Is sharing a way of caring?

The launch of a controversial NHS programme expected to begin in April has been postponed for six months, amid concerns the public has not been fully informed of it.

The data sharing project, called care.data, would allow GPs to share patient information like illness, drugs, age and postcode with hospitals, as well as private companies and researchers.

The idea of having everyone medical records going to one place, has immediately created a security concern among the public, as critics fear the database might be hacked or misused by businesses and the public.

Tim Kelsey, the NHS director for patients and information, declared:

“Without data in our arms we were blind, we can’t make improvements in the quality of care. For years now we have been using data in hospitals to ensure that we measure things like death rates.

“This programme is going to help us fundamentally improve the quality of care provided to the general population but we do want people to make an informed decision whether they want to participate or not”.

The information gathered from GPs would help the NHS administer the system better, with particular attention to people with chronic conditions, who move between hospital units and GPs offices.

Peter Weissberg, director of British Heart Foundation, warned that patients would die if the scheme collapsed. Therefore, the delay must be used to explain the benefits of care.data to the general public, and make them aware of their opt-out rights.

NHS has confirmed its intention to pursue the programme and has insisted administrators are drawing up a plan to explain the project in detail to patients.

Female employment has reached its highest level in four decades

New figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that the proportion of women in work during the last trimester of 2013 was the highest since record began in 1971.

According to these data, in fact, the female employment rate reached 67.2 per cent last December, with 14 million women at work.

One of the reasons behind this important milestone is the extraordinary recovery in the service sector, which has been extremely important in bringing the number of women in full-time job to a record high of 8 million, while those in part-time work dropped by 28,000 to 5.91 million.

Meanwhile, economists have highlighted two political factors that led to record numbers of woman in the work place.

On one side there have been significant cuts to benefits, a measure taken to activate people who were previously on inactivity benefits, such as single parents.

On the other side, the Government’s moves to equalise the pension ages by lifting the female state pension from 60 to 65 by 2018 and to 66 by 2020 in line with men, is another important explanation for the rise in female employment.

According to the Trades Union Congress, the high number of working women is also due to those grandparents who are gradually stepping in to provide free childcare.

Despite such historic achievement, however, there is still a gender pay gap, which even widened last year for the first time since 2008.

According to the ONS, in fact, the gap was 15.7 per cent on average at the end of 2013.

Immigration cap

The British Government has vowed to impose an annual cap of 75,000 European Union (EU) immigrants.

British people are happy to welcome those who want to make a genuine contribution to the country by finding work. However, there is concern about immigrants who are coming to benefit from the lavish welfare state Britain provides.

Mr Cameron has recently highlighted pros and cons of migration and declared:

“There are good parts to movement within the EU. There are many British people who take advantage of going to live and work elsewhere and Britain has benefited and will continue to benefit from people with skills coming here and contributing to our economy”.

He added: “Two things have gone wrong. One is movement to claim benefits and we need to crack down all that. I think secondly what has gone wrong is the scale of the movement, which has been so big”.

Mr Cameron believes that the Government has made a big mistake in not restricting access to the UK labor market when Poland and nine other countries joined the EU in 2004, resulting in 1.5 million people initially coming to Britain.

Data show that immigration has been a significant aspect in British society since the 50s.

Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reveal that migration has contributed to 45 per cent of the total population growth over the last 60 years. Also, 25.5 per cent of all babies delivered in England and Wales in 2011 were born to foreign women.

While immigrants made a massive contribution to the country’s development over the last few decades, the present market situation requires politicians to have more control over the level of foreigners moving to the UK.

Mr Cameron said that every time a new country joins the EU there has to be unanimity around the council table in Europe about what the arrangements are. In this way Britain will be able to insist for a tougher regime.

Meanwhile, the PM is considering a series of amendments to the Immigration Bill.

It will be much harder for unauthorised immigrants to secure rented accommodation, open bank accounts and obtain driving licenses.

Full-time pupils

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

All school children should spend 10 hours a day at school, education secretary Michael Gove said yesterday.

He believes the proposal would help state schools to close the gap with private institutions.

“When you visit a school in England, standards are so high all round that you should not be able to tell whether it is in the state sector or a fee-paying independent”, Mr Gove declared.

Plans were unveiled after senior Conservatives said they were looking at plans for a nine-hour school day.

However, Mr Gove went further and called for a ten-hour school day, bringing in more “character building” activities such as cadet training, coding clubs, Duke of Edinburgh award scheme and inspirational career talks from outside visitors.

Private schools have always excelled at extra-curricular activities and public institutions should do the same.

The new schedule will also allow time for structured homework sessions, which will be tremendously useful for those children who struggle to work in noisy households.

Michael Gove will vow to give schools the resources needed to make the plan work.

Labour’s shadow education secretary Tristam Hunt argued against the proposal, suggesting that “improving school standards starts with a qualified teacher in every classroom.”

Meanwhile, the education secretary received further criticism over his decision not to reappoint Labour peer Sally Morgan as head of Ofsted.

Ms Morgan told the BBC she was the victim of a “determined effort from Number 10 to appoint more Tories.”

Conservative donor Theodore Agnew is believed to be her successor.