Category Archives: Public services policy

Sajid Javid tells of heartache over brother’s suicide

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Health secretary urges men to discuss mental health and to ‘seek help’ when they need to

Sajid Javid has urged men to speak out about their mental health as he spoke publicly for the first time about the loss of his brother, who took his own life.

The health secretary said he still wonders if he could have acted to prevent his brother’s death, and spoke of his “deeply personal” mission to prevent suicides. Javid’s brother, Tariq, 51, took his own life in a hotel in Horsham, West Sussex, in July 2018.

In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org.

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New strike chaos as teachers and NHS staff warn of action over pay

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Rail unions set to walk out on Tuesday, as clashes loom over public sector pay offers falling short of inflation

A wave of 1970s-style economic unrest is threatening to spread from the railways across the public services, as unions representing teachers and NHS workers warn of potential industrial action over pay.

With the country preparing for rail strikes on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday which will see half the network shut down, the biggest teaching union, the National Education Union (NEU), told the Observer that unless it receives a pay offer much closer to inflation by Wednesday, it will be informing education secretary Nadhim Zahawi of its plan to ballot its 450,000 members. The move could lead to strikes in schools in England in the autumn, the union said.

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Schools and libraries face huge cuts after soaring costs create £1.7bn shortfall

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Exclusive: Emergency council cuts feared across England caused by inflation and higher energy costs

School-building projects, swimming pools and libraries have been earmarked for emergency funding cuts because town halls have been hit by an unexpected £1.7bn hole in their budgets, the Guardian can reveal.

Rampant inflation and soaring energy bills mean that council leaders have been forced to rip up financial plans from a few months ago, with higher than anticipated staff pay bills also contributing to their newfound deficits. Without help from Whitehall, it will leave them no option but to cut services and put up council tax next April.

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Improved disease control in public buildings ‘could save UK billions a year’

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Measures such as improved ventilation would boost economy by helping prevent ill health, says report

Mandating improved ventilation and other forms of disease control in public buildings could save the UK economy billions of pounds each year through the prevention of ill health and its societal impacts, according to a report.

It is the first study to comprehensively evaluate the health, social and economic costs of airborne infections, including Covid. Even without a pandemic, seasonal respiratory diseases cost the UK about £8bn a year in disruption and sick days, said the report by the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers. In the event of another severe pandemic within the next 60 years, the societal cost could be as high as £23bn a year.

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Food plan for England condemned by its own lead adviser

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Henry Dimbleby says government’s response to his review of food system shows no vision and ‘is not a strategy’

The government’s lead adviser on food issues has condemned what ministers have billed as a landmark national plan to combat food poverty and obesity, saying it is “not a strategy” and warning it could mean more children will go hungry.

Henry Dimbleby’s verdict is further bad news for Boris Johnson as the white paper is a direct response to last year’s wide-ranging review of Britain’s food system, which was led by the restaurateur.

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NHS needs reform rather than more money to deliver, Sajid Javid says

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Health secretary says service has enough resources but admits waiting lists will grow before they shrink

The NHS needs reform rather than more money, the health secretary has said, while admitting that record-high waiting lists will continue to rise before they fall.

Sajid Javid said the health service already had the resources it needed and did not require more to care for patients effectively. “The NHS now has locked in the resources it needs. It doesn’t need any more money. What it needs to deliver for more people is not money. It needs reform,” he said.

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Minimum alcohol price ‘causes poorest to cut back on food’ in Scotland

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Some problem drinkers also reducing heating to afford rising alcohol costs, according to Public Health Scotland

Scotland’s minimum alcohol pricing policy has not encouraged problem drinkers to consume less but has prompted some to cut back on food or heating in order to afford rising costs, according to the first evaluation of its impact on those who drink alcohol at harmful levels.

The Scottish National party’s flagship policy, championed by Nicola Sturgeon when she was health minister and introduced after successive court challenges by the Scotch Whisky Association, came into force in May 2018. It introduced a legally enforced minimum price for all alcoholic drinks of 50p a unit and aimed to tackle chronic alcohol abuse by targeting low-cost, high-strength drinks.

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‘Unprecedented’ delays at Australian passport office prompt fears of cancelled travel plans

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People planning an overseas trip may face cancelled or delayed travel arrangements as waiting times balloon out

Australians planning an overseas trip are facing the possibility of cancelled or delayed travel plans as the Australian passport office buckles under post-Covid-restrictions demand.

The “unprecedented” passport processing delays have resulted in people queueing for hours at passport offices and people spending hours calling to check for updates on their documents.

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Revealed: one in five patients leave some A&E departments in England without treatment

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Long waiting times and difficulty in accessing other NHS facilities drive a trebling in those leaving without completing care

More than one in five patients at some hospitals are leaving accident and emergency departments before completing treatment, and in some cases before being seen for assessment at all, with the rate across England trebling since before the pandemic.

Experts told the Observer that the increase was probably driven by a combination of long A&E waiting times and by difficulties accessing NHS facilities such as GPs, community health services and NHS 111.

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‘He is Mr Rules’: Labour denies leak shows Starmer broke lockdown laws

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Tories claim document published in Mail on Sunday proves Labour leader is guilty of ‘rank double standards’

Labour has rejected claims that a leaked planning memo about Keir Starmer’s visit to Durham last year undermined his assertion he did not break lockdown laws, insisting he is “Mr Rules”.

The Labour document, published by the Mail on Sunday, shows that an 80-minute dinner with the Labour MP Mary Foy, featuring a takeaway curry, was planned as part of his schedule.

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30,000 cancer patients waiting for treatment in England

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Experts call on ministers to tackle chronic staff shortages, with delays worsened by pandemic

Tens of thousands of patients are still waiting to start cancer treatment in England due to disruption during the pandemic, according to NHS figures, as medical charities called on the government to tackle chronic staff shortages in the health service.

Following a dramatic slump in cancer referrals in 2020, the number of people being investigated for the disease bounced back in the past year, data from NHS England and NHS Improvement show, rising from 2.4 million to a record 2.66 million.

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Local government in England ‘hollowed out’ under Conservatives

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Major report finds poorer areas worst affected by deep cuts in government funding

Poorer areas have been hit disproportionally by a combination of cuts to neighbourhood services such as parks, libraries, refuse collection and children’s centres that have left English councils “hollowed out” since 2010, a major report into local government has concluded.

The study by the Institute for Government thinktank found that while some councils coped better than others, and reduced spending did not necessarily mean worse results, a lack of information made it difficult to learn lessons.

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Revealed: scandal of NHS charges putting pregnant migrant women at risk

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Vulnerable women face huge bills before giving birth, campaigners say

The health of pregnant migrant women and their unborn babies is being put at risk due to fears around NHS charging, with some trusts demanding upfront fees for maternity care or wrongly charging those who are exempt, it has been claimed.

Vulnerable migrant and asylum-seeking women with no recourse to public funds are frequently being issued huge bills ahead of giving birth or aggressively pursued for payments during their pregnancy against current guidance, maternity rights groups have warned.

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UK government has abandoned its own Covid health advice, leak reveals

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Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak said to have agreed to decision not to follow public health advice on testing in vulnerable settings

Public health advice is no longer being followed under Boris Johnson’s “living with Covid” strategy to end mass testing, senior civil servants have acknowledged in a leaked account of a cross-Whitehall briefing.

The briefing by a senior member of the Covid taskforce was delivered to civil service leaders across Whitehall on Thursday afternoon, making clear that following public health advice was no longer the sole priority.

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Johnson to end forced self-isolation after positive Covid test in England

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PM to announce end to legal duty to quarantine next week as part of ‘living with Covid’ measures

The prime minister is to announce the end of the legal duty to self-isolate after testing positive for Covid-19 next week.

Downing Street said Boris Johnson will lay out his intentions to repeal all pandemic regulations that restrict public freedoms in England as part of his “living with Covid” plan on Monday.

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Ending all Covid restrictions ‘premature and not based on evidence’, says BMA

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Council chair says decision not guided by data or made in consultation with health profession

Ending all Covid restrictions is premature and “not based on current evidence”, the British Medical Association has said, as experts warned dropping testing and self-isolation could lead to a surge in cases.

Boris Johnson told MPs last week that he was preparing to lift the legal requirement in England to self-isolate on 24 February, a month earlier than originally planned, with a formal announcement expected on Monday.

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Covid rules are to be axed in England, but is pandemic’s end really in sight?

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Analysis: Plans to end isolation rules have been gleefully announced, but questions about infection control remain

As the threat of the Omicron wave has receded in England, the government has been quick to move the conversation on to “living with Covid”.

It was inevitable that this would mean the eventual lifting of legal restrictions, including the need to self-isolate. But even given the optimistic tone in recent weeks, Boris Johnson’s announcement on Wednesday came sooner than many expected.

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No 10 set for U-turn over mandatory Covid jabs for NHS staff in England

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Minister says lower severity of Omicron variant ‘opens the window for us to look at it’

Downing Street appears likely to drop its policy of dismissing frontline NHS and care staff in England who refuse Covid vaccinations, a minister has strongly indicated, after nursing and care organisations called for this to happen.

A decision would be made “in the course of the next few days”, according to Simon Clarke, the chief secretary to the Treasury. He said the lower severity of the Omicron variant of Covid did “open a space” for the policy to be reversed.

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Heads warn of Omicron chaos in English schools, with staff and pupils absent

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Some schools said to have up to half their teachers off due to Covid, and there are fears parents will keep pupils at home

Headteachers are warning of “chaos” in England’s schools as Omicron sweeps across the country, with high levels of staff and pupil absences and reports that parents are planning to keep children home to avoid the virus before Christmas.

School leaders and unions urged the government to introduce more protective measures, including masks in classrooms, better ventilation and tougher isolation rules to try to slow the spread of the virus before the holidays.

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Act now against Omicron to stop new Covid wave, UK ministers warned

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Government privately being urged by advisers to tell people to work from home as UK cases of variant hit 134

UK ministers have been warned they cannot wait for new research on the Omicron variant and must act now to prevent a potentially “very significant wave of infections” that risks overwhelming the NHS.

A 75 further cases of the variant have been identified in England, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said on Friday night, bringing the total number of UK confirmed cases to 134. The head of the agency, Dr Jenny Harries, said: “We have started to see cases where there are no links to travel, suggesting that we have a small amount of community transmission.”

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