Miracles, benefit, benefits, capability, capita, Citizens Advice, David Daish, dead, death, deliberate, Department, descriptor, die, disability, disabled, DWP, employment, ESA, evidence, government, health, history, ignore, ill, Mike Sivier, mikesivier, Pensions, people, Personal Independence Payment, PIP, PIPAT, politics, sick, social security, support, unum, Vox Political, WCA, welfare, work, work capability assessment26 Comments

If you have a long-term illness or disability but have wondered why you receive low scores on the government’s face-to-face ‘work capability assessment’, here’s why: The software is written to ensure that any information you provide may be ignored. That’s right – the tick-box test program that the DWP took from criminal American insurance corporation Unum, which had been devised to make people ineligible for insurance payouts, does not take into account any of the claimant’s personal details. David Daish, a programmer and software tester, went through the PIP assessment…

Discrimination against the disabled now includes their family members

July 28, 2015 Mike Sivierage, associative, belief, carer, caring, civil partnership, disability, disabled, discrimination, employee, employer, employment, gender reassignment, marriage, maternity, pregnancy, race, religion, responsibilities, responsibility, sex, sexual orientation, tribunal3 Comments

A healthy man was sacked from his job because he had caring responsibilities for a daughter with cystic fibrosis, a tribunal heard. The employee – a Mr Truman – had indicated to Bibby Distribution Ltd that he would have to spend more time caring for his daughter because his wife, the primary carer, was starting her own business. He was dismissed from his job on the day he reached one year’s service with the company, on the grounds that “his heart was not in the business” and his primary customer was dissatisfied with his work.…

Here’s how to get signs like these!

July 27, 2015July 27, 2015 Mike Sivier16 Comments

According to Twitter, increasing numbers of Haverfordwest residents are signing up to make their streets look like the image above. What a great idea! Do you want to get these signs? According to The People’s NHS, you get them by visiting this site. Please do so, sign up for some boards, and get your message across! Perhaps then the government – of the UK and the EU – will get the message. *For further information on TTIP – the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership – and the threat it poses…

Chronically-ill Glenn Harris used electric saw to commit suicide

July 27, 2015 Mike Sivierbenefit, benefits, dead, death, die, Glenn Harris, government, health, lupus, Mike Sivier, mikesivier, sick, social security, Vox Political, welfare9 Comments

No doubt the DWP will say it is “irresponsible” to equate this death with this gentleman’s fear that, burdened as he was with lupus, he would lose his benefits. A DAD … took his own life with an electric saw after he feared his benefits would be cut, an inquest heard. Father-of-two Glenn Harris, 55, suffered from health problems and worried about how possible changes to his benefits would affect him. Mrs Harris told the inquest her former husband lost a sister two weeks before his own death and was…

Month: July 2015

NHS Wales should be praised for employing agency nurses to keep care standards high

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Conflict of interest? Tories are planning to legalise bribery and corruption

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If Jeremy Hunt will go to A&E rather than wait for a doctor…

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A doctor writes on Sarah Vine’s decision to take Michael Gove to the wrong NHS facility

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“Numbers should be a light, not a crutch” | Telling it as it is

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Why Are Labour So Scared, When Their Opponents Seem Permanently Terrified? | TheCritique Archives

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Discrimination against the disabled now includes their family members

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Here’s how to get signs like these!

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