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Money should not
be a barrier to healthcare say
Greens
GREENS have called for
urgent action to cure the NHS of cancerous PFI payments and have
written to the Secretary of State for Health calling for action to
ensure that health care provision is maintained rather than allowing
hospitals to go into administration. The Greens are the only
mainstream party to oppose PFI and to campaign to stop the
privatization of the NHS.
The revelation that the South London Healthcare NHS Trust is going
into administration with debts incurred by its contracts under PFI
(Private Finance Initiative) has come as no surprise to the Green
Party. The Green Party has warned of the financial dangers of
hospitals being built under PFI. The news that up to 30 other Trusts
may be facing administration has prompted the call for action to
prevent closures.
Adrian Ramsay, Green Party Deputy Leader, said:- "It is time
to cut out the cancerous PFI deals that are killing the NHS. While
successive governments seem to find billions to bail out banks and
to quantitatively ease the economy they seem utterly beholden to the
companies that they now rent hospitals from having sold them off in
the first place.
The PFI deals were simply an accounting fix that put money in the
pockets of big companies and locked the NHS into huge debt. The
taxpayer will end up paying £63bn towards hospitals that cost £11bn
to build. As hospital trusts go ito administration we can expect to
see health care provision drastically reduced. This is unacceptable
and the Green Party has written to Andrew Lansley calling for a
solution that protects services.
It is surely time to end the PFI scam and let the NHS focus on
providing care for patients, not profit for shareholders."
Overhaul of social care is long
overdue, says Law Society
A long-awaited white paper on the future of
social care, has now been published along with a draft social care
Bill, is a rare opportunity to unify and modernise existing
legislation and must not be wasted.
Commenting on the launch of the
draft Bill, Law Society President Lucy Scott-Moncrieff said:-
"Simplifying and unifying a mass of existing statute is an arduous
and complex exercise. The aim must be to improve the experience of
those requiring care."
The overhaul of the legislative framework is set against a
background of reduced spending on social care and a need for clarity
on how the system will be funded in future.
The Law Society has now responded
to the Law Commission's initial proposals in its extensive
consultation on Adult Social Care in July 2010.
Susan Thompson, Chair of the Law Society Mental Health & Disability
Committee, said:- "We welcome this significant step to
simplify what is currently complex and largely inaccessible
legislation to all but specialists. Reform will benefit those in
need of care and those who support them in navigating the system.
Hopefully we will soon see clarity on how the new framework will be
funded and implemented."
Lucy Scott Moncrieff commented:- "This is a rare opportunity
to create a new legal framework based upon advanced principles of
social care including person-centred planning, personalised budgets
and portability of care packages. The Law Society will carefully
consider the detail of the draft Bill and work with Government to
ensure that that the new law protects and supports those needing
care." |
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Euro money for
rail electrification
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THE project to electrify
the Liverpool to Manchester railway line has received a boost to the
tune of €5 million from the European Union.
Now the funding has been authorised by the Member States, on
Thursday, 12 July 2012, the project has long had the support of the
Chair of the European Parliament's Transport Committee and local
Labour MEP Brian Simpson, and will enable journey times between the
2 cities to be slashed as well as enabling electric trains to run to
Glasgow.
They money is part of the European Union's Trans European Transport
Network Fund, which provides grants to assist in the cost of
providing essential European infrastructure. Both the West Coast
Mainline and the Liverpool to Manchester link are integral parts of
this network.
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"I'm delighted that the electrification of this line has been
approved for European funding. To be accepted is a tough process
involving detailed evaluations; but I was always confident that the
merits of this scheme coupled with the support I have been able to
give would ensure a successful outcome. Whilst €5 million is only
about 3% of the total cost of this project, it is still a
significant contribution and could lead to further EU funding in the
future for the Northern rail hub." said Mr Simpson.
In its detailed assessment of the project, the European Commission
commented that the scheme's proposal was of a very high quality and
will enable electric traction to replace diesel, contributing to a
more environmentally friendly railway. This is one reason why the
maximum allocation of €5 million was given.
As a bonus, the electrification of Huyton to Wigan is also included.
Mr Simpson said:- "The electrification of North West rail
routes is essential if we are to improve journey times and the
connectivity between our major towns and cities and the rest of
Britain and Europe. I hope that this financial grant will be the
first of many."
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