There has been speculation recently that the government is planning to divert millions of pounds in NHS funds from deprived urban areas in the north, to leafy, Conservative voting constituencies in the south. This stems from health secretary Andrew Lansley’s recent comment that “age is the principal determinant of health need” and that distribution of the £100bn budget for the NHS in England should “get progressively to a greater focus on what are the actual determinants of health need.” Somewhere along the line, those comments were interpreted by a generally cheesed-off medical profession that Mr Lansley intends to introduce an “age-only” NHS allocation formula, switching substantial NHS funds from, generally younger, Labour-voting constituencies in north to the octogenarians who thrive in the Conservative-voting villages of ... Continue reading →

Real games of chicken are about fundamentally misaligned incentives. “I like to play poker…” So, at the weekend’s G8, Europe’s voice was heard, and it muttered something under its breath about Greece ‘respecting the commitments that were made’ to its second bailout’s terms. No renegotiation. We also all know what Alexis Tsipras thinks of pretty much any terms applying to a bailout. Cue the Grexit fear cycle, terror of a retaliatory funding shock, etc. But what do we really know about the state of the bailout programme as it is now? In other words, what do we know about how three months of political instability might have sent it off course. The answer is getting clearer every day: the drugs are running out, the lights ... Continue reading →

Sally Gainsbury: new bailouts required for new deficits You need to sign in to read the content on this site. Please enter a valid email address Simply enter your email address below and we will send you details on how to subscribe / activate today. Please enter a valid email address Alternatively you can contact customer services by PHONE or EMAIL Continue reading →

Professor Alan Maynard OBE, HPI's esteemed columnist, reflects on the blinding stupidity of currently prevalent NHS treatment of 'wet AMD'. For several years, it has been known that there are alternative treatments for ‘wet’ age-related macular degeneration (AMD): Lucentis and Avastin. The former costs some £700 per dose; the later can be obtained for less than one-tenth of this high cost. Lucentis is registered for the treatment of macular degeneration. Avastin is not licensed for macular degeneration. Both drugs were created by the same company, Genentech. Clearly, it is not financial advantageous for Genentech to have Avastin licensed for the treatment of patients going blind, as it would destroy the market for Lucentis. Lucentis treatment, following NICE guidance, is provided by the NHS. No randomised ... Continue reading →