Govt & Torygraph distorting again – this time disability claims
Last year, I caught the Telegraph red-handed in a politically-driven smear campaign on the NHS, as it slipped up and left instructions to its sub-editors not to remove a damaging […]
Monthly Archives: March 2013
If we lose the NHS, this is our future
There’s so much negativity in the press, on TV and in government statements at the moment. Every imperfection of the NHS is magnified and held up for public ‘horror’ – […]
Then and now: the two faces of the BBC on Stafford NHS deaths
The BBC has, for months, joined in with the united – and completely misleading – media chorus about events at Stafford hospital. Every bulletin on the BBC News channel and […]
Francis 243 – 0 Hunt: NHS staffing, wilful ignorance – and a plan
Jeremy Hunt’s announcement in Parliament last Tuesday on the changes he is planning in the wake of the Francis Report into events at Stafford Hospital was remarkable for two things: […]
9/14 hospitals investigated for high deaths DON’T have high mortality?
As you’re likely to know if you’re visting this blog, I’ve written extensively on ‘Hospital Standardised Mortality Ratios‘, or HSMRs, and the many weaknesses and potential for inaccuracy of a […]
What’ve 17,000 pregnant men and hospital mortality stats in common?
Most of the comments I’ve received on this blog about my articles on Hospital Standardised Mortality Ratios (HSMRs) has been very positive. Health workers, members of the public and the […]
Private Eye attacks me for Stafford/HSMR articles
It’s been an interesting day. First in a very good way – I attended a very interesting event ‘Journalists and the new health system’, met some very good people and […]
The OFT will oversee NHS mergers. What does that tell us?
The OFT has announced its guidelines for approving NHS mergers. What these guidelines say, and how, speaks volumes about how the government really regards the NHS, Please take a look […]
Private Eye’s HSMR ‘faked coding’ claim – does it stand up?
In the most recent issue of Private Eye magaine, the Medicine Balls columnist shows a graph of figures concerning the use of the Z51.5 palliative care code for deaths at a number […]
Is challenging Mid Staffs claims heartless?
Someone today told me that something I’d said on Twitter, in a discussion on HSMRs (hospital standardised mortality rates) and the furore surrounding Mid Staffs was insensitive and disgraceful. The […]