Post by jman on Aug 30, 2011 14:25:12 GMT 1
The famous crime novelist is quoted in the Guardian today (30.08.11) as being very concerned about the effect of the legal aid cuts
"Ruth Rendell hits out at government public spending cuts'It looks as if the NHS will gradually fade away' says crime writer and Labour peer Ruth Rendell
Anna Bawden guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 30 August 2011 11.59 BST Article history
Treatments and specialist stroke units have transformed patients’ chances of recovery, says Ruth Rendell.
It is no mystery that Lady [Ruth] Rendell is a prolific and pre-eminent crime writer, but what is perhaps less well known is her interest in health policy. A Labour peer since 1997, she is deeply worried about the coalition government's plans to reform the NHS.
"They are bent on saving money, the whole plan for the future is to save as much money as they can," she says, and that is "bound to react badly" on outcomes for patients. "There are too many cuts in staff, too many hospital wards closing, everything is to try to restrict [access to services].
"I do not like the competition factor in it [the health bill]. It looks as if the NHS will gradually fade away and we shall go back to a great deal of private medicine."
The 81-year-old is most concerned about the effect that the reforms will have on older people. "People are still being put into geriatric wards when they don't need it. They need treatment, not just being put into bed and fed." She fears that the government's emphasis on community services for older people means "a lot of lonely people left at home with nothing".
She lives alone herself, but says she is lucky to be wealthy enough to afford a housekeeper, who comes four mornings a week, and is healthy enough to lead an active social and professional life. She writes in the morning, spends every afternoon in the Lords and regularly goes to the cinema, theatre and opera.
Following her peerage in 1997, Rendell became a member of the all-party parliamentary group on stroke. It is a subject in which she has a personal interest since both her parents died of cerebrovascular attacks. "My father had several strokes and heart attacks. I was with him when he died and it was a horrible death. He had been a very articulate man and to lose that, never to be able to speak properly and to be unable to move – he had always been a very vigorous man, so to be in a wheelchair and mumbling – was terrible," she says.
"My mother had multiple sclerosis. Hers was a case of someone who's had a chronic illness and often it's a stroke that carries them off in the end."
Rendell is also an ambassador for the Stroke Association and judge of a short story competition run by award-winning charity InterAct Reading Service. It provides stroke patients in hospital with the mental stimulation of a reading service delivered by trained actors. The winner of the competition will have their story included in the reading list for patients and will be commissioned to write another four stories for the charity.
"On the face of it [reading aloud to stroke patients] looks quite ordinary, as though it wouldn't have much of an impact – but it does," says Rendell. "People who have had a stroke and are recovering from it love being read to … especially by someone who is a good reader – it does help them to get better."
She believes that improvements in NHS stroke services over the past decade have been phenomenal. "When my father had his strokes – more than 30 years ago – the attitude was you did nothing for somebody with a stroke because they were old. They were just kept comfortable and waited to die."
Today, treatments and specialist stroke units have transformed patients' chances of recovery, she says. "It's well known that somebody should be got into a stroke unit within three hours of having a stroke. Paramedics and ambulance services know this is expected."
While there is still room for improvement, especially in rural areas, says Rendell, she worries that government plans to reform the NHS may cause progress on stroke treatments to "come to grief".
In addition to her involvement with stroke charities, Rendell is vice-president of the housing charity Shelter. She is concerned about the government's welfare and housing benefit reforms, but it is the potential impact of the legal aid bill that alarms her the most.
"It will impose devastating cuts on legal aid funding for specialist advice to help people solve their housing, debt and benefits problems," she says. "The effect would be mitigated only by the government taking notice of the 5,000 responses to its consultation, the majority of which opposed the measures.".............."
Rest at link below :
www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/aug/30/ruth-rendell-attacks-public-spending-cuts
"Ruth Rendell hits out at government public spending cuts'It looks as if the NHS will gradually fade away' says crime writer and Labour peer Ruth Rendell
Anna Bawden guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 30 August 2011 11.59 BST Article history
Treatments and specialist stroke units have transformed patients’ chances of recovery, says Ruth Rendell.
It is no mystery that Lady [Ruth] Rendell is a prolific and pre-eminent crime writer, but what is perhaps less well known is her interest in health policy. A Labour peer since 1997, she is deeply worried about the coalition government's plans to reform the NHS.
"They are bent on saving money, the whole plan for the future is to save as much money as they can," she says, and that is "bound to react badly" on outcomes for patients. "There are too many cuts in staff, too many hospital wards closing, everything is to try to restrict [access to services].
"I do not like the competition factor in it [the health bill]. It looks as if the NHS will gradually fade away and we shall go back to a great deal of private medicine."
The 81-year-old is most concerned about the effect that the reforms will have on older people. "People are still being put into geriatric wards when they don't need it. They need treatment, not just being put into bed and fed." She fears that the government's emphasis on community services for older people means "a lot of lonely people left at home with nothing".
She lives alone herself, but says she is lucky to be wealthy enough to afford a housekeeper, who comes four mornings a week, and is healthy enough to lead an active social and professional life. She writes in the morning, spends every afternoon in the Lords and regularly goes to the cinema, theatre and opera.
Following her peerage in 1997, Rendell became a member of the all-party parliamentary group on stroke. It is a subject in which she has a personal interest since both her parents died of cerebrovascular attacks. "My father had several strokes and heart attacks. I was with him when he died and it was a horrible death. He had been a very articulate man and to lose that, never to be able to speak properly and to be unable to move – he had always been a very vigorous man, so to be in a wheelchair and mumbling – was terrible," she says.
"My mother had multiple sclerosis. Hers was a case of someone who's had a chronic illness and often it's a stroke that carries them off in the end."
Rendell is also an ambassador for the Stroke Association and judge of a short story competition run by award-winning charity InterAct Reading Service. It provides stroke patients in hospital with the mental stimulation of a reading service delivered by trained actors. The winner of the competition will have their story included in the reading list for patients and will be commissioned to write another four stories for the charity.
"On the face of it [reading aloud to stroke patients] looks quite ordinary, as though it wouldn't have much of an impact – but it does," says Rendell. "People who have had a stroke and are recovering from it love being read to … especially by someone who is a good reader – it does help them to get better."
She believes that improvements in NHS stroke services over the past decade have been phenomenal. "When my father had his strokes – more than 30 years ago – the attitude was you did nothing for somebody with a stroke because they were old. They were just kept comfortable and waited to die."
Today, treatments and specialist stroke units have transformed patients' chances of recovery, she says. "It's well known that somebody should be got into a stroke unit within three hours of having a stroke. Paramedics and ambulance services know this is expected."
While there is still room for improvement, especially in rural areas, says Rendell, she worries that government plans to reform the NHS may cause progress on stroke treatments to "come to grief".
In addition to her involvement with stroke charities, Rendell is vice-president of the housing charity Shelter. She is concerned about the government's welfare and housing benefit reforms, but it is the potential impact of the legal aid bill that alarms her the most.
"It will impose devastating cuts on legal aid funding for specialist advice to help people solve their housing, debt and benefits problems," she says. "The effect would be mitigated only by the government taking notice of the 5,000 responses to its consultation, the majority of which opposed the measures.".............."
Rest at link below :
www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/aug/30/ruth-rendell-attacks-public-spending-cuts