Jeremy hunt

Jeremy Hunt was grilled by MPs from Labour, the SNP and Green Party at Health Questions today on whether his department is responsible for the impending junior doctors’ strike. The Health Secretary said he was happy to talk to the BMA at any time and the government is simply fulfilling a ‘manifesto commitment’ for a seven-day NHS, as well as acting in the best interests of patients: ‘This is essential for the constituents of all honourable members, whichever side of the House they’re sitting on, and this government will always stand on the side of patients and the weekend mortality rates are not acceptable and that’s why we’re doing something about it’.

Is Jeremy Hunt spoiling for a fight with the wrong people? On the latest View from 22 podcast, Dr Clare Gerada debates this week’s Spectator cover feature on junior doctors with Fraser Nelson. Does the government have the right intentions about reforming the NHS? Why is the fight over working hours and pay for junior doctors proving so toxic? Are these doctors actually being offered an 11 per cent pay rise, or is this simply spin? And what does the row say about how the government is treating public sector employees? Christopher Buckley and Freddy Gray also discuss this week’s Republican presidential debate and whether Marco Rubio is the most likely candidate to receive the nomination. Is Donald Trump becoming a

It’s a season of U-turns for the government as Jeremy Hunt will reportedly offer junior doctors an 11 per cent pay rise. In an attempt to head off strike action by the British Medical Association, who are balloting 45,000 junior doctors today, the Health Secretary will make a final offer to increase to their basic pay in an effort to compensate for cuts to overtime. In an article for ConservativeHome, Hunt says the new deal is vital for delivering a seven-day health service and junior doctors should acknowledge this manifesto commitment and work with the Department for Health to see through the changes: ‘A reduction in Saturday working rates will be offset by

Well, it’s fair to say that Jeremy Hunt’s going to have a fun time at the next doctors’ conference he attends. There’s the #Iminworkjeremy trend on social media of furious doctors pointing out that they already work at weekends, and are not playing golf, as they believe the Health Secretary claimed. There’s the multiple petitions calling on the Health Secretary to resign, be sacked, or be subject to a vote of no confident in Parliament. And there are the furious op-eds from doctors who feel completely undervalued. Now, doctors do work weekends, and they also work twilight shifts and long weeks of nights, and they also have to certify people as dead

Why is it that whenever anyone proposes a tax on the wealthy all hell breaks loose, but when someone proposes a tax on the poor there is no more than a faint whimper of protest? Yesterday, life sciences minister George Freeman, speaking at the Hay Festival, floated the idea of a sugar tax. In contrast to Labour’s mansion tax or the removal of tax privileges for non-doms, my email inbox was not immediately jammed with statements from upmarket estate agents, accountants and others representing the interests of the rich warning of how it would ruin the economy. It is fairly obvious who will pay the sugar tax: it would be

The name says it all. ‘Dying Without Dignity’ is the parliamentary health ombudsman’s report into over 300 complaints of the neglect of terminally ill patients by the NHS. The BBC this morning highlights two horrible examples. One mother had to call an A&E doctor to come and give her son more pain relief because staff on the palliative care ward he had been on had failed to respond to her requests. A 67-year-old man’s family learned of his terminal cancer diagnosis through a hospital note – before he knew himself. This ‘failed every principle of established good practice in breaking bad news’, says the report. Julie Mellor, the ombudsman, uses uncompromising language: ‘Our investigations have found

The Tories barely talked about the NHS during the election campaign. It was an area of Labour strength, and one Ed Miliband and Andy Burnham were keen to talk about as much as possible. But now they’re back in with a majority, the Conservatives are keen to start talking about the health service again, and to start trying to erode that Labour poll lead on the issue. David Cameron and Jeremy Hunt yesterday announced their plans for a seven day NHS, but though announcements are always very handy for getting attention, the Tories need to strike a balance between lots of new initiatives and too much meddling that upsets people

Last week, the Department of Health announced that patients would have to produce their passport when registering for their first hospital appointment as part of the clampdown on health tourism. On 17th November 2014, I wrote the following to Mr Jeremy Hunt, Secretary of State for Health: Following a GP referral to hospital, patients are sent details of date, time and place of their first appointment.  It would be perfectly reasonable to include an explanatory note listing entitlement criteria for free NHS care, and the reasons why some patients may be ineligible. It would also be reasonable to request photo ID (passport or driving licence) and a recent utility bill in their name as is now required to access

I can understand why the Tories have ring-fenced the NHS, but if they do want to indulge in a little trimming I know just where to start – with the moron who signed off on the online ‘calculator’ that assesses your risk of a heart attack. ‘Official NHS calculator predicts when you will have a heart attack,’ says a piece in today’s Telegraph. Actually, it doesn’t. Nor does it pretend to. But the NHS can hardly complain about being misrepresented for clickbait, since – even if you report its claims accurately – the ‘calculator’ is nothing more than an expensive PR gimmick. The NHS last week quietly abandoned its commitment to spend £243 million on