As Labour plummet to ever lower poll ratings might suggest it is the message not the media. www.theguardian.com/media/2025/d...

Was the threat of rebellion over benefit cuts last year now it seems Labour MPs were going to rebel at inheritance tax for farmers. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Employment Rights bill became law on 18th December and is now the Employment Rights Act 2025, introducing new employment protections. assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/69440c...

Blood in the water. “Oh the shark has pretty teeth dear And he shows them pearly white” www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...

Positive step that helps care leavers stay healthy and well by ensuring young people leaving care do not have to pay for prescriptions as well as dental and eye care. www.gov.uk/government/n...

Some of usual winter advice on keeping warm and hydrated- possibly not so easy for poorer homes- along with info on meds use and vitamin supplements. But, like much health info, it is if it gets through to those most likely to end up in EDs with chest infections etc www.gov.uk/government/n...

A warning from the RCEM as GPs, many inpatient services and other parts of the health and social care system either close down or operate reduced services over Christmas period rcem.ac.uk/press-releas...

Lead exposure in young children remains a risk in uk, particularly in poorer areas and for those living in older terraced housing, - likely significantly underreported. www.gov.uk/government/p...

Government launches an improvement programme in response to report on Black maternal health and racism. But HSJ headline highlights failure of a two year maternity unit improvement programme to change culture of ‘bullying and harassment’. Training courses are not enough www.gov.uk/government/p...

But did they leave the managers and senior staff in post that had been perpetuating such a bullying culture in first place? www.hsj.co.uk/quality-and-...

UK’s hokey pokey with EU is gonna go on for a very long time. Of course, reasoning for joining EU in first place was to avoid all this pissing about and lost trading etc. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

That this needs to be said raises a doubt. Meanwhile the sharks like Streeting smell blood in the water www.theguardian.com/politics/liv...

Usual impression from media is that it is elderly ‘clogging up’ the NHS works, but this study indicates 18-45yr olds crowd out EDs with ‘non-urgent’ attendances (40% of all attendances)- though in some areas it is a lot higher www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

This is how to lose a General Election. A pressured NHS front line yet Streeting pisses around reorganising the furniture in the back office. ‘GP practices across country ‘under strain’ as experience growing demand and declining GP numbers’. www.bma.org.uk/advice-and-s...

NIHR launches £13.7million investment into brain tumour research www.nihr.ac.uk/news/nihr-la...

Study showing dangers in commercialisation of children’s social care in England for example at-risk children placed in unregistered accommodation without regulatory safeguards, or out of area placements severing connections with family and community www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

No idea how much £ is involved or if it influences treatment etc. www.gov.uk/government/c...

Ironically, article headlined on same page refers to government refusal to force disclosure of payments to NHS by life science industry, such as research grants, training events and reimbursements for work such as testing and consultancy www.hsj.co.uk/leadership/p...

The NHS (82%) is by far the issue, after cost of living, considered most important by electorate. Yet Government embarks on screwing the NHS with yet another grandiose and expensive reform of its administration that has little impact on improving access to services www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopula...

With rise in flu cases in hospital slowing hopefully the flu peak for hospitalisations has been reached early this year. Next few weeks should tell. www.england.nhs.uk/2025/12/hosp...

Not perhaps unrelated to the huge fall in number of NHS mental health beds over last 15 years or so as A&E attendances for mental health conditions has exploded www.bmj.com/content/391/...

Starmer been ‘done over’ by Trump- again! NHS pays 25% more for medicines- for what? Grow a backbone www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

£120m seems small change for a billionaire so why does he need bailing? www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

MPs heard that overarching reasons for substandard treatment included racism, insufficient training and a system that lacks accountability committees.parliament.uk/committee/81...

Wrapped in management speak but it is really just cuts to NHS services. www.hsj.co.uk/mental-healt...

NHS Winter pressure could be intensified as hospital workforce sickness levels increase with a low uptake of flu vaccination by staff this year healthcareleadernews.com/news/nhs-fac...

Government signals a ‘major overhaul of NHS dentistry’. Does not show how ‘urgent treatment at a local practice’ is managed if you have not been able to register with a local NHS dental practice. Guess many people currently travel to a Dental Hospital www.gov.uk/government/n...

Might as well get Reform round the transphobes convention table too.

As if the faint sound of a dinner bell can be heard echoing along the corridors of power the hungry politicians begin looking for cutlery to carve up the leadership. www.theguardian.com/world/2025/d...

The shape of things to come? Excellent analysis of what happens when Reform take the reins. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Or, in fact, meet resident doctors' to resolve the issues. Streeting ignored resident doctors' requests to meet in October and November. He has created this crisis. He has only one job: to keep us safe. He is failing to do it. He is playing games with our lives.

Reducing the pains of ageing www.economist.com/graphic-deta...

With UK demographic projections for next 10 yrs indicating an ageing population where workforce growth is dependent on immigration. Might ask who they gonna train? www.gov.uk/government/n...

Looks like that ‘shift from treatment to prevention’ has little chance of commencing during this Gov. Suspect similar for move ‘from hospital to community’. No cash to pay transition costs,social care etc. But still good ideas - why all Govs repeat these same promises www.hsj.co.uk/finance-and-...

Massive turnaround in inadequate service in just 4 months since rating published- IF you believe the percentages are reflection of real service improvement and not just more government number fucking www.bbc.com/news/article...

On same day Nuffield Trust publishes analysis concluding that the Autumn Budget shows an austerity years spending growth for the NHS and BBC reports hospitals being ordered to treat fewer patients to save money, we get Streeting’s duplicitous bullsh.t www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

Streeting’s ‘NHS Plan’ - more of same- which means less. Guess he is hoping more people will just ask ChatGPT www.bbc.com/news/article...

Though it seems ‘steps taken to change the culture’ that contributed to the mental distress and death of this young woman do not include the sackings of the incompetent managers in place at the time www.bbc.com/news/article...

‘Outdated IT systems and a lack of common data standards’. Remember Mr Starmer saying he wants the UK to be an AI superpower? Maybe be more convincing if kicked his own gov departments up back side on basic IT and data issues committees.parliament.uk/committee/12...

As with that irrational panic and regret that can grip on waking up after a night partying. You had a great time…. But WHAT was that you did? www.ft.com/content/3633...

Analysis of Autumn budget by the Nuffield shows that growth in NHS spending is comparable to 2010s austerity. Promises, promises, promises. www.nuffieldtrust.org.uk/news-item/mo...

IFS research concludes that cuts in non-health related benefits only explain a minority of the post 2010 rise in disability benefits as almost all of cuts in non-health benefits occurred in 2010s-but big growth in disability benefits began in 2021 ifs.org.uk/publications...

Living a little longer. But in places like Blackpool, where ‘healthy life expectancy’ for males can be more than 22 years less than ‘life expectancy’ that might sound a little hollow if you are living with torture of poor mental health and inadequate services www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopula...

Assume includes plan for the current shortage of SEND teachers and speech and language specialists as well as providing the staff for additional 50,000 places. A lot of training and recruitment to make up for neglect. Or are they just going to shift furniture about? www.gov.uk/government/n...

Section of War memorial in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

Leicester is also one of the most deprived local authorities in England. This teenager is in hospital with flu but is also a diabetic. So would qualify for free flu vaccination. www.bbc.com/news/article...

Grim news. But not entirely unexpected. Might guess that the flu pressures on NHS differ considerably by area with some having much higher vaccination rates than others. If so, might be a lesson for next year’s vax campaign? www.england.nhs.uk/2025/12/nhs-...

The scourge of low pay in the social care sector. Employers got away with it when recruiting staff from abroad- but no longer www.resolutionfoundation.org/publications...