Like London Buses, the announcements all came at once today. In no particular order:
Public Sector Money Laundering
Rail infrastructure company Network Rail (NR) has been hit with a record £14 million fine by the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) over the “shambolic” New Year line-closing engineering overruns which led to travel chaos for thousands. So a Government Quango fines another Government Quango for incompetence and simply recycles £14 million around the public sector. What on earth does this achieve? ORR chairman Chris Bolt said ORR had decided on a figure of £14 million to send “a very clear signal” to NR bosses(errrr: I think ultimately that’s Gordon Brown!) that improvements to the company’s performance were necessary Record £14m fine for Network Rail
Government Screw Up on GP Contracts Loses Almost £2 billion - Says National Audit Office (Another Government Quango)
The new GP contract in England has cost the government £1.76bn more than predicted in its first three years but productivity has fallen, says National Audit Office report. But, this meaningless figure highlights that the Government & the NAO have no idea how to measure the productivity of Doctors. Should we simply measure GP hours worked (like the NAO) and number of patients seen per doctor (not very effective health measures). Or should we assess health outcomes? The NAO report says “It was too early to tell if the incentives offered to GPs were actually improving care, although there were “moderate improvements” in areas such as asthma and diabetes. You don’t blame the workers when they meet the employers targets. In the real world you sack the Company bosses for setting the wrong targets! But with our Government what you get is spin and mud throwing to obfuscate the real issue….the Government didn’t have a clue when it initiated the GP productivity deal!
C.Difficile Infection climb 17% in the NHS
Cases of Clostridium difficile infection in patients, aged 65 years and above, increased by 17.2% in England over the last reported year, from 44,107 in 2004 to 51,690 in 2005, according to new figures released today by the Health Protection Agency. MRSA infections which are at record levels decreased by only 1.5%. We still have one of the highest MRSA infection levels in the developed world! Deadly NHS Superbug Continues Rising
Best story of the week so far is this one from the wonderful Mayor of London. A study published in that well known political journal “Occupational and Environmental Medicine” summarises the results of some research suggesting that the London Congestion Charge, introduced in 2003, has saved 1,888 extra years of life among the city’s seven million residents. Our Ken is fighting a difficult battle to get re-elected in May so, he makes sure that Transport for London briefs the friendly BBC to put this one close to the top of the news. Now we know the BBC doesn’t employ many people with GCSE maths so, let me do the sums for them.
