After months and years of arguments, claims, counter-claims, protests, rhetoric, and anger, the BMA leadership and the Government have finally come to a compromise deal on the proposed new junior doctors’ contract. It’s not over yet. The precise wording of the contract has to be worked out, and the junior doctors have to vote to approve it in a referendum from 17th June to 1st July (having a referendum any time other than late June is inconceivable.) 

You could be forgiven for thinking that Wednesday’s budget didn’t say much about health – other than that headline-grabbing sugar levy. And following the frontloaded increase in NHS funding set out in November’s Spending Review, you might think that the health service really isn’t doing too badly under this government. 

But, as ever in health policy, things aren’t quite that simple. 

On 6 May, the Young Fabian Health Network hosted an event looking at NHS reform. Debbie Abrahams MP, Private Parliamentary Secretary to Shadow Health Secretary Andy Burnham MP, spoke for Labour, while Jos Bell spoke on behalf of the London Socialist Health Association.

Giving patients a say on how their healthcare is provided should be at the heart of Labour's health and care policy, but the party’s policy review consultation ‘Your Britain’ currently lacks focus in this area. 65 years ago, Labour won the moral argument with the British electorate for a National Health Service. Labour’s policy on ensuring the health service is truly accountable to, and owned by, the British people needs to be just as innovative if the ideals of the NHS are to survive in the 21st century. 

On Tuesday, May 6 the Health Network led a panel discussion in Parliament to find an answer to the question ‘how can Labour reform the NHS without another top-down reform?’

Debbie Abrahams MP, Parliamentary Private Secretary to Shadow Health Secretary Andy Burnham MP, spoke for Labour, whilst NHS campaigner Jos Bell spoke on behalf of the London Socialist Health Association. The event was chaired by the Health Network Chair, Amrita Rose.

Young Fabian Adebusuyi Adeyemi was a guest speaker at the Royal Society of Medicine over the weekend, closing the first day of a two-day forum. 

With a few exceptions, students of all health disciplines have little, if any, training in leadership, service improvement and multi-professional excellence. Yet from the moment they graduate, they require a range of such competencies, which become more important as they progress. Ade spoke about how this could be best achieved.

He argued that the ability to work across boundaries and achieve excellent patient care across disciplines has become ever more important. Future models of healthcare leadership will involve multiple actors who take up leadership roles both formally and informally, and importantly share leadership by working collaboratively. This collaborative leadership takes the form of new practices and innovations, with patients as well as staff members. As a result, leadership needs to be understood in terms of personal behavioural style or competences, rather than just leadership practices and organisational interventions. 

Ade will support the students and the Royal Society of Medicine in this important body of work

In September 2013 the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said that due to funding cuts, they needed to reduce their workload and stop collecting certain statistics. They suggested that a good first step would be to stop collecting data on child mortality.