The National Health Service is not an international system

Short-term migrants to Britain will be charged at least £200 to use the NHS.

Earlier this week health secretary Jeremy Hunt has announced that these charges will be added to the immigration bill passing through parliament.

Currently, temporary migrants who come to the UK either to study or to work, are likely to qualify for free hospital care as soon as they enter the British border.

Back in July, the NHS estimated the cost of health tourism at £12 million.

Mr Hunt, who suggested foreigners cost Britain £2 billion a year, instead, had also highlighted that the NHS is a national health service, not an international one and it should be fair on the British families and taxpayers.

EU visitors would continue to access free NHS treatments but ministers are planning to put in place systems for recovering the costs from their home countries.

Jeremy Hunt has proposed a new ‘registration and tracking system’ for visitors before they join a GP surgery, possibly linked to the NHS number.

Those without a formal residency status could be charged for non-emergency public healthcare and should be issued a temporary NHS number.

Meanwhile, those who work in the national healthcare have pointed out that all the checks potentially put into place to avoid that short-term migrants benefit from the system, along with the proposed ‘tracking system’, could cost far more than they save.

In fact, all these measures could possibly turn the medical staff into groups of border security officials.

We are committed to keeping Britain warmer this winter

Millions of British Gas customers may be changing suppliers soon to get a cheaper deal after the energy giant increased electricity prices by 10.6 per cent and gas prices by 8.4 per cent.

Ministers reacted angrily yesterday to the rise, which came days after Scottish & Southern Energy increased its prices by 8.2 per cent.

Prime Minister David Cameron, who led the chorus of disapproval, has declared to be very disappointed by British Gas rises.

However, shadow energy minister Tom Greatrex said: “Britain’s energy market is broken and people are paying the price for this Government’s failure to stand up to the energy companies”.

British Gas website’s visitors can read the unexpected heading: “We’re committed to keeping Britain warmer this winter”, which sounds contradictory, as the average cost for dual-fuel customers would leap by £123 to £1,444 a year. It will force thousands of families to switch off the heating and reduce their electricity consumption.

Ian Peters, managing director of British Gas, insisted that the rise, which comes into force on November 23,  is due to the increasing cost of gas, rising charges for using the national grid that delivers it around the country and cost of government programmes.

Nursing crisis in the UK

Nursing shortages in the UK have forced NHS to recruit overseas, with Spain and Portugal among the most popular hunting grounds for recruiters.

According to the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), in fact, nurses who trained abroad have become a fundamental source of new entrants, making up 40 per cent of new  staff in 2012.

It is not surprising that between 2010 and 2012 the number of ‘qualified in the UK’ nurses working for the health service reduced by more than 6,000. In fact, the number of nursing course places has fallen 2,500 during the last three years.

Dr Peter Carter, chief executive of the RCN, said: “It is perplexing that on one hand nursing posts are being cut and training places being reduced, while on the other, desperate managers are raiding overseas workforces.”

As if it was not enough, according to an independent analysis of the nursing workforce found by the RCN, 24 per cent of registered nurses are set to retire in the next five tears.

NHS services are under strain from an ageing population with increasing healthcare demands, high expectations and no financial growth. It needs radical reform to avoid a financial black hole by the end of the decade.

The Government needs to invest seriously in this workforce to attract nurses and to keep them for the long term.

This means that even though short term recruitment goals have been met, the real challenge is far from over.

 

Get on the property ladder with five per cent deposit

People with a five per cent deposit will get a government-backed loan, which will enable them to get a mortgage at the preferential rates generally offered for those with a 20 per cent deposit.

The first stage of the scheme began in April.

Prime Minister David Cameron has recently declared that the plan to help first time buyers starts this week, in order to increase home ownership in the short-term. 

Barratt Homes will help people whose aspiration is to get on the housing ladder, through the ‘Help to Buy’ scheme, which will underwrite £130billion of new loans for 200,000 homes up to the value of £600,000.

In fact, not only house prices in Britain have doubled in less than a decade, but cost of property in London surged by almost 10 per cent last year, rising by £40,000, which is almost twice the average salary in Britain.

It means the dream of owning a property is becoming harder to realise even for those who save a big chunk of their salary.

Concerns have raised over the risk of a housing bubble, as the scheme is artificially inflating already high prices, according to official figures from the Office for National Statistics.

In fact, the average London property was worth a record £438,000 in July, up £13,000 in a month and 9.7 per cent more than a year previously.

Mr Cameron, however, has clarified that there is no housing bubble, according to advice from the Bank of England.

Update

Dear readers, 

There is going to be a 'summer break' this year. The blog will be up and running again in October. 

I wish you all a great summertime!

Britain is up for gay marriage

 

Image from Toxi: http://www.iamtoxi.co.uk

Early this month the House of Lords voted in favour of same-sex weddings by a majority of 242.

Peers spent two days debating the Marriage Bill, with many members voicing their concerns.

However, the Upper House rejected the amendment aimed at wrecking the Bill, moving it a step closer to becoming law.

The Bill would allow couples who can currently form civil partnerships, to marry, and religious organisations would have to opt in if they wished to offer gay weddings, except the Church of England and the Church in Wales. Both institutions, in fact, will be banned in law from doing so.

But supporters of same-sex marriage should bear in mind that celebrations are premature.

The proposal, in fact, still has to report stages in the Lords, as well as a third reading and it is expected to face severe challenges when it returns for further Parliamentary debate next month, starting on July 8.

According to recent Ipsos MORI poll results, “same-sex marriage is more controversial in Westminster than it is among the public at large”. 

This poll shows that David Cameron is in step, not just with the mood in Britain, but also with people in many countries around the world.

PM’s enthusiasm for the proposal, however, is due to the fact that he regards this Bill as a conservative measure , enabling gay couples to share marriage’s benefits and assume its responsibilities as well.

Yet the opposition to the bill remains powerful and concentrated within the Conservative Party.

More liberal Deputy PM Nick Clegg, was flying the rainbow flag marking LGBT pride, from his office roof this week.

The Marriage Bill is supposed to be all about equality and the Government hopes that it will become law within a year.

Deaf Lounge in North London

Image from Toxi: http://www.iamtoxi.co.uk/

The first Deaf Lounge has opened in North London last month.

The social venue for people with hearing impairments offers deaf karaoke, pool and darts games and all the staff are trained in sign language.

Paul Cripps, who has been deaf since birth and co-owned the specialist bar with non-deaf Domani Peir, came up with the idea after years of negative experiences in bars and clubs.

“I’ve had problems ordering drinks, talking to fellow clubbers and sometimes even getting into clubs,” Mr Cripps said.

The Deaf Lounge is about fun in a club-style social environment, but with added benefits for the hearing-impaired.

Along with specifically trained staff, in fact, customers can appreciate bright lightning to see each other speak with signs, and pens and paper are provided for writing messages.

The fire alarm has a flashing light to alert deaf visitors and lavatory notices are in sign language as well as in written English.

On top of that, the bar supports hearing-impaired staff, too. There is a deaf security guard and a partially deaf DJ.

The special lounge also welcomes non-deaf communities.

“I’m eager that it encourages deaf people to socialise with the wider society. For example the bar will play music and that’s really important to attract non-deaf customers,” Mr Cripps added.

The hearing-impaired will experience music through vibrations, instead.

Ms Peir and Mr Cripps are also planning to set up salsa, zumba and DJ workshops where deaf people will be taught to read beats and play instruments.

For further information please visit: www.deaflounge.com