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    By Alan Hall in Access to treatment, Aids, HIV, Local Government, London, Public Health

    BROMLEY COUNCIL AND HIV – THE FIGHT FOR SOCIAL SERVICES

    July 1, 2020

      The late 1980s and the early 1990s was a time when the HIV and AIDS pandemic was in the news and high on the political agenda. Professor Virginia Berridge, Director of the Centre for History in Public Health and author of AIDS in the UK, gives us this accurate and succinct historical context: An expert advisory group on AIDS (EAGA) had been set up in 1985 in the Department of Health with input from clinicians and scientists involved. The Chief Medical Officer, the main public health government official, Sir Donald Acheson, led the group. Despite the level of expertise, the […]
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    By Roy Trevelion in Access to treatment, Aids, BAME, COVID-19, HIV, LGBT, Public Health

    HIV and COVID-19: new publication

    July 1, 2020

    On Friday 26 June 2020 HIV i-Base published the fifth COVID-19 supplement to HIV Treatment Bulletin (HTB). Please see this link. All i-Base reports are free to copy and i-Base encourages wide distribution. Please credit i-Base when distributing these reports.   HIV and COVID-19: a new supplement to HIV Treatment Bulletin (HTB). This publication reviews the latest news on COVID-19, including research that is important for care of people living with HIV. All articles are online as html web pages. The PDF files use a single column layout that makes it easy to read each issue on tablets and other hand […]
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    By Jean Smith in Accountability, Austerity, Health Care, International comparisons, Mental Health, Mortality, NHS, Primary Care, Professional opinion, Public Health, Research, Science, SHABlog, Social Care, Technology, Work and health

    SHA COVID-19 Blog 16

    June 29, 2020

    So here we are in Week 16 of our SHA Blog about how the Johnson government is mishandling and mismanaging – except where it comes to the interests of the profit-making private sector – the COVID-19 pandemic; and why the UK is “world beating” – in terms of the highest death rate from COVID in Europe! Test and Trace The “teething problems” with the centrally designed, and privately contracted, NHS Test and Trace scheme, continues. It is a privatised system organised through the likes of Deloitte, (Deloitte is one of the Big Four accounting organisations in the world, whose business […]
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    By Joe Karp-Savey in Accountability, Austerity, COVID-19, FBU

    £25m cut to London Fire Brigade “unthinkable”, Fire Brigades Union warns Mayor and Prime Minister

    June 26, 2020

    The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) has vowed to fight “unthinkable” proposals to cut the budget for the London Fire Brigade by £25m over two years, as part of the Mayor of London’s £500m saving plans. The FBU has condemned the “huge damage to the fire service” left over from Boris Johnson’s time as Mayor of London. Central government have so far refused to bail out the GLA’s budget shortfall accrued during the coronavirus pandemic. The union has criticised Mayor Sadiq Kahn for “passing on Tory cuts to the very emergency services that keep people safe” and has vowed to hold him […]
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    By Jean Smith in Accountability, Austerity, BAME, Care Sector, Discrimination, Doctors, Health Care, Information Technology, Mental Health, Mortality, NHS Commissioning, Professional opinion, Public Health, Research, Science, SHABlog, Socialist Health Association, Work and health

    SHA COVID-19 Blog 15

    June 22, 2020

    We are now into the 15th weekly blog during the pandemic and confidence in the government is plummeting as the weeks roll on. The UK stands out as the sick man of Europe according to the Economist with the highest excess deaths per million population and with the OECD forecasting the UK as having the highest % decrease in GDP for 2020 compared to a year ago Channel 4 broadcast a speech by Prince Charles on Monday (June 22nd), saying how grateful the Nation was to the Windrush Generation who came to staff the NHS and other public services after […]
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    By Brian Fisher in Campaigns, COVID-19, Doctors In Unite, Professional opinion, Work and health

    Doctors in Unite — Crush Covid

    June 22, 2020

    Doctors in Unite are concerned at the pace of the ideologically driven moves to ease Lockdown measures. The implication is that we will have to live with a baseline prevalence Covid-19 and within the shadow of a second surge We have launched an open letter to the Prime Minister on the issue as we fear that the Westminster government is displaying the greatest level of recklessness in this regard. https://doctorsinunite.com/2020/06/21/open-letter-to-the-prime-minister-about-the-uks-covid-19-strategy-from-nhs-and-social-care-workers/ The campaign was triggered by the experience in many other countries that are pursuing a policy of eradication of Covid-19 as far as it is practical and the Crush the […]
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    By Brian Fisher in Clinical conditions, COVID-19, Democracy, Doctors, Health Inequalities, Information Technology, NHS Commissioning, Primary Care, Socialist Health Association, Staffing, Work and health

    SHA Briefing – Primary Care

    June 22, 2020

    This paper was developed by a group of primary care clinicians for the Labour Shadow Health Team at their request. We hope it helps illuminate the next steps for primary care. WHAT ARE THE RISKS, OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES FACING  PRIMARY CARE PROVISION DURING AND AFTER ITS RETURN  TO A NORMAL STATE OF OPERATION?   “We will be facing some tough challenges over at least the next year: managing more consultations (and clinical risk) remotely by phone or video; catching up with resurgent patient demand, catching up with the care of long-term conditions (whilst trying to protect groups of vulnerable people […]
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    By Kathrin Thomas in Access to treatment, COVID-19, Labour Health Policy, Public Health

    Lets not forget prevention (yet again) or measles and flu may come to bite us

    June 21, 2020

    During the COVID19 pandemic, a lot of routine health provision has been suspended or reduced. As we plan to get get these back on track, lets not put prevention at the end of the  list, yet again. The SHA convened a group of its members with relevant expertise , who have developed a briefing on the risks to the public of the temporary reduction of prevention programs. Key Messages Childhood vaccination programme: the recent increase in vaccination coverage after a long fall has now been thrown into jeopardy by COVID19, with little resilience in primary care and public health departments […]
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    By Tony Beddow in Care Sector, Health Care, Labour Party, Social Care, Socialist Health Association, Wales

    SHA Cymru Wales: Response to Welsh Labour’s Stage Two Consultation paper on health and social care.

    June 17, 2020

        Background   SHA Cymru Wales is pleased to take the opportunity to help shape Welsh Labour’s policies in regard to health and social care in Wales. Our submission is the product of discussions among SHA members in Wales facilitated via several Zoom sessions and exchanges between members of drafts of the emerging response. The contents reflect the views of our membership. Our membership consists of past and current NHS and care staff from a wide variety of health and care backgrounds and also others who have interests as both citizens and users of different parts of the health […]
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    By Brian Fisher in Care Sector, Health Care, SHA policy, Social Care

    SHA POLICY ON ADULT SOCIAL CARE AND CARERS

    June 16, 2020

    SHA POLICY ON ADULT SOCIAL CARE AND CARERS This policy document is our first significant step towards a more complete statement on social care. It will require further work over time with our members and others. It fleshes out the motion that we carried about a year ago which reads as follows: RESCUING SOCIAL CARE England’s Social Care system is broken. Local Authorities faced £700m cuts in 2018-9 with £7 billion slashed since 2010. 26% fewer elderly receive support, demand grows. People face isolation, indignity, maltreatment, neglect, barriers to inclusion and independent living. Most care is privatised, not reflecting user […]
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    By Jean Smith in Accountability, Austerity, BAME, Care Sector, Health Care, Mental Health, Mortality, NHS, Professional opinion, Public Health, Research, Science, SHABlog, Social Care, Socialist Health Association, Technology, Work and health

    SHA COVID-19 Blog 14

    June 15, 2020

    So we are into our 14th weekly blog tracking our way through the COVID-19 pandemic. There are many issues which we have raised before which remain relevant over the past week. The most notable are the continuing blunders by the Johnson government, intent on appearing to have a strategy and being in control. The podium politics continue with premature announcements blurted out as intent, without having checked out their feasibility with professional advisers. The schools debacle was always couched in terms of recalcitrant Trade Unions rather than the fact that our school buildings have lacked investment over decades, class sizes […]
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    By Joe Karp-Savey in Accountability, Austerity, FBU, Mortality, Privatisation, Work and health

    Grenfell anniversary: Fire Brigades Union “will not accept another year of inaction”

    June 15, 2020

    On the third anniversary of the Grenfell Tower fire, the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) has said firefighters will not accept another year of inaction on building safety. The FBU has called for an end to “a politics that values profit over people”, condemning “endless promises, excuses, and platitudes” from government. Matt Wrack, FBU general secretary, said: “Firefighters do all that they can to protect human life and the loss of 72 people at Grenfell was deeply traumatic for them as well as for all those others directly affected by the fire. Today, a community and their firefighters grieve. But we […]
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