Reform Media Summary - 23 June 2008

23 June 2008

Health

In its continuing campaign on NHS top-ups, the Sunday Times found that several NHS trusts are already allowing patients to contribute their own resources, although other patients have been threatened with paying the full costs of their treatment. Andrew Haldenby, Reform’s Director, was quoted: “This is a victory for common sense. It has become clear that many doctors have rejected the bureaucratic rules of the NHS to act in the best interests of patients. They deserve praise for looking beyond the guidance to act in a way which shows the true values of medicine. These cases also show the government had to order a review as its position is unsustainable.” A study by consultants AT Kearney points to the issue as an example of the mounting pressures all health systems will face, pressures that will result in a greater role for private funding and providers (Sunday Times, p.7, p.22 [letters]; FT, p.4).

As part of its feature on the 60th anniversary of the NHS, the Sunday Telegraph recommended funding reform. The Observer commented: “Politicians must be honest about the limitations of publicly-funded healthcare. There will have to be a reorientation of priorities towards prevention of illness, supporting people to lead healthier lifestyles” (Sunday Telegraph, p.24; Observer, p.15).

Childless women, and sometimes also their partners, are being asked to quit smoking before they can be considered for fertility treatment in up to 46 primary care trusts in England and Wales (Observer, p.4).

Lord Darzi: some doctors need to “catch up” in allowing nurses to perform clinical procedures (Sunday Times, p.7; Telegraph, p.8).

Failure to diagnose diabetes in children is reportedly causing thousands of unnecessary hospital admissions (Times, p.11).

A study by the Sex Education Forum finds that one in three secondary schools in England now has a sexual health clinic, dispensing contraception to children as young as 11 (Telegraph, p.8; Mail, p.4; Observer, p.1).

Smokers in some of the poorest areas of Dundee are being offered £150-worth of groceries by the NHS if they give up cigarettes (Independent on Sunday, p.30).

The Prime Minister is to unveil plans for “problem parents” to be given one-off cash payments as a reward for feeding their children properly, vaccinating them, and teaching them to read (Mail, p.6; Guardian, p13; Independent, p.5; Express, p.2).

Education

CBI support for diplomas turns into opposition. Director General Richard Lambert says GCSEs and A-levels “should remain as a cornerstone of the education system” (Times, p.15; Telegraph, p.1; Mail, p.28; Guardian, p.8; Independent, p.4, p.28 [leader]).

The Church of England is set to become the biggest sponsor of academy schools, with plans to more than double its academy numbers from 12 to 30 by September 2009 and is in “discussions at various stages” on a further 54 (FT Weekend, p.1, p.3, p.3; Telegraph, Saturday, p.12).

National Council for Educational Excellence to recommend next month that universities should prefer students with lower grades from poorly performing schools (Sunday Telegraph, p.13).

Lecturer in psychology: teach children to be mentally tough rather than happy (Times, p.15).

Libby Purves: universities' pursuit of media coverage has undermined standards (Times, p.22).

Sellafield Ltd, which runs the nuclear reprocessing plant, is to run a school after an extension of the academy programme in Cumbria (Telegraph, p.6).

John Denham was interviewed in Saturday’s Telegraph (Telegraph, Saturday, p.18).

The Training and Development Agency for Schools is launching a campaign to recruit more teachers with disabilities (Observer, p.10).

Economy

One-third of Incapacity Benefit claimants have been claiming for more than ten years (Times, p.15).

There are now 15 sellers to every buyer in the housing market, and the average house price fell by almost £3,000 last month. The deterioration in the housing market will deprive the Exchequer of an extra £5 billion in tax this year, the Liberal Democrats have estimated (Telegraph, p.10; FT Weekend, p.2).

Cost of living rises by more than four times official figures, according to an index compiled by the Mirror. According to the Centre for Economics and Business Research the average family is £400 a year worse off than they were 12 months ago (Mirror, p1; Telegraph, Saturday, p.4)

Several unions have warned the Government over stagnating real incomes. The TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said: “I think we are going to see more disputes, certainly in the public sector.… It’s not pay that’s been driving inflation. It’s been commodity prices”. Private sector pay deals may threaten Government’s inflation targets (Mail, p.2; FT, p1, p.2, p.14 [leader]; Express, p.1, p.10 [leader]).

In a speech today Gordon Brown will reportedly blame Margaret Thatcher for Britain’s low rates of social mobility, and for “denying many children the chance to progress” (Telegraph, p.2).

A party group of MPs have reported that Network Rail is inefficient and “underperforms against the European average by more than £1.1bn a year” (Guardian, p.22).

Network Rail is to unveil plans for the largest railway construction project in more than a century, building five new high-speed main lines by 2025 (Independent on Sunday, p.6).

Transport main downfall for newly planned “Eco Towns”, according to a 15-member government advisory panel (Guardian, p.12).

Home Affairs

Clive Coleman: allow witness anonymity (Times, p.24).

A study for Policy Exchange reveals that more than half of young offenders have been threatened themselves with a gun or knife in the past year and feel that police are powerless to protect them from violent crime (Observer, p.10).

A study by the IPPR think tank suggests police are ignoring serious crime and criminalising youngsters in an attempt to meet government targets. Crimes committed by 10-18 year olds have increased by 27 per cent since 2002 (Telegraph, p.12; Mail, p.32; Guardian, p13; Independent, p.6).

Judges criticise ministers’ idea for a US style “grid” to contain prison numbers (Guardian, p.2).

Police are to attach surveillance cameras to horses’ harnesses to gather evidence of anti-social behaviour and crime (Observer, p.10).

Politics

BPIX / Mail on Sunday poll: Labour 26 per cent, Conservatives 49 per cent, Liberal Democrats 14 per cent. The poll found large falls in Gordon Brown’s personal ratings compared to a year ago (Mail on Sunday, p.13).

Aide to Boris Johnson resigns over racist remark (Times, p.16; Telegraph, p.4; Mail, p.13).

Times leader on Gordon Brown's first anniversary as PM (Times, p.2, p.23 [William Rees-Mogg]).

Suggestions that the Labour Party is up to £24 million in debt (Observer, p.7).

The Telegraph on Saturday reported that Gordon Brown has allegedly told allies that the next general election will be his last as Labour leader (Telegraph, Saturday, p.1).

Various reports of misuse of Parliamentary funds and procedures by Conservative MPs (Sunday Telegraph, p.8; News of the World, p.10, p.6 [leader]).

Conservatives publish the “Gordon Brown Annual Report” claiming he is “arguably the worst Prime Minister in history” (Independent on Sunday, p.23; Mirror, p.6).