A `New Deal’ for GPs – 7 day working

by Professor Ian Shaw In my blog back in May  I predicted that 7 day working for GPs would not happen and outlined the reasons why.  The Government have since come up with its `New Deal’ for GPs who agree to 7 day working  in which they offer some incentive payments for GPs who agree to …

Thoughts on the NHS Five Year Forward View

  Professor Ian Shaw Back in March I blogged about how the Five Year Forward View (FYFW) introduced by NHS Chief Exec Simon Stevens was effectively `Reforming the 2012 NHS Reforms’  . This blueprint for the future of the NHS, to be delivered within one parliament, was signed up to by the Conservative Party and …

GPs and 7 day working

by Ian Shaw Cameron’s announcement of 7 day working 8am-8pm for the GPs by 2020 so soon after the Election may have been his way of reassuring the public that the NHS was safe in his hands, but it’s not really going to happen this parliament and there are a number of reasons for that: …

Reforming the NHS reforms – the quiet side-lining of the Health and Social Care Act 2012

By Ian Shaw As widely anticipated the Health and Social Care Act has been a bit of a disaster… There has been more clinical engagement, especially with GPs, which is a good thing but the re-organisation led to a very complex organisational and governance structure (for example anyone know what clinical councils actually do? – …

Is more money really the answer to mental health problems?

By Rupal Patel This week saw the announcement of investing £1.25bn in mental health services by Chancellor George Osborne. Many will be pleased with the announcement but I am somewhat sceptical. Is more money the answer to our growing epidemic nature of mental health problems? Or is this simply a political ploy prior to the …