NOT A GOOD WEEK FOR THE GOVERNMENT (AND OTHERS)

Busy day today (RL) so I am combining all three blogs into one, plus the fact that it rained again last night and my internet connection is still behaving like an MP-working for ten seconds and idle for ten hours.


First up-Jacqui Smith is in the Doo again, because Damian Green walked away from the SS Labour police BBC NEWS probably due to the fact that Civil Servants ‘exaggerated’ the seriousness of the leaks, now that sounds familiar, backroom boys telling porkies.

Just resign and get it over with.



Then there is BBC NEWS the pooper scooper snoopers are going to lose their powers, and about bloody time!

Jacqui Smith was speaking as the Home Office launched a review of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act.

The act allows the use of methods such as hidden cameras to detect crimes such as benefit fraud but councils have been accused of targeting minor offences.

The Tories and Lib Dems say Ripa is a "snoopers' charter" which needs reform.

Ripa was introduced in 2000 to allow police and security services to fight crime and terrorism more effectively and was later extended to allow local authorities to use some covert techniques.


Jacqui Smith- Just resign and get it over with.


That’s the politics out of the way, now health-BBC NEWS Female hairiness health warning apparently Excessive hairiness in women is not just a cosmetic problem but is likely to be a sign of an underlying medical condition, say UK doctors in a report.
Five to 15% of women have excess hair, and a hormone disorder is the most likely cause in many cases, they said.


Women with the problem should not be afraid to seek medical advice, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists report urged.


Professor Stephen Franks, an expert in reproductive endocrinology at Imperial College London, said the condition could be very embarrassing and women might be reluctant to seek medical advice.

They may also not realise hirsutism could be linked to a condition like PCOS (Polycystic ovary syndrome) because symptoms such as irregular periods are not present, he added.

"It's always worth getting it investigated. Even if it's a benign condition."



And a bit of a triumph for patients-BBC NEWS NHS to publish death rates on web The NHS is to make it easier to compare success and failure of English hospitals by publishing death rates and other tables on its own website.

The Department of Health will publish the Mortality Ratio on the NHS Choices site, allowing patients to compare death rates at their nearest hospitals.

The NHS says the move is part of a commitment to sharing more information.
It follows a damning report into failings at Stafford Hospital, triggered by its high mortality rates.

The hospital watchdog, the Healthcare Commission, concluded there were 400 deaths more than would have been expected at the hospital and that there were deficiencies at "virtually every stage" of emergency care.

In the next few weeks, patients and doctors will be able to access standardised mortality ratios, or HSMRs, for every hospital in England.

Rather than being a crude death rate, the HSMR is a measure of how many patients with particularly conditions die compared with how many would be expected to die.

HSMRs are already used to rank hospitals and are based on how many patient deaths occur above expected levels.

The NHS already publishes mortality rates for heart surgery and common operations, such as hip and knee replacements.

The Department of Health said it was important for doctors to see how their peers were performing as well as offering patients the chance to use the data to choose hospitals.

The tables published on the NHS Choices site will be accompanied by information for patients to help them understand the strengths and weaknesses of the figures.

At the risk of repeating myself-about bloody time!



And something I have been saying for quite a while, and will probably upset some doctors, BBC NEWS Doctors 'must root out bad care' NHS staff - and in particular doctors - must do more to tackle bad care, the head of the new health regulator says.

Care Quality Commission Chairman Barbara Young said there was a culture of silence among health staff, as shown by the Stafford Hospital scandal.

The hospital was criticised in an official report last month for its appalling standards of care.

But doctors' leaders warned medics were often bullied and harassed into accepting the status quo.

Ms Young said that, as head of the super regulator which was set up at the beginning of April to cover both health and social care, she was determined to make quality "the priority"

"We need to create a culture where doctors are obliged to challenge each other. It is not happening everywhere at the moment. There is a silence among professionals."
She said nurses could also play an essential role.

"They are the glue in the system that. They are there 24/7."

Ms Young, who was speaking at a conference hosted by the King's Fund health think tank, also said other front-line staff such as social workers could have an impact, but stressed doctors and senior nurses were probably in the strongest position because of the clout they had.

Added to the fact that the NHS and in particular senior managers ignore patients and relatives to the nth degree.

Good start Ms Young, now let’s see you do something about it, especially this Doctors' regulatory power 'to go' when back in 2007 ‘The General Medical Council is set to lose its power to adjudicate on fitness-to-practise cases.’

“The GMC will also have to change its membership to 50% doctors, 50% lay people in a move away from the much criticised profession-led regime.
Similar systems are being introduced for the other eight health professional regulatory bodies, covering the likes of dentists, pharmacists and nurses.”


And finally:


What I would like to do with my computer:

"Challenges are what make life interesting; overcoming them is what makes life meaningful." Joshua J Marine


Angus

NHS Behind the headlines

Angus Dei politico
NHS-THE OTHER SIDE