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by Paul Scully | Jun 8, 2008 | News |
I have had to tackle a few cases at work in the past couple of years when constituents have been denied treatment because of the costs of the drugs that are required. Wet Age-Related Magular Degeneration is the leading cause of blindness in the UK with 20,000 sufferers. There is a drug that can help in restoring vision though it is not a full cure. Lucentis costs a fair whack though at £28,000 for a course of 14 injections.
The National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) have changed their mind about the drug, originally refusing to allow its use on the grounds of cost. However because of the bureaucratic way that drugs are licensed, final guidelines will not be published until the autumn. Some Primary Care Trusts have started prescibing Lucentis in anticipation. Others refuse. Some will prescribe it after you have gone blind in one eye. The universal health system has not existed in this country for many years except in the eyes of a few politicians. We have a postcode lottery.
In the light of this, I was concerned to read an article in the Sunday Times which explains how the Labour Government will not allow patients treatment on the NHS if they have paid for part of their treatment privately. One patient who had paid £9,500 for some drugs to combat their bowel cancer was billed £16,000 for previous treatment and was then denied treatment in her final months before she died.
Where else does the Government run such a policy? If people who have a Freedom Pass decide to take a taxi for a particular journey, does Ruth Kelly march round and tear up the concessionary travel pass? Does she take away your keys on the roadside when you come to the end of the toll section of the M6? What about children whose parents pay for private tutoring or extra books? Should you be denied the state pension because you work for a company that gives you a pension scheme?
The irony is that the NHS will treat addicts who have paid for drugs that make them ill, but will not treat people who just want to get better or have a better quality of life in their dying days.
Alan Johnson refuses to countenance change because he believes that it will lead to a two-tier health service. It is no accident that the National Health Service is the only one of its kind in the world. The longer that political dogma ensures that the ‘jewel in the crown’ is above real reform, the longer people will suffer without knowing why.
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by Paul Scully | Jun 7, 2008 | News |
I’m straying just a touch away from Sutton politics in this post as Hillary Clinton finally gives up the ghost in seeking the Democratic Nomination. She has suspended her campaign rather than ended it. This will have something to do with the millions of dollars that her campaign is in debt despite having ploughed a lot of her own money in.
The unedifying spectacle of Clinton and Obama slugging it out has left McCain to go about his business campaigning in the important states. Can you believe this is only the end of round one? The election isn’t even for another five months or so yet it seems to have gone on longer than one of Cllr Roberts’ speeches.
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by Paul Scully | Jun 4, 2008 | News |
A story in the Sutton Guardian this week illustrates everything that is wrong with the green garden waste scheme as it is currently constituted.
Mr Burton from North Cheam doesn’t have a car and so walked about a mile pushing his wheelbarrow filled with green garden waste to the dump in Kimpton Road. He queued up with the cars, showed his council tax bill to prove that he was a resident and was turned away because it was too dangerous not being in a car.
He told the Guardian “As a non-car user, I decided to cart my rubbish along in my garden wheelbarrow, but was met by a surly jobsworth, who said it was against procedures. Living in supposedly one of the most environmentally-friendly boroughs in London, I find this set-up is a total farce.”
I’ll write again on the garden waste as a whole but this is just one of a number of issues that have not been addressed before implementing this scheme. Meanwhile a centre at Beddington Lane has been opened for residents to take their garden waste for composting at a cost of some £5000 per week. Make sure that you are up to date with all of the changes by going to the
Council website .
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by Paul Scully | Jun 2, 2008 | News |
Sutton Conservatives’ Policy Groups are cracking along looking at the very best ideas that are working in other Councils that may work here in Sutton. Nationally, the newly formed Conservative Council Innovation Unit are writing the ‘bible’ of best practice for local councils. This is instead of writing a national manifesto for local government. I am pleased that the Party is serious about localism; trusting local people to introduce and run the services for the place that they know the best.
The man charged with heading up this task is Stephen Greehalgh, the dynamic leader of Hammersmith & Fulham Council who has reduced Council Tax by 3% for two successive years as well as cutting council debt by £60m. During this time, satisfaction ratings with the Council have increased significantly. He is also on the panel that is undertaking an audit of City Hall for Boris. You can read more about Stephen’s vision for the Conservative Council Innovation Unity on Conservative Home, here.
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by Paul Scully | Jun 2, 2008 | News |
Sometimes it feels like Comical Ali has taken on the role that Alistair Campbell once filled. However, there was a gem of comical honesty at the end of Sunday’s Politics Show for those watching. Mike Russell MSP, Environment Minister in the Scottish Parliament summed up a debate with a sudden bout of honesty that took some of his colleagues aback. The debate had the vacuous title of “Moving Scotland Forward.”
He opened by saying,
“I find myself in some difficulty, because the opening sentences of my speaking notes say:
“This has been a very valuable and useful debate. I welcome the contributions and views that have been expressed”.
I publicly dissociate myself from that opinion. This has not been a “valuable and useful debate.” It is of some significance that not one member has declared an interest—because there has been no interest in the debate. Outside the chamber, there will be no interest in the debate. By insisting on holding this debate, Robert Brown has succeeded in wasting everybody’s time.”
There then followed this exchange:
“Those absent members knew that this afternoon’s debate was pointless. It was a pointless occasion, and it was one of those occasions that do the Parliament no good whatever. Let us be ruthlessly honest about it: this was political theatre for those who are paid to be here. The debate had no other meaning.”
“Will the Minister give way?”
“No, I will not give way. My intention is just to get through this. I just want to get through it and go home. Just understand that, all right?”
Unless someone was playing around with truth serum darts and a blowpipe in Holyrood last week, the Scottish Parliament certainly has a different atmosphere than Sutton Council meetings.
(Footnote: He did go on to lose the vote.)
I have had to tackle a few cases at work in the past couple of years when constituents have been denied treatment because of the costs of the drugs that are required. Wet Age-Related Magular Degeneration is the leading cause of blindness in the UK with 20,000 sufferers. There is a drug that can help in restoring vision though it is not a full cure. Lucentis costs a fair whack though at £28,000 for a course of 14 injections.
