Labour meets target shock!

Good news today that reminds me that this government isn’t clueless and is achieving some very worthwhile things in amongst the never-heard-of-you backbench and small-time ministerial rebellions.

Labour has met its target for cutting the rate of infection on MRSA. It’s also seen a drop in the number of C-Diff infections.

Even The Times is giving praise.

Heady days indeed!

The Tories - looking out for the little guy

Well first we had Shadow Business Sec Alan Duncan sitting as a director that was largely owned by Vitol, who pleaded guilty to paying the Iraqi government kickbacks for oil, in the ‘oil-for-food’ scandal.

Now we have Shadow Health Sec Andrew Lansley criticising the governments ‘traffic lighting’ system for labelling food, saying it’s forcing unnecessary regulation on businesses. He has set up a working group to look at the problem, and in the chair he’s put the boss of Unilever, Dave Lewis. No problem there except that Unilever are one of the staunchest critics of the governments simplified labelling system.

Of course, many businesses don’t like a traffic lights system, because they produce so much unhealthy food it would be plastered with red traffic lights. They say it would stop people buying their products, which is obviously the point.

Rather than switch to making their food healthier, they’d rather cosy up to the Tories, who will abolish the traffic light system if they get into power, a system preferred by health agencies across the countries, and consumers themselves, and leave the businesses with their preferred system of percentages. Because we all love to do a bit of math while shopping for our groceries.

NHS Review - The Tories and Lib Dems vs Everybody Else

Quite funny looking through the list of responses to Dr. Darzi’s review of the NHS today.

The praise has been almost unanimous from the NGO’s, although some of them are tentative (i.e. ‘good, but it needs to be implemented before we celebrate), even the CGI supports it.

So it’s quite funny seeing the Lib Dems and the Tories trying their best to discredit it when everyone else has welcomed it.

The best quote is from Norman Lamb, the Lib Dem Health Spokesman, who claims it ’says nothing’ about the issues surrounding mental health, which is funny because it goes precisely against the views of Paul Farmer who is the Chief Executive of Mind, who says ‘Mental health has finally been given the priority it deserves in this review’.

Better luck next time, Norman!

Enough with the dithering charge already!

Another day another dither according to the Tories. Shadow Health Secretary Andrew Lansley has said Gordon Brown is ‘dithering’ over polyclinics and should ditch them where they are not wanted or needed.

How is Gordon dithering though? At no point in these proposals has there been any confusion except that which the Tories and the BMA are creating by putting out petitions in doctors surgeries saying ‘Save our Surgery’ or something similar, when they will never be listed for closure anyway, and claiming this will lead to the end of the GP surgery.

Get your t*ts out for the babs.

That’s what I think Labour’s new slogan should be to encourage proper breast feeding for mothers. Supposedly 75% of women leave the hospital breast feeding but only about 25% (or less possibly) actually carry on doing it until the full six month recommendation and beyond.

I read about this on the live webchat Alan Johnson did yesterday on mumsnet.