But only if you own it.
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What's made you grumpy today?
But only if you own it.
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Saw a bloke wearning a motorcycle face mask the other day. Thick fabric, velcro at the back... what could go wrong? It only had an open slot for the nose. I guess at least his glasses were not steaming up.
It’s quite sad that British airways have announced they are killing their entire fleet of Boeing 747-400s
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-53426886
BA is a British icon and the 747 is an icon of the aviation industry, they announced earlier in the year they would no longer be making the Airbus A380 so it seems the era of jumbo jets is fully over, we soon won’t be seeing these big (speed)birds in the sky. ��
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-53426886
BA is a British icon and the 747 is an icon of the aviation industry, they announced earlier in the year they would no longer be making the Airbus A380 so it seems the era of jumbo jets is fully over, we soon won’t be seeing these big (speed)birds in the sky. ��
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- Jan 18, 2012
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After all the **** they've been through, nurses aren't getting a pay rise because "they had one in 2018".
My wife is a nurse and now things are getting back to normal it's back to being treated like crap, bullied by managers etc etc
My wife is a nurse and now things are getting back to normal it's back to being treated like crap, bullied by managers etc etc
Well I have a personal perspective on this in that my brother is a retired BA Senior Captain of a short few years ago flying BA's 747-400s. When BA compulsory retired him he moved to Flybe and their Dash 8 aircraft.
It saddens him that this iconic and long serving aircraft is being retired but as an original BEA pilot back in the late 60s through to his forced retirement with BA in 2006 it is clear that for him (and many other pilots of his era) the "real" planes are gone and all this fly by wire/fly by computer technology has destroyed all the skills, delights and challenges of commercial aircraft flying.
I'll leave you guys/gals who have tried and/or achieved the mastering of controlling a car on a race track on the limit in all conditions with no "computer" guidance/interference to appreciate the implications and downsides of computer interference. Sadly as in the Max 737 crashes which cost lives because a computer/algorithm overrided the skills and many 1000s of hours of experience of the pilot resulted in an eventual sad outcome.
Bottom line is that the 747 and some other aircraft are the last of the truly pilot driven and commanded aircraft (when needed). Later aircraft are a different ball game.
Boris gave them a clap is that not enough to live on?:shrug:
Bad management is what’s wrong with the NHS at a lot of levels. I think they need more people with a business background managing the numbers and leaving the medical professionals to use their skills where they are most suited
Isn't that what they already have? They already have business people not giving the medical people what they need to use their skills.
we need the doctors and nurses to advise where the budget needs are greatest and a bigger budget to start with, no someone who dont see things like why the need to have a nurse just sit and watch someone eat so wont pay for it.
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It appears to me the opposite problem .... promoting people who are very good at their medical profession and caring for people into management and slightly more strategic decision making roles... I reckon decision making when it comes to saving a life in a matter of critical minutes is a different ball game than the kind of decision making the kind of difficult decisions that might help the long term viability of an organisation.
Just a theory of mines. I have no way to back it up other than the opinions of friends and family who work in the health service and even they could be wrong on it.
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I think the NHS is a nightmare to manage. It's a political football and a huge organisation, which still hangs onto an outdated hierarchical structure where doctors can never be questioned - ever - and if the doctor is wrong it gets blamed on the nurse. Added to that the unions seems reluctant to stand up for their members in case it gets bad publicity. I wonder if there is a way to make it still "The NHS" but it is completely independent from government? Living in Derby a looking at the way the new hospital was financed and built it was a disaster.
An example. My wifes clinic is next to A&E. A&E want the space so my wife has been told they are moving locations in 3 weeks time. They don't know where though because there isn't the room so they will have about 1 days notice. They might all be split up into different parts of the hospital. If my wife has to talk to a consultant about a patient she will now have to try and find that consultant who might be moving rooms every day, all within the 20 minute appointment slot!
My wife wont drive so we moved close to the hospital. Now there is the prospect that the whole clinic might be moved to the city centre. This is going to totally screw up all our childcare arrangements. My wife asked if they could have some notice about the move so we could organise things. Her managers response was "It's not my problem what your home arrangements are." Technically true, but he's in danger of losing a senior specialist nurse with 20 years experience because of his "caring" attitude.
Rant over. I was trying to make this short!!!
Public sector organisations are never run as efficiently or as well as private companies that have to either swim or sink. It’s a sad truth I think, as great as the NHS is and continues to be in many ways.
How do you run an Ambulance for profit without people dying?
Striking to one of the many hearts of the problem.
From what I can gather the NHS is excellent value for money over all and benefits from being funded by taxation with universal access.
The right to pay for your own insurance (in addition, and still with obligation to pay the same taxes) maintains a strong private sector also, which can and does share various resources with the NHS proper, such as capital equipment, which can be seriously expensive, however, slightly less expensive than if there was not in internal market for such services.
There are astounding technical achievements through mutual support between different agencies, for example, University research (essentially funded via a huge mix of monies getting quite far removed from Gov direct), private angel investors, simple company investment from the private sector, and the NHS representing the customer, clinical consultancy, often premises and so on. I labour this because of this frexibility there now exists an MRI scanner with a built in radiation therapy unit able to target cancer cells as the move about in the body with live precision. This has a purpose built room in an NHS hospital.
Patients need perhaps only 1 treatment with essentially no collateral damage, when previously it takes many scan and treatment cycles with debilitating and costly effort
Pretty sure that could not happen anywhere else in the world so effectively.
However, and it's a big one, that sort of thing saves resources elsewhere, it's part of the justification, and it's hard to see sometimes when a loss of spend somewhere else gets the headlines for political reasons.
Back to the Ambulance service, sure, that should be centrally funded but a measure of internal competition is healthy and local governance is very essential for overall system strength, as bike paramedics work some places, funding local doctors with fast response works elsewhere, such thinking should be allowed and tested.
So the rub is that local cock ups will also happen, we have to be sympathetic within reason and not amplify them, as they largely will be doing their best and accountability comes with the job, the political side should step back a little.
Edit: Been thinking of a suitable analogy for the MRI scanner with an electron beam radiation therapy unit inside it (one induces and detects miniscule magnetic disturbances in cells, the other is basically a magnetically driven gun) and think threading a camel through the proverbial needle works.
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Sitting waiting for my wife I counted 2/3 of the ambulances are already private.
Sorry "working with the NHS".....
My brother basically lost his hand late one Sunday on his farm. A paramedic with a car got there as they had him in the private car and were backing out the drive to get to A & E themselves. She gave him essential first aid and morphine and looked after him very well, apparently unable to take him anywhere in her car, but he was not in immediate danger. The ambulance took an hour. That said, they used the time to prep a reception surgery at the correct hospital with the correct team, and the wait would have been similar in the hospital only in a bed and in the wrong A & E for the required surgery.
They cleaned it up, and planned surgery on the Wednesday saved his hand.
Overall, brilliant.
They cleaned it up, and planned surgery on the Wednesday saved his hand.
Overall, brilliant.
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The model as it stands is built to fail.
Let the private sector skim the money out of the profitable sections, let the NHS/public purse deal with anything that isn't profitable.Then restrict the money they have to do it and then point to it's lack of profitability/performance as a sign of failure to provide ammunition for the dismantling of the system further.
In the same way as privatised rail only worked if the public pays all the big bills and subsidises it heavily.
Paddy, a private company will be making money on those ambulances...but where is that money coming from?NHS/Tax payer...where does it go? Shareholders..
As an engine of wealth transfer from public to private purses its cracking..
Let the private sector skim the money out of the profitable sections, let the NHS/public purse deal with anything that isn't profitable.Then restrict the money they have to do it and then point to it's lack of profitability/performance as a sign of failure to provide ammunition for the dismantling of the system further.
In the same way as privatised rail only worked if the public pays all the big bills and subsidises it heavily.
Paddy, a private company will be making money on those ambulances...but where is that money coming from?NHS/Tax payer...where does it go? Shareholders..
As an engine of wealth transfer from public to private purses its cracking..
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You would likely find examples of private profiteering for sure, from what I have read too.
Tony Blair and Conservative administrations both kicked off a number of private finance initiatives for hospitals that many claim to be bad value in the long term, though many patients will appreciate them. The worry for me with that are contractual lock ins whereby you are committed over a long term, though a hospital should indeed be around for a while.
Ambances wear out quickly and are a capital investment, probably better to lease the vehicles (does that make them private ambulance services?), even the paramedics who drive the vehicle too, as long as the overall use of the resource is in public hands. That way new or different vehicles and methods can be managed in quite short turnround without direct public purse liability (nor union blowback it has to be said).
Proper borrowing for stuff also has to heavily audited and hard to justify, there are even EU rules about Gov borrowing levels, day to day leased spending is often easier to set up.
It's very complicated. Best plan is to aim for good long term stability as many systemic issues can be calibrated out, that has to start with political stability.
Also you can throw money at an issue and get equipment etc faster with leasing models, so answering a need either political or material in the service somewhere.
That's why I react badly to extreme single issue or partisan views, they don't produce good decisions.
Tony Blair and Conservative administrations both kicked off a number of private finance initiatives for hospitals that many claim to be bad value in the long term, though many patients will appreciate them. The worry for me with that are contractual lock ins whereby you are committed over a long term, though a hospital should indeed be around for a while.
Ambances wear out quickly and are a capital investment, probably better to lease the vehicles (does that make them private ambulance services?), even the paramedics who drive the vehicle too, as long as the overall use of the resource is in public hands. That way new or different vehicles and methods can be managed in quite short turnround without direct public purse liability (nor union blowback it has to be said).
Proper borrowing for stuff also has to heavily audited and hard to justify, there are even EU rules about Gov borrowing levels, day to day leased spending is often easier to set up.
It's very complicated. Best plan is to aim for good long term stability as many systemic issues can be calibrated out, that has to start with political stability.
Also you can throw money at an issue and get equipment etc faster with leasing models, so answering a need either political or material in the service somewhere.
That's why I react badly to extreme single issue or partisan views, they don't produce good decisions.
I think my issue with getting private sector involved is a fairly simple one.
I don't see what they can achieve that decent management wouldn't. Even if the private sector is more brutal seeking cost savings, those cost savings go to profitability/shareholder dividends not necessarily back into care.
Having worked in the private sector forever I'm very suspicious of any "magic" it can perform.
A company I worked for had a very experienced gentleman who had built their systems for them. At one point efficency savings were needed..he was expensive so they paid him off at great expense. They then hired a private firm to look after what he used to do for less...who then hired him back at the companies expense for 3x the wage the company paid for him originally.
But it came from a "contractor" budget not "wages" so it was a saving because he wasn't classified as a fixed cost anymore :spin:
I don't see what they can achieve that decent management wouldn't. Even if the private sector is more brutal seeking cost savings, those cost savings go to profitability/shareholder dividends not necessarily back into care.
Having worked in the private sector forever I'm very suspicious of any "magic" it can perform.
A company I worked for had a very experienced gentleman who had built their systems for them. At one point efficency savings were needed..he was expensive so they paid him off at great expense. They then hired a private firm to look after what he used to do for less...who then hired him back at the companies expense for 3x the wage the company paid for him originally.
But it came from a "contractor" budget not "wages" so it was a saving because he wasn't classified as a fixed cost anymore :spin:
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Yeah, it's hard. Me too, there can be many reasons why you question the decisions from above, human are not perfect, nor will any system be.
If we can explore your example, a home brew solution can work well, for a while, with the right people looking after it.
The fact is, and in engineering I see it often, there is very often a better template solution available and for long term less cost, and you can hire from a bigger pool of expertise to support it in the long term.
The secret is noticing what way to go when, and there is always a cost in time, people, cash and collateral disruption to your product or business.
Imagine that across the whole NHS and you see why some consider breaking it into smaller manageable chunks to be a good thing.
I have no idea as to the best details, just don't make reflex decisions is all I recommend.
If we can explore your example, a home brew solution can work well, for a while, with the right people looking after it.
The fact is, and in engineering I see it often, there is very often a better template solution available and for long term less cost, and you can hire from a bigger pool of expertise to support it in the long term.
The secret is noticing what way to go when, and there is always a cost in time, people, cash and collateral disruption to your product or business.
Imagine that across the whole NHS and you see why some consider breaking it into smaller manageable chunks to be a good thing.
I have no idea as to the best details, just don't make reflex decisions is all I recommend.
They also forgot the complete lack of pay rises between 2010 and 2017 but well don’t Boris one pay rise in 10 years seems pretty fair.
All NHS staff should have their wages linked to inflation, when the country does well costs of living goes up and the pay checks of dedicated NHS staff should not be used to fund bankers F##k ups when things go bad.
Also in this latest pay rise dedicated to all those “front line” staff who fought covid, doctors have been missed out also.... well they say doctors are included but that only applies to the consultants, the “junior” doctors the ones who do all the grunt work and the ones the patients usually see the most of, are getting as much as the nurses.... that is diddly
