Opinion: A Four-Day Week Is Possible
Aidan Harper
Abandoning demands for shorter working hours risks discarding a highly popular policy with the capacity to transform our society for the betterment of all, argues Aidan Harper.
Tag: nhs
Novara Live: It Woz Remain Wot Lost It?
On this episode of #TyskySour Aaron Bastani is joined by Paul Mason as they discuss Labour’s election results. Did the commitment to a ‘people’s vote’ destroy any chance of winning?
Long Read: How Hostile Environment Confusion Is Continuing to Damage Asylum Seekers’ Health
Will Neal
Despite the formal suspension of data-sharing practices between NHS Digital and the Home Office in the wake of the Windrush scandal, the policy has left behind a legacy which continues to create confusion among medical practitioners while putting up barriers for people fleeing danger.
Explainers: We Asked NHS Doctors About the Trade Documents Corbyn Revealed
This week Corbyn revealed un-redacted trade documents detailing talks between the Conservative government and the Trump administration between 2016 – now. He argued they prove the NHS is indeed up for sale, contradicting Boris Johnson. We asked two medical doctors to explain the papers. Featuring Dr Rita Issa and Dr Timesh Pillay.
GE2019: The Leaked US-UK Trade Dossier Reveals ‘No Deal’ IS the Tories’ Plan
Aaron Bastani
Jeremy Corbyn has called today's leaked dossier more evidence of a ‘plot against our country’. He’s right, says Aaron Bastani. The dossier is a game-changer. Most importantly it reveals what Boris Johnson’s offer to ‘get Brexit done’ really means: a decade of Britain being pulled in multiple directions and vulnerable to being pillaged by Donald Trump’s America.
GE2019: I’m an NHS Junior Doctor. Here’s Why I’m Backing Labour – and Urging Patients to Do the Same
Joanna Dobbin
"Day in, day out, I see first hand the realities of what it means to break down the social fabric of our state. That is why - after working a 13-hour shift without a break - I am writing this article."
GE2019: From Cancelled Operations to Staff Shortages, the Writing Is on the Wall for the NHS Under the Tories
Nick Carpenter
New data reveals that in the last year a staggering 78,981 operations were cancelled in the NHS - the most common reasons being staff shortages and equipment failures. A junior doctor explains how things got so bad under the Tories.
Two Years On, NHS Hospitals Are Still Demanding Some Patients Pay Upfront for Life Saving Treatment
Izzi Whelan
Hostile environment policies have been widely condemned as racist and brutal, with the upfront charging of migrants - including people with cancer and pregnant women - at NHS hospitals considered one of the gravest injustices of all. Yet two years after the policy was introduced, and despite the Windrush scandal, vulnerable people are still dying after having been denied life saving treatment, writes medical student Izzi Whelan.
What Can the US Nurses’ Campaign for Medicare for All Teach Organisers in the UK?
Jo Beardsmore
Today UK volunteers will call people in the US to encourage them to demand Medicare for All, which would guarantee healthcare for all Americans. Jo Beardsmore takes a look at what can be learnt from the nurses' campaign for Medicare for All to inform the fight to defend and expand free universal healthcare in the UK.
The NHS Should Be for Everyone – And That Includes Migrants
Dr Joanna Dobbin
On the 70th birthday of the NHS, Dr Joanna Dobbin argues the government’s quiet scrapping of visa restrictions for overseas doctors while denying free healthcare to patients from abroad shows how our health service is only international when it suits the Home Office.
Doctors Send Spoof ‘Go Home’ Van Around Westminster to Protest the Hostile Environment
Charlotte England
Doctors, nurses and midwives gathered outside the home office to demonstrate against the Tories’ attempts to force NHS workers to carry out immigration enforcement duties, as part of an action by charity Doctors of the World, which helps migrants denied access to healthcare.
Cold Comfort: How the ‘Hostile Environment’ Reinforces Violence Against Women
Dr J
The government's 'hostile environment' policy forces health sector workers to act as Home Office informants. As a result, many migrant women are being kept in abusive relationships and denied access to safe abortion services.
Cold Comfort: Privatisation Is Running the NHS Into the Ground
Dr J
In part three of a series covering the NHS winter crisis from within A&E, Dr J explains how back door privatisation of the NHS amounts to nothing short of political corruption - and is risking lives.
Cold Comfort: So-Called ‘Tough Decisions’ Are Putting Patients at Risk
Dr J
In part two of a series covering the NHS winter crisis from within A&E, Dr J asks how the language of 'difficult choices' and 'tough decisions' undercuts the key principles of a universal NHS while distracting us from the political decisions underlying the crisis.
Cold Comfort: A&E Fills With Those Left in the Cold
Dr J
In part one of a new series covering the NHS 'winter pressures' from within A&E, Dr J reflects on the relationship between housing and health, and what it means for rough sleepers and the hidden homeless.
I’m a Social Work Student Who Went on Fee Strike. Here’s What I Learned
an Anonymous Student
Social work students at Goldsmiths university went on strike last year, when they discovered at the last minute that their NHS bursaries would not be enough to cover their increased course fees. One participant reflects on what he hoped to achieve and what he learned from taking part in the UK's first student fee strike.
Tory Promises to Improve Mental Healthcare Ignore the Reality of Living With Mental Illness
Erika Mastrorosa
Here's why simplistic rhetoric and a small investment are not going to fix a broken system, which is letting people down.
Serco vs Staff: Why Barts Health Cleaners Are Voting to Strike
Rhian Smith
Last year Barts Health NHS Trust awarded a £600m ten-year cleaning, portering and security contract to outsourcer Serco. But due to unmanageable workloads, poor pay and inadequate resources, hospital staff are now voting on taking strike action.