The leaked white paper for Health and Care in England reveals more privatisation at scale, market deregulation and huge scope for corruption, loss of universality and social solidarity
@JonAshworth
@Dr_PhilippaW
@JeaneF1MSP
@MattHancock
Shortly launching the landmark White Paper on Health and Care in the Commons shortly - to help our health and care system build back better from the pandemic
We are paying 45 million pound to Serco for contact tracing. Serco’s 18000 call handlers contacted only 10,000 contacts in two weeks. Meanwhile local public health teams contacted 77600 contacts ie almost eight times more according to DHSC Test and Track data.
Stay at home if you have respiratory symptoms. This simple, cheap message covers lots of respiratory viruses including flu. Stop mass testing and reintegrate testing into clinical diagnosis - the tests were designed for this. Spend money on rebuilding health services
Scandalous expenditure. Treasury reports 10 billion spent on private contracts for test and trace system that still doesn’t work. most of the work is being done by public sector public health teams. 15 billion on PPE. All These contracts must be published.
@IndependentSage
This is incorrect. No evidence that asymptomatic transmission especially from healthy children to adults is major driver of infection and spread. To use this as an excuse for mass testing using tests not fit for purpose is deeply unethical.
@BBCNews
WOW. Consultant Dr Steve James, 10yrs at KCH, today courageously told the Health Secretary why vaccine mandates are wrong, even more so in light of omicron.
Imagine losing this talent from the NHS, let alone ending his career.
Vaccine mandates *must* be reconsidered
@sajidjavid
Copy cat covid policies. So many countries in Europe now talking about locking down and excluding people who are not vaccinated - this is NOT public health. It is worse than shameful and must be resisted.
@NicolaSturgeon
Covid Vaccine passports are antithetical to public health principles. Vaccines help but do not prevent disease or transmission or death. It’s time scientists spoke out against vaccine covid passes. Politicians must Stop framing the response through lens of vaccines.
Is that why you put Dido Harding is in charge of track and trace at NHS improvement? How is being on the board of the Jockey Club which was responsible for Cheltenham Gold Cup and COVID superspreader four day festival in March equip her for this vital role?
@MattHancock
The rule of 6. yet another incoherent, unevidence based policy designed to distract everyone from all the really important matters and chaos this government is creating while it squanders billions privatising services and giving contracts to their mates.
COVID-19: stigmatising the unvaccinated is not justified - The Lancet . PS covid passes not evidenced. They are divisive, discriminatory and the antithesis of good public health .
@NicolaSturgeon
@Dr_PhilippaW
@JonAshworth
What happened to immunity due to infection, conscientious objectors etc? What an appalling way to speak to care workers who are overworked and exploited by low wages and poor terms and conditions
@sajidjavid
Back to basics. Repatriate light labs into NHS. Invest in NHS. Test people who are symptomatic and integrate testing into primary care. Contact tracing through public health teams NOT Deloittes and Serco Support people who are isolating financially.
@IndependentSage
Because the government is outsourcing testing instead of rebuilding lab capacity in local NHS and universities. It appears to be building a parallel private service while destroying and decimating what remains of public sector. GP s and dentists bypassed
@globalhlthtwit
.
Why are we setting up private sector testing in car parks of airports to collect nasal swabs done by people themselves in their cars? Why can't this be done at GP surgeries, with couriers to labs, results the same day, copied to local public health?
The damn has burst. People will not tolerate disproportionate state and police intervention where evidence does not support. Failed test and trace -37 billion:mass testing in schools & universities; harms of school closures; above all-failure to address structural inequalities.
So
@matthancock
60000 plus people have died. many people died agonising painful deaths alone without their families and without adequate care because you failed to protect them. We did not stay in order to enable the return of horse racing. We stayed at home to protect others.
Pfizer and Moderna mRNA COVID-19 vaccines were associated with increased risk of serious adverse events..with an absolute risk increase of 12.5 per 10,000. The excess risk of serious adverse events was greater than risk of COVID-19 hospitalization in placebo groups... see study
Natural immunity (through infection) confers greater protection against reinfection than covid vaccines. What exactly is the public health rationale for covid passes? Important study from Israel
Covid is endemic in U.K. so please can we now stop unevidenced interventions. This includes mass testing including LFTs, masking in schools and community, mass repeat boosters, covid passes? These are being used to give false reassurance at great cost. Instead
Meanwhile I hear in Scotland the amazing
@DrMaryBlack
plus her team and many others at HPS have quietly gone about building local public health teams for contact tracing and sensibly ignored England’s app and wasteful contracting out to Serco and Sital.
@Dr_PhilippaW
@ScotGovFM
I just questioned this on bbc4 world tonight. It’s totally wrong for PM to claim Liverpool ‘trial’ was a success. We have seen No data no evaluation no ethics approval and no study protocol and yet we are told this trial was a success in Liverpool. It’s false propaganda. .
Nightingale hospitals are virtually empty. Where have the billions gone and how much to private sector? Should spend on revitalising community services and home monitoring,public health, primary care and social services in local authorities. Prevention key to tackling epidemic.
My v close relative who is pregnant asked whether she should have Covid vaccine? She has avoided all medicines throughout pregnancy and is low risk. My answer there are too many unknowns about medium long term harms of covid vaccine in foetus and babies so the answer is NO.
Listening to the ministry of lies with Susan Hopkins
@PHE_uk
on
@BBCr4today
spreading misinformation on Tests using variants to justify mass testing in schools on March 8th.Where are the evaluations of mass tests in schools? Where is the evidence mass testing stops transmission?
Have masks been evaluated in school settings? What are benefits harms costs acceptability etc. How many SAGE members sit at their desks and wear masks for six hours a day?
And also the 10 billion contracts for test and trace. And Deloitte’s contracts and subcontracts . And unused Nightingale hospitals, private hospitals etc We need govt to Publish all contracts
@JolyonMaugham
@GoodLawProject
Why is U.K. government wasting 100 billion on mass testing and tests instead of rebuilding public services incl schools, health services social care and addressing growing child poverty and homelessness? Parliament should stop operation moonshot.
How come
@UKHSA
isn’t briefing public on how poverty plus comorbidity is a major risk factor for icu admission and adverse outcomes from covid. No amount of boosting will address this.
Thanks to
@carlheneghan
Tom Jefferson and teams for their critical questioning, commitment to evidence, and insights into limitations of covid data. Perhaps those who lambasted and smeared them throughout the pandemic will now read and recognise their important contributions.
Tomorrow the Health and Care Bill 2021 goes into HoL. Covid is a cover for dismantling health care. There has been no meaningful opposition from Labour front bench
@Keir_Starmer
or from
@bma
or from Royal Colleges. Time to oppose bill before it’s too late.
Of course Care home deaths were and are preventable and avoidable. The govt just didn’t put in the necessary measures. So much for shielding the vulnerable.
@CMO
Covid-19: why we need a national health and social care service | The BMJ
Why is
@bbc
still propagating myth that vaccines stop transmission and infection? Where is evidence for masking in schools? There is none. The main risk factors for bad outcomes are poverty and comorbidities.
Sheer testing madness. Nursery insisting on pcr tests being done on 2 year old (temp of 38 stayed at home now better) Much more risk from RSV than covid. This needs to be challenged in courts. It’s disproportionate and unnecessary. It is not public health.
Rightly the government has established services for and studies into LONG Covid sufferers. But let's not forget the thousands of people who are experiencing vaccine harms? My inbox is full of distressing stories - they are being systematically ignored -hope
@bmj_latest
will cover
Unheard and untold patient stories - this is why all COVID VACCINE TRIAL DATA must be put in to the public domain NOW and why we need phase 4 studies - yellow cards underreport
Excess weight is a major risk factor for covid hospitalisations and death- should this risk measure be added to covid passes? Of course NOT - but that's the logic of covid passes ie individual measures of risk. Vaccine status is NOT a measure of risk..
This is outrageous
@MattHancock
having said the lock down was to protect older people is now planning to deny them hospital care if they need it. Care workers are not being protected and exortingpeople to fill in DNR forms is tantamount to abandoning them.
infection and antibody positivity rates of children in school did not exceed those of the community . This confirms (YET AGAIN) that schools are not hubs of infection.
48 GP. surgeries in London now under control of Operose/centene a large US corporation via AT Medics Ltd No public scrutiny or transparency. Essential to write to MPs and CCGs to Campaign to overturn this. More to follow.
11 NE Lon GP surgeries have just been sold to subsid of US healthcorps. In LBTH: Whitechapel Health, East One (& Cable St). LBN: Manor Park, Lucas Avenue, Carpenters Practice, Albert Rd, Britannia Village, St Lukes. LBH: Trowbridge. Redbridge: Loxford. B&D: Victoria Medical.
Why would the many millions of healthy people who have had covid want or need a booster? We need to understand more about natural immunity from infection, re infections and whether, when and for whom boosters are indicated.
Gave evidence to AAPG 'pandemic response and recovery' on mass testing. No evidence of benefit, harrowing accounts of harms, over-interpretation of guidance. Mass testing healthy children in schools/nurseries is state sponsored violence and abuse. Stop mass testing.
33000 new beds equals approx number closed in NHS since 2008/9 so STOP closing hospitals and rebuild capacity long term not just in make shift premises. This crisis is being fuelled by decimation of NHS capacity.
@BBCPolitics
@BBCr4today
@guardian
Where is public health evidence for these extreme measures?why has government overturned parliament and imposed extreme lock downs and closed criss border travel. Parliament must be recalled to consider the enormous harms.
@ScotGovFM
@BorisJohnson
@BBCNews
.
Are we now going to have lock downs every winter when there is an acute bed crisis? It’s time the government remedied the root of the problem and rebuilt public services instead of squandering billions on ineffective privatisations and excessive chaotic and shambolic testing.
I hear that Serco may have had £108 million for contact tracing. Has any one FOI request for contract details? If so please DM me. Important to understand terms of contract and performance payments given abysmal record so far. Same for the app and lab testing
@IndependentSage
We are paying 45 million pound to Serco for contact tracing. Serco’s 18000 call handlers contacted only 10,000 contacts in two weeks. Meanwhile local public health teams contacted 77600 contacts ie almost eight times more according to DHSC Test and Track data.
Irrational discriminatory and violation of human rights and definitely NOT public health though it’s all being done in the name of public health.history teaches us nothing 👇👇
Billions being spent buying covid tests not fit for purpose: government lines up its pet government scientists to attack brave experts who dare show the problems and question wisdom of government policy. Truth will out thanks to
@jdeeks
and
@angelaraffle
Why isn’t
@keirstarmer
demanding a national care service,doubling staff in care homes,daily publication in each home of staffing,sicknesses and cases. Plus insisting on qualified nurses and doctors being present. That’s key to quality care and saving lives. Plus contact tracing.
"You'd hope by now, things would be getting better, not worse"
Labour leader Keir Starmer says "lives depend" on the provision of personal protective equipment and asks "how soon can it be fixed?"
Dominic Raab says "we face a global shortage"
#PMQS
UK testing error wrongly tells 1,300 people they have coronavirus | Article [AMP] | Reuters. Meanwhile government continues this scandalous waste of public money on experimental mass testing.
Is there a time in the history of U.K. public health when liberties and freedoms of so many have been restricted to save the lives of so few? The government is doing enormous harm. It failed to put in place effective publichealth measures so much money wasted so many lives harmed
This is an appalling, scandalous and unethical waste of money. This is NOT public health- its an unevaluated costly experiment using tests that are not fit for purpose- see briefing note for universities on the next part of thread.
Stop Operation Moonshot! Or pause this 100 billion pound experiment. Until we have good evidence that this mass testing screening intervention works, we have seen the study protocols with purpose informed consent, details of tests the programme costs and resources.
@CMO_England
Covid passes are unevidenced and unevaluated and purpose has never been stated. They do not measure individual’s risk of infection or infectiousness. They are not a public health measure. Discriminatory, unnecessary & undermine human rights - governments should be challenged.
Vaccination reduces but does not eliminate the risk of covid-19 transmission within households, a study has found. It showed that one in four vaccinated household contacts of a covid positive case became infected compared with 38% of unvaccinated contacts
The virus is endemic- vaccines do not stop transmission or disease and eventually most people will get covid - vaccines should reduce severity- so why continue with covid passes and mass testing? Poverty is the major risk factor for adverse outcomes.
We are not at the beginning of a learning curve. Epidemic and communicable disease disease control were well established functions until govt decimated the services. We failed to follow WHO guidance and learn from other countries and respond in time. .
@AllysonPollock
I'm as critical of the UK government's response as anyone. But I also recognize that, given that they (we) were woefully underprepared, directing resources quickly to the right places is HARD, especially as even scientists are still at the very beginning of the learning curve.
Why do politicians all think the solution is vaccines! Govt has spent billions on boosters for people who dont need them. be strategic- target vaccines to those who need them and redirect resources to people in poverty, poor housing, public services, rebuild NHS capacity.
this needs to be corrected and withdrawn- a quick look at the nat stats shows this article must be a a hoax - why was there no fact check - and why is doctor person allowed to be anonymous so the facts cant be checked!! !
@guardian
@TheWeek
We need local outbreak teams and good local data on cases, contacts, hospitalisation, deaths plus community involvement to inform whether and when easing of national lockdown locally and regionally can begin. Detailed granular data on cases clusters, communities etc
With the Chief Nursing Officer, Chief Midwifery Officer, Medical Directors and others, I have written to NHS colleagues about the professional responsibility to protect patients from COVID-19. This includes getting vaccinated, as the great majority have.
Vaccination policies no longer based on public health. Why are we giving boosters to millions of healthy people who have had virus? why vaccinate very low risk groups eg children? Where are data on proportion of population who have had covid?
I’d like to understand
@CMO_England
why many millions of people who have had covid are being asked coerced into having boosters. Harms are unknown,what are risks benefits and costs?
🇬🇧 The research group at Oxford who compared myocarditis rates after covid to after the vax () have just released a new analysis:
In males 16-39,
Myocarditis more common after Pfizer dose 2 & 3
&
Moderna dose 2 than after infection
These exhortations so disrespectful
@devisridhar
The public more than played its part in ‘behaviours’. The government has not. Government failures shift risks,harms responsibilities to public. New laws increasingly undermine civil liberties and human rights and public health.
Keep hearing of a 'third wave' like it's something that happens to us. It's about decisions govt and individuals make each day- about each of our behaviours. Outdoors safer than indoors. Wear masks indoors. Avoid crowded places. See COVID transmission like smoke. Get vaccinated.
Many Children/Young people see vaccination as key to freedom because penalties of not being vaccinated are so great Re movement. This is coercion not evidence based policy or informed consent. Not helped by misrepresentation of data on risks and sensationalist
@BBCNews
coverage
People who ask questions about the covid vaccines should be taken seriously. Calling them Antivaccers and the anti vaccination brigade is not acceptable. In the Interests of transparency all clinical study reports should be published and in the public domain now.
@carolecadwalla
@sloumarsh
We are the laughing stock of Europe and the world. To privatise the public health response,test and trace and waste hundreds of millions is catastrophic. Germany’s system is just like ours used to be before it was dismantled then destroyed by Lansleys HSCAct 2012
@keepnhspublic
Whitty and Vallance admit today that lack of health services capacity (years of underfunding and closing nhs beds and services under PFI) is driving lock down policies. government mortgaged our children’s future with PFI and seems intent on destroying it and deepening poverty.
On 9 February 2021 - the major US health company, the Centene Corporation, took over up to 40 GP surgeries in London run by AT Medics Limited under 34 APMS contracts, and a small number of NHS Standard Contracts.
Why did the 13 CCGs allow this happen?
I won’t be up loading this non NHS app until I understand who has access to my data, what data sharing, deletion, destruction policies are and what evaluations have been done and shown. I also want to know why test and trace and the app has been privatised and outsourced.
Like the whole
#TestAndTrace
system much is run by Serco & other private companies including the app & being badged as NHS (not honest). Since they don’t have the expertise, the system is failing. However, I would urge everyone to download the app as every little bit helps ...
Vaccine passes are NOT a sound public health measure- what is their goal? what are they trying to achieve? how are they being evaluated? what is evidence?
Public health should be advising
@ScotGovFM
against them. Pity its being left to the courts
LFTs were designed for clinical use in people with symptoms. Government
@MHRAgovuk
gave repeat emergency authorisation for testing of healthy people with no symptoms and is spending billions. LFTs Have not been shown to reduce transmission or infection or disease. Time to STOP
So
@IndependentSage
is finally catching on to mass testing in schools being a problem
@DrMikeWGill
If only they’d listened back in May/June when I was raising the issues and read
@angelaraffle
book on screening and advice note to them on principles of mass testing. I tried :)
Stop Operation Moonshot NOW- before national roll out costing 100 billion pounds. We need answers to our questions. Where is the study protocol, ethics approval, info on tests and programme for this mass population intervention
Covid passes at Wimbledon are NOT public health measures. They are A form of surveillance. Passes are misguided unnecessary and not proportionate. This is so wrong.
How many secondary cases is test and trace actually detecting among the 500000 contacts currently isolating? Who still has the nhs app on their phone? The test and trace policy is seriously irrational and has cost billions.
Has your GP practice been taken over by Operose, subsidiary of US health insurance giant Centene -many more GP practices now at risk across England -list to follow
Local authorities currently mopping up contacts that Serco call handlers miss. And using their scarce resources. That’s why private contracts must end. Funds should flow to local authorities primary care nhs labs and to support local communities
@IndependentSage
@didoharding
@matthancock
It's really hard to find a strong defender of your system. Serco CEO was reduced to defending idle contact tracers by referring to empty Nightingale hospitals. A triumph of illogicality
Why did government close 10,000 NHS general and acute beds in England this year? Why did it give 10 billion pound contracts to private hospital sector for 8,000 beds? And why is Lack of Bed capacity driving lock down -
Operation Moonshot and mass screening / testing in Liverpool is a gigantic research experiment on the public and ethical principles are not being followed.
Government has bought hundreds of millions of tests at a cost to us of billions of pounds. It’s desperately trying to find a use for them hence all this mass testing. Asking parents to test children twice a week when the intervention is unevaluated is unethical and wrong.
If this story is true then it is a an unethical policy and wrong and goes against all public health principles. Watch
@bmjwebinar
on mass testing for covid and listen to
@angelaraffle
@deeksj
@apsmunro
and others
So if vaccines are effective why are those who have been vaccinated being tested daily and quarantined? It’s madness? This Is turning into a never ending epidemic of costly chaos and confusion driven by corrupt ineptitude where commercial interests trump public health.
Covid Vaccines- Waning immunity following vaccination, gaps in evidence on harms, failure to make all data publicly available and urgent need to get the science right with RCTs with long term follow up
Parliament has failed us and let the people down again in bringing mandatory covid vaccination into law for care-workers. It overturns 120 years of public health law built on trust. HoL regret motion is indeed regrettable. See our briefing note
🚨BREAKING
Mandatory vaccines for care workers is now law. Millions more workers will be affected.
The House of Lords passed the new law after just 90 minutes debate, with a regret motion noting there is insufficient evidence for it and that the severity of impact is unknown.
All unnecessary journeys outside your home should be stopped. Police across the country are issuing fines for all offenders, including those "just chillin'”
Stay Home. Protect the NHS. Save Lives.
Dec 7th Health and Care Bill 2021 enters the lords. It has barely been scrutinised though it shreds universal care and continues remodelling services along US lines. The NHS will be gone in England long before covid. Please everyone turn you attention to opposing this bill
Interesting preprint: Natural immunity affords longer lasting and stronger protection against infection, symptomatic disease and hospitalization due to the Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2, compared to the BNT162b2 two-dose vaccine-induced immunity...