Labour’s new health minister Ashley Dalton has earned herself a newspaper splash 24 hours into the job. Starmer’s newest frontbencher said people can identify as llamas, among other things…
Her left-wing views go beyond identity politics. When Labour first proposed using the private sector to cut NHS waiting lists in 2023, Dalton was among the fiercest critics, blaming Tory “privatisation” for soaring profits and patients being “left behind.” Not ideal timing, given Wes Streeting has just struck a deal with the private sector to “get patients seen faster.” Unhelpful for Streeting…
Dalton also took aim at the Tory government’s plans to increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP, casting doubt on how the figure will be reached through civil service cuts. One more potential headache for Starmer…
The NHS is currently out hiring a for an Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Partner working in “Health Inequalities.” A successful candidate can expect to earn £52,809 and will “help establish and maintain networks with internal and external equality, diversity, and inclusion leads at both national and local levels across Integrated Care Systems (ICS).” All while demonstrating “a strong commitment to advancing equality, diversity, and inclusion by creating equitable environments”…
NHS Wales Networks and Planning is also hiring an Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion Champion. Active job ads for Diversity roles including a Head of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in London for £91,336. According to analysis the NHS has hired in the last couple of months for EDI managers costing at least £752,523 annually. That is equivalent to:
That is annually. This is why Guido had to set up: UK DOGE
At an open meeting of Wes Streeting’s DHSC staff today Amanda Pritchard announced another staff reduction for NHS England. 2,000 posts are up for the chop…
Pritchard said at the meeting: “We will be taking actions to make savings to support the front line over the coming year, and we’re going to do that by saving £150m of non-pay costs and by reducing staffing costs by a further £175 million. So that is the equivalent to about 15% of the new NHS England structure.”
That’s after a recent 35% headcount reduction. Guido hears there is chaos in the NHS as a result of the fresh announcement – no detail has been supplied to staff on which parts will see the new job cuts. The open meeting was held by the DHSC, not the NHS and no round communications were sent to the latter. Line managers and directors weren’t informed either. The Public Accounts Committee recently decreed “complacent” health staff to be lacking in dynamism – they’re up for the chop…
Streeting has been informing senior staff that they should look to Terrence Higgins Trust director Richard Angell for the best way to engage with him and the Department of Health. Leaving officials scratching their heads as Angell is known to have been a close mate of Streeing for years…
Sources tell Guido Streeting has been “whingeing” about negative criticism directed his way in recent months. It will only get worse as the spending review approaches…
Starmer is kicking off 2025 with a big speech on how Labour will improve the NHS after visiting a health care facility in the southeast with Wes Streeting. Nothing like starting the New Year with yet another reset of plans…
He’s set to unveil plans for 450,000 extra tests and checks at diagnostic centres running 12 hours a day, seven days a week, 17 new surgical hubs are promised by June, alongside the much-touted NHS app revamp. He’ll also be facing hacks for the first time this year. Expect questions on Musk, grooming gangs, and Tulip Siddiq…
Starmer says he welcomes “a new agreement…with the private sector” to deliver more beds and treatment to reduce waiting lists as better care should trump ideology. He defended his record on grooming gangs, and slammed those “spreading lies and misinformation” following Musk’s online attacks. He doesn’t directly rule out taking legal action against Musk over his tweets about Jess Phillips…
UPDATE: Starmer hits out at Musk with a scripted answer in reply to Beth Rigby’s question:
“Those that are spreading lies and misinformation as far and as wide as possible, they’re not interested in victims. They’re interested in themselves. Those who were cheerleading Tommy Robinson aren’t interested in justice. They’re supporting a man who went to prison for nearly collapsing a grooming case, a gang grooming case. These are people who are trying to get some kind of vicarious thrill from street violence that people like Tommy Robinson promote.”
“And those attacking Jess Phillips, who I’m proud to call a colleague and a friend, are not protecting victims. Jess Phillips has done a thousand times more than they’ve even dreamt about, when it comes to protecting victims of sexual abuse, throughout her entire career.”
“And so just as I took on the criminal justice system and the institutions when I was chief prosecutor, I’m prepared to call out this for what it is. We’ve seen this playbook many times, Whipping up of intimidation and threats of violence, hoping that the media will amplify it.”
“Now Jess Phillips does not need me or anybody else to speak on her behalf. But when the poison of the far right leads to serious threats to Jess Phillips and others, then in my book a line has been crossed.”
“I enjoy the cut and thrust of politics, the robust debate that we must have. But that’s got to be based on facts and truth, not on lies. Not on those who are so desperate for attention that they’re prepared to debase themselves and their country. So this government will get on with the job of protecting victims, including child sexual abuse, mandatory reporting, accelerating the processes.”
“But what I won’t tolerate is this discussion and debate based on lies without calling it out. What I won’t tolerate is politicians jumping on the bandwagon simply to get attention. When those politicians sat in government for 14 long years tweeting, talking, but not doing anything about Now, so desperate for attention that they’re amplifying what the far right is saying. So that’s what I say about Jess Phillips.”
Yesterday, Wes Streeting rolled out the same old spiel about NHS reform, promising to rid the service of “rotten apples” and sack off poor management. Earlier this year, he wagged his finger at the NHS, telling them to stop doing “daft things” in the name of diversity. Predictably, that message didn’t quite land…
Guido came across the latest initiative from NHS England – the Accelerated Development Programme – an internal fast-track promotion scheme that’s only open to BME, LGBT, and disabled staff. Exclusionary policies all wrapped up in a bow of so-called inclusivity…
The advert for the pilot programme, updated yesterday, bemoans that “workforce data shows that representation of Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) and disabled colleagues is lower in leadership roles” so they will take “focused action to address this,” though only if you tick the right diversity boxes. Applicants have to be BME, LGBT, or disabled and must apply for a more senior position to get a fast pass up the career ladder. It goes on: “successful candidates will receive coaching, tailored learning and development opportunities” too. Nice perks, if you qualify…
Read the whole post from the NHS intranet below:
Continue reading “NHS Deploys Fast-Track Promotion Scheme Only For BME and LGBT Staff”
OBR personnel are currently before the Commons Treasury Select Committee to answer questions about their budget forecast. Labour MP Jeevun Sandher, who was busy parroting Labour budget lines on the airwaves last week, was confused that Reeves’ injection of £22.6 billion extra to the NHS won’t boost potential output. He claimed that output was revised down under the Tories thanks to ‘declining public health’ and complained that the OBR doesn’t think extra cash will now help…
OBR Chairman Richard Hughes slapped Sandher down:
“Myself and my predecessors have revised down our views of potential output pretty steadily since the aftermath of the financial crisis. Every country in the world has suffered a big hit to potential output, including those like the US who’ve continue to spend lots and lots of money on healthcare. The idea that there’s a direct link between how much are spending on healthcare and the potential output of the country is not demonstrated by the data.”
That is – chucking more money for day-to-day NHS spending won’t help growth. Hughes also pointed out no further plan has been spelt out by the Treasury: “We know very little about what the government’s plans are for healthcare spending after.“ So much for “Reform or die“…
At the same time MPs were shocked that it would only take a 0.3% increase in interest rates to entirely wipe out Reeves’ “fiscal headroom.” It’s not just the gilt market coming to terms with the scale of Reeves’ spending…
“A 1.3% increase in the interest rate… that actually results in the current balance in five years being in deficit by £11 billion, so you’re actually missing the rule by £11 billion… To get the current balance down to essentially zero so to take away all the current headroom, we have point three.“
The budget has already prevented faster interest rate cuts according to economists and boosted future inflation. Reeves’ pretend “fiscal stability” is a house of cards…
Former leader of the SNP in Westminster Ian Blackford told Times Radio why he believes Nicola Sturgeon’s claim that she spent no time in the kitchen and therefore didn’t see any of her husband’s purchases:
“She doesn’t have a passion for cooking.”