Tim Worstall

80mph speed limit ‘risks rise in road deaths and obesity’ Obesity? and a potential rise in obesity due to more people taking advantage of shorter car journeys. Eh? They’re raising the speed limit on motorways for cock’s sake. A motorway journey is not a subsititute for a waddle around to the corner shop for lardy [...]

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There will be statisticians out there who can unpack this better than I: Data released in Parliament show that in the most deprived areas of the country, the mortality rate is as high as 1,500 deaths per 100,000 people in a single year. By contrast the death rate is 1,427 in Rwanda and 1,452 in [...]

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I complained about what they are doing here. We do have, the way that they are counting, an increase in admissions related to alcohol. This is partly because of the following effect: there has been a rise in admissions. Actually, there’s been a 40% or so rise in admissions over the decade. And, if you [...]

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Hospital admissions linked to alcohol problems have reached a record high, prompting fresh concern about the harm being caused by binge drinking. Hospitals in England admitted 1,173,386 patients for treatment for alcohol-related problems in 2010-11, NHS statistics show, up 9% on the 1,056,962 in 2009-10, the first time the figure topped 1 million. In 2002-03, [...]

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Doctor goes into federal government, finds that federal government is incredibly wasteful in health care, moves like a snail, is less efficient that private non-profits. Therefore all health care should be run by federal government. see more Lolcats and funny pictures, and check out our Socially Awkward Penguin lolz!

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Dear God, what are we coming to? Government doing something sensible? NHS cancer patients to be offered experimental drugs Cancer patients will get much quicker access to experimental drugs and other treatments still in development, David Cameron will announce today. The biggest cost in pharmaceutical development is the trials. Phase III trials particularly. phase II [...]

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Not there’s any link implied or in reality Loved ones not always told their relative is on controversial ‘death pathway’ NHS doctors are failing to inform up to half of families that their loved ones have been put on a scheme to help end their lives, the Royal College of Physicians has found. Rise in [...]

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What’s happened to England’s rugby team this autumn is obviously not just about money. But it’s an excellent example of something free marketeers often ignore, but that research proves: that adopting a market system does encourage people to think about cash and their individual wellbeing. Indeed this is very true. Market incentives do change behaviour. [...]

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Patients admitted to NHS hospitals for emergency treatment at weekends are almost 10 per cent more likely to die than during the rest of the week, according to a comprehensive new report. Hmm. I think we would start by looking at staffing levels, wouldn’t we? They are the thing which is most likely to vary [...]

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At the ASI. The real reason we want competition in the NHS.

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There is now strong evidence that smoking in vehicles exposes non-smokers to high levels of second hand smoke which is known to be damaging to heath, the BMA said. Because of the small enclosed space inside a car, smoking creates 23 times more toxins than found in a smoky bar, it was claimed. This is [...]

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Barack Obama faced a new and unpredictable hurdle to White House re-election next year when the US supreme court announced it is to rule on whether his healthcare bill, the major legislative achievement of his presidency, is constitutional. The court is to hear the arguments in March next year and is to expected to publish [...]

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Labour MP Valerie Vaz, who sits on the health select committee, said the revelation should prompt second thoughts by ministers: “It is difficult to comprehend how Circle can maintain a proper standard of healthcare while maximising profit; as a company they would have to make a profit, but that can only come if costs are [...]

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If France has socialized medicine then Britain has communist medicine.

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@clarercgp Clare Gerada @HarryDumpRich @RichardJMurphy @Gabby_L_M Health care does not behave as other commodities . There is no true health market in health care Health care isn’t a commodity you dingbat. It’s a service. Jeebus…..

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Anyone know more about this company? Circle? For I’ve had a look and as far as I can see it’s a workers’ co-op. Owned by the people that work in it. Which makes this allegation quite strange: Two of Circle’s major shareholders are Tory Party donors. What shareholders? Or is the structure of Circle more [...]

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Why reforms are destroying the essence of the NHS The NHS will be unrecognisable in 10 years’ time, says Bob Hudson, if the current bill succeeds – which it looks likely to do This is the aim and contention. The contention is that the NHS needs to be changed, the aim is to change it. [...]

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NHS care is under renewed scrutiny after a damning new report on Wednesday highlighted how some patients were denied pain relief, told by nurses to go to the toilet in their seat and left without food and water. The NHS is ignoring patients’ needs because of “a systemic problem” which requires an overhaul of hospital [...]

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David Cameron and Andrew Lansley‘s repeated criticisms of the NHS‘s record on cancer have been contradicted by new research that shows the health service to be an international leader in tackling the disease. The findings challenge the government’s claims that NHS failings on cancer contribute to 5,000-10,000 unnecessary cancer deaths a year, which ministers have [...]

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I agree asbolutely that public health is important. Lipkin says societies need to be more proactive in combating the dangers. “People need to understand that science is critical to address these kinds of challenges and respond in real time,” he said. “We need to be prepared. We need better bio-surveillance, with better detection and better [...]

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