Victoria Macdonald
When Roger Phillips was told he had terminal cancer, he made it clear to his daughter and son that he wanted to die at home. It didn’t happen as he and his family were not given the help they needed.
Victoria Macdonald
The new health secretary was not at his most assured in his speech to the Conservative Party conference. But he had messages for the social care and charities sectors.
Victoria Macdonald
“The over-40s were a legacy from the last recession which saw an epidemic of heroin use.”
Victoria Macdonald
While survival rates for some types of cancer, including breast and colon, have improved dramatically over the past 40 years, the UK record for ovarian cancer remains relatively poor.
Victoria Macdonald
Bad news for the newly installed health ministers from the Royal College of Physicians which warns in a report that patient care is threatened by hospitals under strain.
Jeremy Hunt is the big winner from the reshuffle. But the move from culture to health will prompt head scratching from those who thought the Murdoch scandal had cut short his political life.
Victoria Macdonald
Andrew Lansley’s obsession with the finer details of health policy could explain his unwanted shuffle away from the Department of Health, Victoria Macdonald writes.
couple of days after the budget, with rows raging about the “granny tax” and George Osborne’s decision to help the super-rich by cutting the 50p rate, the PM had what seemed like a smart idea. Number 10 decided to bring forward plans to increase the price of cheap alcohol, to tackle binge drinking and what David Cameron called “the mayhem on our streets”. According to Mr Cameron cheap booze is causing a “scourge of violence” – a million violent crimes and more than a million hospital admissions each year. Setting a minimum unit price (MUP) would, he promised, provide “a big part of the answer”. But I’ve found out that just four days before he made his announcement, he’d been warned by one of his own ministers that the policy could well be illegal. Was the PM right to go ahead or should he have listened to his colleague?
The Government has promised to increase real-terms spending on the NHS. But experts say spending is already falling, and only a tinker with the figures can save the Coalition’s blushes.