#healthcare
The Ultimate Game of Broken Promises
#healthcare
The Ultimate Game of Broken Promises
Politicians, healthcare workers, and the public are in a never-ending three-way tug-of-war. Politicians promise the world, claiming they’ll fix everything, while healthcare workers are the ones stuck picking up the pieces—literally, because no one told them how to fit all those broken promises into a single hospital room. Meanwhile, the public is standing in line, waiting to see a doctor, only to realize that their appointment is scheduled for six months from now and they’ll need to sell a kidney just to afford the co-pay. Doctors and nurses are running around like they’re in a high-stakes game of Twister, trying to keep everyone alive while politicians are busy arguing over which flavor of reform sounds best on Twitter. At the end of the day, everyone just wants to be healthy, but the system is like a game of “Simon Says”—except Simon is out to lunch, and the rules keep changing.
English Language Test Mandated for Foreign GPs in NHS to Ensure Patient Safety
- Tuesday, 04 October 2011
Health Secretary Andrew Lansley announced that doctors with poor English language skills will be prevented from working for the NHS in England. This decision follows the death of a patient treated by a German locum GP who had poor English skills. The new rule requires NHS officials to check the English language skills of all new foreign doctors before employment, and empowers the General Medical Council to take action against doctors with concerns about their English abilities.