National Policy Forum - Your Southeast CLP representatives

Health

Health news

Andy Burnham - reduced emphasis on private sector use in NHS
September 18 2009

New Secretary of State Andy Burnham announced in a speech to the King's Fund that the NHS is the preferred supplier for health services in this country. NHS organisations will be given more chances to sort out problems before any consideration of private sector alternatives, and for any new service, NHS organisations should be given the chance to supply the new requirement first.

GP boundaries and catchment areas to go
September 17 2009

Catchment areas for GP practices will be abolished under proposals made by Andy Burnham, to allow patients to have more choice over their GP.

Chocolate and crisps banned in school canteens
September 4 2009

New rules introduced this month will ban chocolate, crisps and sugary drinks from secondary school canteens. New nutritional standards also require school lunches to contain at least one portion of fruit and one of vegetable or salad. There will be strict calorie limits and minimum standards for vitamins and minerals.

Green paper with proposals for social care funding
July 14 2009

Health secretary Andy Burnham announced a green paper consulting on proposals to change the way social care is funded. There are three options for the way in which the state and individuals would share the costs.100% self-funded care and 100% tax-funded care have both been ruled out, on social justice and cost grounds respectively. The three options left are:

• partnership - the government pays between a quarter and a third of the costs for people on low incomes
• optional insurance-based model, where the government pays between a quarter and a third, and individuals pay £20,000 to £25,000 for insurance cover for the rest of the costs
• a compulsory state insurance scheme where evryone who can afford it pays between £17,000 and £20,000, in return for free care

June 22 2009
Finding an NHS dentist should be easier

New Health Secretary Andy Burnham confirmed that the funding of NHS dentists would change so that a larger element of their pay would be based on the number of patients they have registered with their practice. THis should make it easier for patients to find NHS dentists in future.

Lowest ever NHS waiting times
March 26 2009

Alan Johnson announced that Labour’s target of a maximum waiting time of 18 weeks from referral by GP has been achieved – in 1997 the average was 18 MONTHS.

February 3 2009
Health Secretary announces new plans on dementia

Labour’s Health Secretary Alan Johnson and Care Services minister Phil Hope have announced huge changes in the way people with dementia will be cared for.

Among the proposals outlined the first National Dementia Strategy is the appointment of dementia advisors, better training for GPs and a network of memory clinics staffed by specialists to provide early diagnosis and treatment. The strategy will be backed by £150million over the first two years.The number of people with dementia is expected to double over the next thirty years, and the cost of care and treatment is likely to triple.


January 29 2009
Food labelling loopholes to be closed

Supermarkets have been told that they can no longer exploit a loophole on food labelling. Currently food can be labelled as “Produced in the UK” if the last significant change to it took place in Britain. For example, a chicken sandwich can contain chicken from Thailand, but be labelled as “Produced in the UK” if the chicken is put between bread here. This loophole misleads consumers over the source and the quality of products.


Other Health Pages

Health News 2008

Health News 2007

Commission Work Programme 2007

Health report August 2006

Health report June 2006

Health report January 2006

Commission Work Programme 2006

NHS - The facts on deficits