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Could Biden be triumphant in the MidTerms? – politicalbetting.com

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  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 61,574
    ydoethur said:

    Car crash R4 Today interview by Thérèse Coffey.

    Perhaps…. Perhaps…. Blatant lie…. We will remove doctors’ monopoly prerogative to write prescriptions.

    Rough summary.

    Pardon? Back in 1997 I taught on the first nurse prescribing program.

    Now I believe nurses can prescribe a great deal more than they could then, and pharmacists employed in GP surgeries can and do as well.
    Last prescription I had was written by a nurse.

    By making nurses graduates, the government has whether deliberately or not raised them up in terms of knowledge and competency pretty close to the standards most doctors were at forty years ago.
    But not most Doctors...
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 39,145
    HYUFD said:

    Union has become ‘decidedly less popular’ in Scotland, report finds

    The British Social Attitudes poll attempts to discover the prevailing feelings in the UK on a number of topics, Scottish independence among them.

    … the survey shows the shifting attitudes in Scotland through the years, with support for independence rising from 27% in 1999 to 33% in 2014 – in the weeks ahead of the referendum on Scottish independence – and eventually rising to 52% last year.

    The time series also showed a drop in support for devolution as the governing structure in Scotland, from 59% in 1999 to 50% in 2014 and a further drop to just 38% last year.

    Support for not having a Scottish Parliament has remained roughly at the same rate, falling from just 10% in 1999 to 8% last year, although the figure peaked at 17% in 2004, the survey suggested.

    The authors of the report, who included polling expert Professor Sir John Curtice, pointed to the 2014 referendum and Brexit as factors for the increase in support in the past decade.

    They said: “Since 2014 there has been a marked increase in the level of support for independence, and especially so since the EU referendum of 2016, after which leaving the UK became more popular than devolution for the first time.”

    “The Union has certainly become decidedly less popular north of the border.”

    https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/scotland-government-support-snp-scottish-parliament-b1027278.html

    Though an outdated poll from last year, support for independence has fallen since

    https://www.heraldscotland.com/politics/22292141.support-independence-queens-death-poll-suggests/
    "limited"
  • Selebian said:

    Another day of feeling like crap. Have been ill all month, this latest 2nd round of head cold isn't clearing. Not helped by getting fitful sleep due to coughing, my fatigue levels keep finding exciting new highs :(

    Much how my wife and I felt in August when we had covid

    You need to be kind to yourself and rest as much as possible
    Just joined the covid club on Tuesday. Not too bad, one really nasty night of shivers. Your point about rest is well made, but tricky with three children, two of whom have also been poorly (we were a bit concerned about number three who is only 4 months old, for a bit, but he's better now).

    Glad to have avoided this pre-vaccination. Post vaccination, I'd have to say I've felt worse for longer with other viral infections, but it's still nasty enough.
    Mine isn't Covid. Two rounds of head cold, with creaking sinuses followed by gunge and chesty cough. Hadn't cleared the cough of the first lot when round two came crashing in. Think I am more bleugh this morning than last couple of days because sinus creaking is quite bad and my balance has gone because of it.

    Its a family trait on my dad's side. I'm not too bad, my brother suffers with sinus issues far worse than I do.
    Do you take the flu vaccine? I suffered similar to what you’re describing 2 or 3 times a year Sep-Mar but it stopped/reduced in severity since I started with the vaccine. I don’t think there’s any provable link to cold prevention but that’s the way it worked for me.
  • Another day of feeling like crap. Have been ill all month, this latest 2nd round of head cold isn't clearing. Not helped by getting fitful sleep due to coughing, my fatigue levels keep finding exciting new highs :(

    Much how my wife and I felt in August when we had covid

    You need to be kind to yourself and rest as much as possible
    Rest? I have a ludicrous pile of time-sensitive client work. KBO is the only possible solution. Whilst feeling more or less ropey I have had 2 days in London and a week in Romania on business. I do manage to perform when I need to, its just becoming increasingly difficult.
    I understand that and your frustration but if you can find me time it will help
  • Scott_xP said:

    I have low expectations of the Truss regime, but WTF is this?

    Seeing a GP in England within 2 weeks will be an "expectation" under new Govt, says new health secretary Therese Coffey (which isn't a guarantee)

    @BBCr4today


    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-62987823

    How is she going to deliver this? Any clues from her interview?
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 39,145

    Selebian said:

    Another day of feeling like crap. Have been ill all month, this latest 2nd round of head cold isn't clearing. Not helped by getting fitful sleep due to coughing, my fatigue levels keep finding exciting new highs :(

    Much how my wife and I felt in August when we had covid

    You need to be kind to yourself and rest as much as possible
    Just joined the covid club on Tuesday. Not too bad, one really nasty night of shivers. Your point about rest is well made, but tricky with three children, two of whom have also been poorly (we were a bit concerned about number three who is only 4 months old, for a bit, but he's better now).

    Glad to have avoided this pre-vaccination. Post vaccination, I'd have to say I've felt worse for longer with other viral infections, but it's still nasty enough.
    Mine isn't Covid. Two rounds of head cold, with creaking sinuses followed by gunge and chesty cough. Hadn't cleared the cough of the first lot when round two came crashing in. Think I am more bleugh this morning than last couple of days because sinus creaking is quite bad and my balance has gone because of it.

    Its a family trait on my dad's side. I'm not too bad, my brother suffers with sinus issues far worse than I do.
    Do you take the flu vaccine? I suffered similar to what you’re describing 2 or 3 times a year Sep-Mar but it stopped/reduced in severity since I started with the vaccine. I don’t think there’s any provable link to cold prevention but that’s the way it worked for me.
    Interesting. Currently feeling ropy thanks to having the covid no 4 yesterday - we got the flu one as well while at it, very efficient.
  • Car crash R4 Today interview by Thérèse Coffey.

    Perhaps…. Perhaps…. Blatant lie…. We will remove doctors’ monopoly prerogative to write prescriptions.

    Rough summary.

    It’s a marvellous coincidence that Trussy’s best pals are also talented individuals worthy of advancement.
  • Selebian said:

    Another day of feeling like crap. Have been ill all month, this latest 2nd round of head cold isn't clearing. Not helped by getting fitful sleep due to coughing, my fatigue levels keep finding exciting new highs :(

    Much how my wife and I felt in August when we had covid

    You need to be kind to yourself and rest as much as possible
    Just joined the covid club on Tuesday. Not too bad, one really nasty night of shivers. Your point about rest is well made, but tricky with three children, two of whom have also been poorly (we were a bit concerned about number three who is only 4 months old, for a bit, but he's better now).

    Glad to have avoided this pre-vaccination. Post vaccination, I'd have to say I've felt worse for longer with other viral infections, but it's still nasty enough.
    Mine isn't Covid. Two rounds of head cold, with creaking sinuses followed by gunge and chesty cough. Hadn't cleared the cough of the first lot when round two came crashing in. Think I am more bleugh this morning than last couple of days because sinus creaking is quite bad and my balance has gone because of it.

    Its a family trait on my dad's side. I'm not too bad, my brother suffers with sinus issues far worse than I do.
    Do you take the flu vaccine? I suffered similar to what you’re describing 2 or 3 times a year Sep-Mar but it stopped/reduced in severity since I started with the vaccine. I don’t think there’s any provable link to cold prevention but that’s the way it worked for me.
    Haven't done because I don't suffer from flu. Might be worth considering though.
  • Scott_xPScott_xP Posts: 32,739
    One thing that has become very clear - not least from Therese Coffey’s interviews this morning - is that the Truss administration will be government by endlessly repeated catchphrase.
    https://twitter.com/DAaronovitch/status/1572852941274419202
  • Car crash R4 Today interview by Thérèse Coffey.

    Perhaps…. Perhaps…. Blatant lie…. We will remove doctors’ monopoly prerogative to write prescriptions.

    Rough summary.

    Pardon? Back in 1997 I taught on the first nurse prescribing program.

    Now I believe nurses can prescribe a great deal more than they could then, and pharmacists employed in GP surgeries can and do as well.
    It is true that practice nurses do prescribe as indeed does mine for me and also pharmacists are increasingly a good port of call

    @StuartDickson commenting from Sweden on the English NHS is weird especially as Scotland's NHS has the same issues if not worse and are Sturgeons responsibility
  • OldKingColeOldKingCole Posts: 31,718
    Carnyx said:

    Selebian said:

    Another day of feeling like crap. Have been ill all month, this latest 2nd round of head cold isn't clearing. Not helped by getting fitful sleep due to coughing, my fatigue levels keep finding exciting new highs :(

    Much how my wife and I felt in August when we had covid

    You need to be kind to yourself and rest as much as possible
    Just joined the covid club on Tuesday. Not too bad, one really nasty night of shivers. Your point about rest is well made, but tricky with three children, two of whom have also been poorly (we were a bit concerned about number three who is only 4 months old, for a bit, but he's better now).

    Glad to have avoided this pre-vaccination. Post vaccination, I'd have to say I've felt worse for longer with other viral infections, but it's still nasty enough.
    Mine isn't Covid. Two rounds of head cold, with creaking sinuses followed by gunge and chesty cough. Hadn't cleared the cough of the first lot when round two came crashing in. Think I am more bleugh this morning than last couple of days because sinus creaking is quite bad and my balance has gone because of it.

    Its a family trait on my dad's side. I'm not too bad, my brother suffers with sinus issues far worse than I do.
    Do you take the flu vaccine? I suffered similar to what you’re describing 2 or 3 times a year Sep-Mar but it stopped/reduced in severity since I started with the vaccine. I don’t think there’s any provable link to cold prevention but that’s the way it worked for me.
    Interesting. Currently feeling ropy thanks to having the covid no 4 yesterday - we got the flu one as well while at it, very efficient.
    We are doing that on Saturday; we were booked in for the flu vaccine, but while I was having a telephone consultation with the senior partner earlier this week she told me they had now got a small stock of Covid vaccine and "would I like it then? ".

  • Selebian said:

    Another day of feeling like crap. Have been ill all month, this latest 2nd round of head cold isn't clearing. Not helped by getting fitful sleep due to coughing, my fatigue levels keep finding exciting new highs :(

    Much how my wife and I felt in August when we had covid

    You need to be kind to yourself and rest as much as possible
    Just joined the covid club on Tuesday. Not too bad, one really nasty night of shivers. Your point about rest is well made, but tricky with three children, two of whom have also been poorly (we were a bit concerned about number three who is only 4 months old, for a bit, but he's better now).

    Glad to have avoided this pre-vaccination. Post vaccination, I'd have to say I've felt worse for longer with other viral infections, but it's still nasty enough.
    Yes we had it post-vaccination, and it wasn't too unpleasant. However I'm pleased to say we've got our fourth vaccination on Saturday!
    I got a notification for an additional booster but the questions on the booking site suggest I am not eligible, so either there is something on my medical records that makes me clinically vulnerable, or one set of NHS computer whizz kids is not speaking to the other set of NHS tech geeks.
  • turbotubbsturbotubbs Posts: 14,878

    Car crash R4 Today interview by Thérèse Coffey.

    Perhaps…. Perhaps…. Blatant lie…. We will remove doctors’ monopoly prerogative to write prescriptions.

    Rough summary.

    I saw her on BBC1 and she was fine. What was the blatant lie? If she said that currently only doctors can prescribe then yes that is wrong, but did she say that?
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 75,842
    Nurses and pharmacists should be able to write out the most common prescriptions - the pill, broad spectrum antibiotics spring to mind.
  • eekeek Posts: 24,797
    Scott_xP said:

    One thing that has become very clear - not least from Therese Coffey’s interviews this morning - is that the Truss administration will be government by endlessly repeated catchphrase.
    https://twitter.com/DAaronovitch/status/1572852941274419202

    Yep because they have nothing else.

    Look at Coffey's plans to improve "GP" Access. That needs more GPs so the only option is to cheat or lie...
  • Scott_xPScott_xP Posts: 32,739

    Scott_xP said:

    I have low expectations of the Truss regime, but WTF is this?

    Seeing a GP in England within 2 weeks will be an "expectation" under new Govt, says new health secretary Therese Coffey (which isn't a guarantee)

    @BBCr4today


    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-62987823

    How is she going to deliver this? Any clues from her interview?
    🔵 Therese Coffey has admitted a new Government pledge for patients to be seen by a GP within two weeks could just mean them receiving a phone call.

    Read more on our politics live blog here ⬇️ https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2022/09/22/liz-truss-latest-news-tax-cuts-energy-freeze-live/?utm_content=politics&utm_medium=Social&utm_campaign=Echobox&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1663832231-2
  • turbotubbsturbotubbs Posts: 14,878
    Scott_xP said:

    I have low expectations of the Truss regime, but WTF is this?

    Seeing a GP in England within 2 weeks will be an "expectation" under new Govt, says new health secretary Therese Coffey (which isn't a guarantee)

    @BBCr4today


    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-62987823

    Sounds like expectation of not waiting for more than 4 hours in A&E. That wasn't a guarantee either.

    GP appointments come in many flavours. Some are urgent - an acute issue is time sensitive and there needs to be a mechanism for that. Others are for long term management of conditions and its fine to make an appointment weeks ahead for that too.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 66,751

    Car crash R4 Today interview by Thérèse Coffey.

    Perhaps…. Perhaps…. Blatant lie…. We will remove doctors’ monopoly prerogative to write prescriptions.

    Rough summary.

    I saw her on BBC1 and she was fine. What was the blatant lie? If she said that currently only doctors can prescribe then yes that is wrong, but did she say that?
    Moreover, she may not be lying. She may just be a bit dim. Remember, she was sent down from her Chemistry course at Oxford for not being up to it and while that *is* well known as a rigorous top level course my understanding is that that's quite rare.

    That said, apparently Truss told Grant Shapps he was an effective communicator and a competent minister despite the fact he was caught bang to rights for misleading the House over HS2 and the MML electrification programme. So maybe lying is a skill Truss prizes.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 66,751
    Scott_xP said:

    Scott_xP said:

    I have low expectations of the Truss regime, but WTF is this?

    Seeing a GP in England within 2 weeks will be an "expectation" under new Govt, says new health secretary Therese Coffey (which isn't a guarantee)

    @BBCr4today


    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-62987823

    How is she going to deliver this? Any clues from her interview?
    🔵 Therese Coffey has admitted a new Government pledge for patients to be seen by a GP within two weeks could just mean them receiving a phone call.

    Read more on our politics live blog here ⬇️ https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2022/09/22/liz-truss-latest-news-tax-cuts-energy-freeze-live/?utm_content=politics&utm_medium=Social&utm_campaign=Echobox&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1663832231-2
    I have to say that would still be an improvement.
  • FishingFishing Posts: 4,555
    edited September 2022

    Scott_xP said:

    A majority of voters - including nearly half of Tories - want higher taxes to pay for better public services.

    The findings come as Kwasi Kwarteng plans to slash taxes in tomorrow's mini-budget.

    https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/blow-for-liz-truss-as-voters-back-higher-taxes_uk_632b1e68e4b0ed991abf9369

    That's utter bullshit. People say they want higher taxes to pay for better services until they have to pay for them. Then they squeal.like a pig.
    People wanting higher taxes for other people is not a surprise
    Nor is it a surprise that people like consequence-free virtue signalling, even to a pollster they'll probably never talk to again.
  • turbotubbsturbotubbs Posts: 14,878
    Sandpit said:

    ydoethur said:

    Scott_xP said:

    I have low expectations of the Truss regime, but WTF is this?

    Seeing a GP in England within 2 weeks will be an "expectation" under new Govt, says new health secretary Therese Coffey (which isn't a guarantee)

    @BBCr4today


    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-62987823

    That would still be an improvement on the situation around here.

    Unless you've got membership of the Chase Golf Club and Spa.
    Envy of the world, the NHS.

    (So said no-one who’s ever lived anywhere else in the developed world).
    There are many many different ways to organise healthcare. The NHS is one of the most efficient in terms of outputs for money spent. It is not one of the best in terms of outcomes.
    Its beloved by many because you never get the bill. Someone posted over the weekend about cancer care UK vs USA. In the USA part of your treatment will depend on your insurance and how you will pay for treatment. In the UK thats not an issue (aside of edge cases with new treatments that NICE has not chosen to fund).
  • Scott_xP said:

    Scott_xP said:

    I have low expectations of the Truss regime, but WTF is this?

    Seeing a GP in England within 2 weeks will be an "expectation" under new Govt, says new health secretary Therese Coffey (which isn't a guarantee)

    @BBCr4today


    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-62987823

    How is she going to deliver this? Any clues from her interview?
    🔵 Therese Coffey has admitted a new Government pledge for patients to be seen by a GP within two weeks could just mean them receiving a phone call.

    Read more on our politics live blog here ⬇️ https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2022/09/22/liz-truss-latest-news-tax-cuts-energy-freeze-live/?utm_content=politics&utm_medium=Social&utm_campaign=Echobox&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1663832231-2
    Our practice here in North Wales operates a telephone only triage service and you are not allowed to attend the surgery unless you are given an appointment

    I either phone or e mail and then receive a call from the practice nurse or pharmacists who will deal with the issue or escalate it to the doctor

    To be fair it works very well and our problems are not our GPs but A & E and operation waiting times
  • turbotubbsturbotubbs Posts: 14,878

    Car crash R4 Today interview by Thérèse Coffey.

    Perhaps…. Perhaps…. Blatant lie…. We will remove doctors’ monopoly prerogative to write prescriptions.

    Rough summary.

    Pardon? Back in 1997 I taught on the first nurse prescribing program.

    Now I believe nurses can prescribe a great deal more than they could then, and pharmacists employed in GP surgeries can and do as well.
    All pharmacists graduating in 2025 will be qualified prescribers. I am suspecting that @StuartDickson has misquoted what Coffee said, as her interview on BBC1 was fine.
  • Pulpstar said:

    Nurses and pharmacists should be able to write out the most common prescriptions - the pill, broad spectrum antibiotics spring to mind.

    Are far as I am aware they do here in North Wales though it has to be a practice nurse
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 61,574
    Fishing said:

    Scott_xP said:

    A majority of voters - including nearly half of Tories - want higher taxes to pay for better public services.

    The findings come as Kwasi Kwarteng plans to slash taxes in tomorrow's mini-budget.

    https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/blow-for-liz-truss-as-voters-back-higher-taxes_uk_632b1e68e4b0ed991abf9369

    That's utter bullshit. People say they want higher taxes to pay for better services until they have to pay for them. Then they squeal.like a pig.
    People wanting higher taxes for other people is not a surprise
    Nor is it a surprise that people like consequence-free virtue signalling, even to a pollster they'll probably never talk to again.
    And neither it is entirely a surprise when folks dismiss opinion poll findings they dislike...
  • kle4kle4 Posts: 91,392
    Scott_xP said:

    I have low expectations of the Truss regime, but WTF is this?

    Seeing a GP in England within 2 weeks will be an "expectation" under new Govt, says new health secretary Therese Coffey (which isn't a guarantee)

    @BBCr4today


    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-62987823

    It's more realistic, to be frank, albeit not a great aim.
  • kamskikamski Posts: 4,199
    Sandpit said:

    QTWTAIN. He might scrape a tie in the Senate, and hold on to the house by a couple of seats, which would be about as “Triumphant” as Mrs May’s 2017 election. That’s Biden’s best case scenario.

    Surely IF dems get a majority in the House (28% chance according to 538), then they are also quite likely to make 1 or 2 net gains in the Senate. Not having to rely on Manchin's vote would be a big deal for Biden.
  • Carnyx said:

    HYUFD said:

    Union has become ‘decidedly less popular’ in Scotland, report finds

    The British Social Attitudes poll attempts to discover the prevailing feelings in the UK on a number of topics, Scottish independence among them.

    … the survey shows the shifting attitudes in Scotland through the years, with support for independence rising from 27% in 1999 to 33% in 2014 – in the weeks ahead of the referendum on Scottish independence – and eventually rising to 52% last year.

    The time series also showed a drop in support for devolution as the governing structure in Scotland, from 59% in 1999 to 50% in 2014 and a further drop to just 38% last year.

    Support for not having a Scottish Parliament has remained roughly at the same rate, falling from just 10% in 1999 to 8% last year, although the figure peaked at 17% in 2004, the survey suggested.

    The authors of the report, who included polling expert Professor Sir John Curtice, pointed to the 2014 referendum and Brexit as factors for the increase in support in the past decade.

    They said: “Since 2014 there has been a marked increase in the level of support for independence, and especially so since the EU referendum of 2016, after which leaving the UK became more popular than devolution for the first time.”

    “The Union has certainly become decidedly less popular north of the border.”

    https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/scotland-government-support-snp-scottish-parliament-b1027278.html

    Though an outdated poll from last year, support for independence has fallen since

    https://www.heraldscotland.com/politics/22292141.support-independence-queens-death-poll-suggests/
    "limited"
    Absolute cast iron guarantee that if the next Indy poll which will almost certainly be from a different pollster shows an increase for Yes, the likes of the Sun, Herald and HYUFD will not be saying support for the Union has fallen.

    On a secondary note, what a pathetic spectacle the Herald now makes, squeezing an article out of a half baked Sun poll. A recent reminder of a piece by the late lamented Ian Bell makes the decline even more stark.



  • turbotubbsturbotubbs Posts: 14,878
    Carnyx said:

    Selebian said:

    Another day of feeling like crap. Have been ill all month, this latest 2nd round of head cold isn't clearing. Not helped by getting fitful sleep due to coughing, my fatigue levels keep finding exciting new highs :(

    Much how my wife and I felt in August when we had covid

    You need to be kind to yourself and rest as much as possible
    Just joined the covid club on Tuesday. Not too bad, one really nasty night of shivers. Your point about rest is well made, but tricky with three children, two of whom have also been poorly (we were a bit concerned about number three who is only 4 months old, for a bit, but he's better now).

    Glad to have avoided this pre-vaccination. Post vaccination, I'd have to say I've felt worse for longer with other viral infections, but it's still nasty enough.
    Mine isn't Covid. Two rounds of head cold, with creaking sinuses followed by gunge and chesty cough. Hadn't cleared the cough of the first lot when round two came crashing in. Think I am more bleugh this morning than last couple of days because sinus creaking is quite bad and my balance has gone because of it.

    Its a family trait on my dad's side. I'm not too bad, my brother suffers with sinus issues far worse than I do.
    Do you take the flu vaccine? I suffered similar to what you’re describing 2 or 3 times a year Sep-Mar but it stopped/reduced in severity since I started with the vaccine. I don’t think there’s any provable link to cold prevention but that’s the way it worked for me.
    Interesting. Currently feeling ropy thanks to having the covid no 4 yesterday - we got the flu one as well while at it, very efficient.
    Wife had the covid booster on sunday (she's pregnant). Very quiet at the vaccination centre. Walk-ins allowed. I asked if I could have it too, no - over 50 only. FFS I'm 50 on 8th October... I understand there needs to be a cut off, but annoying! Let the ones who want vaccine have vaccine!
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 66,751
    Fishing said:

    Scott_xP said:

    A majority of voters - including nearly half of Tories - want higher taxes to pay for better public services.

    The findings come as Kwasi Kwarteng plans to slash taxes in tomorrow's mini-budget.

    https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/blow-for-liz-truss-as-voters-back-higher-taxes_uk_632b1e68e4b0ed991abf9369

    That's utter bullshit. People say they want higher taxes to pay for better services until they have to pay for them. Then they squeal.like a pig.
    People wanting higher taxes for other people is not a surprise
    Nor is it a surprise that people like consequence-free virtue signalling, even to a pollster they'll probably never talk to again.
    Hopi Sen phrased it as the pony questions:

    1) Would you like a pony?
    2) Would you like someone else to pay for your pony?

    Even if the first answer was 'not specially,' the answer to the second question was usually a sudden 'yes.'
  • ydoethur said:

    Car crash R4 Today interview by Thérèse Coffey.

    Perhaps…. Perhaps…. Blatant lie…. We will remove doctors’ monopoly prerogative to write prescriptions.

    Rough summary.

    I saw her on BBC1 and she was fine. What was the blatant lie? If she said that currently only doctors can prescribe then yes that is wrong, but did she say that?
    Moreover, she may not be lying. She may just be a bit dim. Remember, she was sent down from her Chemistry course at Oxford for not being up to it and while that *is* well known as a rigorous top level course my understanding is that that's quite rare.

    ...SNIP...
    My guess is there was more to it than that. First, Coffey has a PhD in Chemistry so it is not as if she does not know which end of the test tube goes in the bunsen burner. Second, I knew someone who was sent down from Oxford after being cleaned out at cards by the rich kids whose company he craved.

  • On topic, Democrats won the House by just over a 3% margin but only had a 9 seat majority in 2020. Redistricting was probably better than feared for Democrats, but 538 still suggest a net GOP gain of 3 or 4. Basically, the Democrat lead as of now isn't likely to quite be enough.

    On balance, midterms also tend to move a little towards the non-incumbent party towards election day as it's easier to attack than defend, and turnout tends to favour them a little too. Democrat retirements weaken them a little - and are a bit of a canary in the mine.

    I accept there are reasons that MAY not apply this time. The Dobbs decision may motivate Democrats. Trump personally motivates the base but isn't on the ballot (see 2018 result for evidence that they struggle on turnout without him - although of course that was a mid-term for them). The GOP has chosen some divisive characters in key seats (it's all very well having the Majorie Taylor-Greene type in a rock-solid red seat, but riskier a highly competitive one).

    However, on balance, I think Betfair punters have this right - GOP justified favourites but Democrats with the sort of realistic outside shot you'd not have given them at the start of the year.
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 50,770
    Nigelb said:

    The full decision on the Justice Department’s appeal regarding the classified documents stolen by Trump.
    Absolutely shreds the both the arguments of Trump’s lawyers, and the decision by Cannon,
    https://www.politico.com/f/?id=00000183-625b-da48-a3e3-e2ff83050000

    And this an appeal court of Trump appointees.
    The US legal system has suffered some heavy blows in recent years, but it is not yet entirely subverted.

    That is a pretty brutal demolition of Cannon's decision and the absurd position adopted by Trump's lawyers. It is a bit of a mixed bag because the special master appointed seemed to be doing a similar job and intended to bring his process to an end by 7th October anyway. A prosecution of Trump for possession of these 100 odd documents after his lawyers had certified a diligent search had been carried out to produce all such material must be imminent and, frankly, unanswerable.
  • turbotubbsturbotubbs Posts: 14,878
    Pulpstar said:

    Nurses and pharmacists should be able to write out the most common prescriptions - the pill, broad spectrum antibiotics spring to mind.

    All pharmacists graduating from 2025 will be able to prescribe. We are changing the course as instructed by the GPHC.
  • turbotubbsturbotubbs Posts: 14,878
    Scott_xP said:

    Scott_xP said:

    I have low expectations of the Truss regime, but WTF is this?

    Seeing a GP in England within 2 weeks will be an "expectation" under new Govt, says new health secretary Therese Coffey (which isn't a guarantee)

    @BBCr4today


    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-62987823

    How is she going to deliver this? Any clues from her interview?
    🔵 Therese Coffey has admitted a new Government pledge for patients to be seen by a GP within two weeks could just mean them receiving a phone call.

    Read more on our politics live blog here ⬇️ https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2022/09/22/liz-truss-latest-news-tax-cuts-energy-freeze-live/?utm_content=politics&utm_medium=Social&utm_campaign=Echobox&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1663832231-2
    Phone call triage works. If you need to attend in person that usually happens quickly after the phone call. My wife and I have positive experience of email first, receive phone call and then attend in person.
  • turbotubbsturbotubbs Posts: 14,878

    Pulpstar said:

    Nurses and pharmacists should be able to write out the most common prescriptions - the pill, broad spectrum antibiotics spring to mind.

    Are far as I am aware they do here in North Wales though it has to be a practice nurse
    Nurse prescribers can prescribe but not all nurses are nurse prescribers.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 66,751

    ydoethur said:

    Car crash R4 Today interview by Thérèse Coffey.

    Perhaps…. Perhaps…. Blatant lie…. We will remove doctors’ monopoly prerogative to write prescriptions.

    Rough summary.

    I saw her on BBC1 and she was fine. What was the blatant lie? If she said that currently only doctors can prescribe then yes that is wrong, but did she say that?
    Moreover, she may not be lying. She may just be a bit dim. Remember, she was sent down from her Chemistry course at Oxford for not being up to it and while that *is* well known as a rigorous top level course my understanding is that that's quite rare.

    ...SNIP...
    My guess is there was more to it than that. First, Coffey has a PhD in Chemistry so it is not as if she does not know which end of the test tube goes in the bunsen burner. Second, I knew someone who was sent down from Oxford after being cleaned out at cards by the rich kids whose company he craved.

    I have known dim people with PhDs, or rather, people who are so immersed in their subject that what goes on around them doesn't seem important so they can't deal with it. My favourite at Aber was a Professor who could literally get lost in the 50 yards between the lecture theatre and his office.

    But yes, you're right, that aspect of her being sent down does seem odd.
  • turbotubbsturbotubbs Posts: 14,878

    Carnyx said:

    HYUFD said:

    Union has become ‘decidedly less popular’ in Scotland, report finds

    The British Social Attitudes poll attempts to discover the prevailing feelings in the UK on a number of topics, Scottish independence among them.

    … the survey shows the shifting attitudes in Scotland through the years, with support for independence rising from 27% in 1999 to 33% in 2014 – in the weeks ahead of the referendum on Scottish independence – and eventually rising to 52% last year.

    The time series also showed a drop in support for devolution as the governing structure in Scotland, from 59% in 1999 to 50% in 2014 and a further drop to just 38% last year.

    Support for not having a Scottish Parliament has remained roughly at the same rate, falling from just 10% in 1999 to 8% last year, although the figure peaked at 17% in 2004, the survey suggested.

    The authors of the report, who included polling expert Professor Sir John Curtice, pointed to the 2014 referendum and Brexit as factors for the increase in support in the past decade.

    They said: “Since 2014 there has been a marked increase in the level of support for independence, and especially so since the EU referendum of 2016, after which leaving the UK became more popular than devolution for the first time.”

    “The Union has certainly become decidedly less popular north of the border.”

    https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/scotland-government-support-snp-scottish-parliament-b1027278.html

    Though an outdated poll from last year, support for independence has fallen since

    https://www.heraldscotland.com/politics/22292141.support-independence-queens-death-poll-suggests/
    "limited"
    Absolute cast iron guarantee that if the next Indy poll which will almost certainly be from a different pollster shows an increase for Yes, the likes of the Sun, Herald and HYUFD will not be saying support for the Union has fallen.

    On a secondary note, what a pathetic spectacle the Herald now makes, squeezing an article out of a half baked Sun poll. A recent reminder of a piece by the late lamented Ian Bell makes the decline even more stark.



    No idea who Ian Bell is other than the England cricketer. This not him then?
  • Dura_AceDura_Ace Posts: 12,880



    Amongst all the posh sods speaking at the funeral, Liz Truss accent stood out - and I liked it. She’s Yorkshire alright. It’s good that common uneducated people with an accent can get right up the greasy pole in politics, it gives me hope.

    What the fuck is this? Jizzy Lizzy has a PPE from Oxford and is a Chartered Accountant. How is that 'uneducated'?
  • HYUFDHYUFD Posts: 116,709
    ydoethur said:

    Car crash R4 Today interview by Thérèse Coffey.

    Perhaps…. Perhaps…. Blatant lie…. We will remove doctors’ monopoly prerogative to write prescriptions.

    Rough summary.

    I saw her on BBC1 and she was fine. What was the blatant lie? If she said that currently only doctors can prescribe then yes that is wrong, but did she say that?
    Moreover, she may not be lying. She may just be a bit dim. Remember, she was sent down from her Chemistry course at Oxford for not being up to it and while that *is* well known as a rigorous top level course my understanding is that that's quite rare.

    That said, apparently Truss told Grant Shapps he was an effective communicator and a competent minister despite the fact he was caught bang to rights for misleading the House over HS2 and the MML electrification programme. So maybe lying is a skill Truss prizes.
    More as she was doing too many extracurricular activities. She still got a Chemistry PhD from UCL so is hardly dim

    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/sep/07/therese-coffey-had-to-leave-oxford-university-but-made-it-to-deputy-pm
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 50,770
    HYUFD said:

    A 1% popular vote lead would likely not be enough for the Democrats to hold the House. They had an over 1% lead in 2012 but the GOP held on.

    They should hold the Senate though

    ANd the gerrymandering has got a lot worse since 2012. My guess is that they will need a 3-4% lead in the generic vote to hold the House. Before the overturning of Wade that looked impossible but the SC has motivated women in particular to have a higher propensity to vote than is normal in the midterms.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 66,751

    Carnyx said:

    HYUFD said:

    Union has become ‘decidedly less popular’ in Scotland, report finds

    The British Social Attitudes poll attempts to discover the prevailing feelings in the UK on a number of topics, Scottish independence among them.

    … the survey shows the shifting attitudes in Scotland through the years, with support for independence rising from 27% in 1999 to 33% in 2014 – in the weeks ahead of the referendum on Scottish independence – and eventually rising to 52% last year.

    The time series also showed a drop in support for devolution as the governing structure in Scotland, from 59% in 1999 to 50% in 2014 and a further drop to just 38% last year.

    Support for not having a Scottish Parliament has remained roughly at the same rate, falling from just 10% in 1999 to 8% last year, although the figure peaked at 17% in 2004, the survey suggested.

    The authors of the report, who included polling expert Professor Sir John Curtice, pointed to the 2014 referendum and Brexit as factors for the increase in support in the past decade.

    They said: “Since 2014 there has been a marked increase in the level of support for independence, and especially so since the EU referendum of 2016, after which leaving the UK became more popular than devolution for the first time.”

    “The Union has certainly become decidedly less popular north of the border.”

    https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/scotland-government-support-snp-scottish-parliament-b1027278.html

    Though an outdated poll from last year, support for independence has fallen since

    https://www.heraldscotland.com/politics/22292141.support-independence-queens-death-poll-suggests/
    "limited"
    Absolute cast iron guarantee that if the next Indy poll which will almost certainly be from a different pollster shows an increase for Yes, the likes of the Sun, Herald and HYUFD will not be saying support for the Union has fallen.

    On a secondary note, what a pathetic spectacle the Herald now makes, squeezing an article out of a half baked Sun poll. A recent reminder of a piece by the late lamented Ian Bell makes the decline even more stark.



    No idea who Ian Bell is other than the England cricketer. This not him then?
    Ah, the possessor of the dreamiest cover drive and the dopiest dismissals in the history of cricket.
  • turbotubbsturbotubbs Posts: 14,878

    ydoethur said:

    Car crash R4 Today interview by Thérèse Coffey.

    Perhaps…. Perhaps…. Blatant lie…. We will remove doctors’ monopoly prerogative to write prescriptions.

    Rough summary.

    I saw her on BBC1 and she was fine. What was the blatant lie? If she said that currently only doctors can prescribe then yes that is wrong, but did she say that?
    Moreover, she may not be lying. She may just be a bit dim. Remember, she was sent down from her Chemistry course at Oxford for not being up to it and while that *is* well known as a rigorous top level course my understanding is that that's quite rare.

    ...SNIP...
    My guess is there was more to it than that. First, Coffey has a PhD in Chemistry so it is not as if she does not know which end of the test tube goes in the bunsen burner. Second, I knew someone who was sent down from Oxford after being cleaned out at cards by the rich kids whose company he craved.

    I've seen her PhD thesis (close contempory of mine) and it looked fine. I doubt she is that stupid.
  • ydoethur said:

    Car crash R4 Today interview by Thérèse Coffey.

    Perhaps…. Perhaps…. Blatant lie…. We will remove doctors’ monopoly prerogative to write prescriptions.

    Rough summary.

    I saw her on BBC1 and she was fine. What was the blatant lie? If she said that currently only doctors can prescribe then yes that is wrong, but did she say that?
    Moreover, she may not be lying. She may just be a bit dim. Remember, she was sent down from her Chemistry course at Oxford for not being up to it and while that *is* well known as a rigorous top level course my understanding is that that's quite rare.

    ...SNIP...
    My guess is there was more to it than that. First, Coffey has a PhD in Chemistry so it is not as if she does not know which end of the test tube goes in the bunsen burner. Second, I knew someone who was sent down from Oxford after being cleaned out at cards by the rich kids whose company he craved.

    Guardian reports it was from academic performance. It seems due to spending too much time rowing.

    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/sep/07/therese-coffey-had-to-leave-oxford-university-but-made-it-to-deputy-pm
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 66,751

    ydoethur said:

    Car crash R4 Today interview by Thérèse Coffey.

    Perhaps…. Perhaps…. Blatant lie…. We will remove doctors’ monopoly prerogative to write prescriptions.

    Rough summary.

    I saw her on BBC1 and she was fine. What was the blatant lie? If she said that currently only doctors can prescribe then yes that is wrong, but did she say that?
    Moreover, she may not be lying. She may just be a bit dim. Remember, she was sent down from her Chemistry course at Oxford for not being up to it and while that *is* well known as a rigorous top level course my understanding is that that's quite rare.

    ...SNIP...
    My guess is there was more to it than that. First, Coffey has a PhD in Chemistry so it is not as if she does not know which end of the test tube goes in the bunsen burner. Second, I knew someone who was sent down from Oxford after being cleaned out at cards by the rich kids whose company he craved.

    Guardian reports it was from academic performance. It seems due to spending too much time rowing.

    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/sep/07/therese-coffey-had-to-leave-oxford-university-but-made-it-to-deputy-pm
    Interesting, given our own @TSE commented Mr Case did that at Cambridge, yet he still seems to have matriculated.
  • FishingFishing Posts: 4,555
    edited September 2022
    Nigelb said:

    Fishing said:

    Scott_xP said:

    A majority of voters - including nearly half of Tories - want higher taxes to pay for better public services.

    The findings come as Kwasi Kwarteng plans to slash taxes in tomorrow's mini-budget.

    https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/blow-for-liz-truss-as-voters-back-higher-taxes_uk_632b1e68e4b0ed991abf9369

    That's utter bullshit. People say they want higher taxes to pay for better services until they have to pay for them. Then they squeal.like a pig.
    People wanting higher taxes for other people is not a surprise
    Nor is it a surprise that people like consequence-free virtue signalling, even to a pollster they'll probably never talk to again.
    And neither it is entirely a surprise when folks dismiss opinion poll findings they dislike...
    It is a fair point, but I am (just about) old enough to remember people repeatedly electing Conservative governments in the 80s, despite similar opinion poll results and Labour pledging higher taxes and spending at every opportunity.

    And anybody who wants to can send their own money into the Treasury to pay for higher spending if they really want. Hardly anybody does so. Or they can send cash in to their local school or hospital. Rather more people do that, but hardly an overwhelming majority.

    But people cheat on their taxes all the time.

    I think many people strongly suspect that the problem isn't the level of taxes, which is the highest in decades, but inefficiency and misallocation within government spending.
  • Scott_xP said:

    Scott_xP said:

    I have low expectations of the Truss regime, but WTF is this?

    Seeing a GP in England within 2 weeks will be an "expectation" under new Govt, says new health secretary Therese Coffey (which isn't a guarantee)

    @BBCr4today


    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-62987823

    How is she going to deliver this? Any clues from her interview?
    🔵 Therese Coffey has admitted a new Government pledge for patients to be seen by a GP within two weeks could just mean them receiving a phone call.

    Read more on our politics live blog here ⬇️ https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2022/09/22/liz-truss-latest-news-tax-cuts-energy-freeze-live/?utm_content=politics&utm_medium=Social&utm_campaign=Echobox&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1663832231-2
    Our practice here in North Wales operates a telephone only triage service and you are not allowed to attend the surgery unless you are given an appointment

    I either phone or e mail and then receive a call from the practice nurse or pharmacists who will deal with the issue or escalate it to the doctor

    To be fair it works very well and our problems are not our GPs but A & E and operation waiting times
    Seems sensible.
  • eekeek Posts: 24,797

    ydoethur said:

    Car crash R4 Today interview by Thérèse Coffey.

    Perhaps…. Perhaps…. Blatant lie…. We will remove doctors’ monopoly prerogative to write prescriptions.

    Rough summary.

    I saw her on BBC1 and she was fine. What was the blatant lie? If she said that currently only doctors can prescribe then yes that is wrong, but did she say that?
    Moreover, she may not be lying. She may just be a bit dim. Remember, she was sent down from her Chemistry course at Oxford for not being up to it and while that *is* well known as a rigorous top level course my understanding is that that's quite rare.

    ...SNIP...
    My guess is there was more to it than that. First, Coffey has a PhD in Chemistry so it is not as if she does not know which end of the test tube goes in the bunsen burner. Second, I knew someone who was sent down from Oxford after being cleaned out at cards by the rich kids whose company he craved.

    Guardian reports it was from academic performance. It seems due to spending too much time rowing.

    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/sep/07/therese-coffey-had-to-leave-oxford-university-but-made-it-to-deputy-pm
    There are some university courses where non academic "hobbies" goes well with academic work. Chemistry (or engineering in general for that matter) isn't 1 of them.
  • ydoethur said:

    Car crash R4 Today interview by Thérèse Coffey.

    Perhaps…. Perhaps…. Blatant lie…. We will remove doctors’ monopoly prerogative to write prescriptions.

    Rough summary.

    I saw her on BBC1 and she was fine. What was the blatant lie? If she said that currently only doctors can prescribe then yes that is wrong, but did she say that?
    Moreover, she may not be lying. She may just be a bit dim. Remember, she was sent down from her Chemistry course at Oxford for not being up to it and while that *is* well known as a rigorous top level course my understanding is that that's quite rare.

    ...SNIP...
    My guess is there was more to it than that. First, Coffey has a PhD in Chemistry so it is not as if she does not know which end of the test tube goes in the bunsen burner. Second, I knew someone who was sent down from Oxford after being cleaned out at cards by the rich kids whose company he craved.

    Guardian reports it was from academic performance. It seems due to spending too much time rowing.

    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/sep/07/therese-coffey-had-to-leave-oxford-university-but-made-it-to-deputy-pm
    It would appear that she’s now learned her lesson about too much rowing.
  • MexicanpeteMexicanpete Posts: 24,585

    Selebian said:

    Another day of feeling like crap. Have been ill all month, this latest 2nd round of head cold isn't clearing. Not helped by getting fitful sleep due to coughing, my fatigue levels keep finding exciting new highs :(

    Much how my wife and I felt in August when we had covid

    You need to be kind to yourself and rest as much as possible
    Just joined the covid club on Tuesday. Not too bad, one really nasty night of shivers. Your point about rest is well made, but tricky with three children, two of whom have also been poorly (we were a bit concerned about number three who is only 4 months old, for a bit, but he's better now).

    Glad to have avoided this pre-vaccination. Post vaccination, I'd have to say I've felt worse for longer with other viral infections, but it's still nasty enough.
    Mine isn't Covid. Two rounds of head cold, with creaking sinuses followed by gunge and chesty cough. Hadn't cleared the cough of the first lot when round two came crashing in. Think I am more bleugh this morning than last couple of days because sinus creaking is quite bad and my balance has gone because of it.

    Its a family trait on my dad's side. I'm not too bad, my brother suffers with sinus issues far worse than I do.
    Do you take the flu vaccine? I suffered similar to what you’re describing 2 or 3 times a year Sep-Mar but it stopped/reduced in severity since I started with the vaccine. I don’t think there’s any provable link to cold prevention but that’s the way it worked for me.
    Same here. Work stress related coughs and colds were one after another. Touch wood, none in the last two years since taking the flu vaccine. I have also cut dairy to a minimum which (not a conversation for the breakfast table) has cut mucous production and sinusitis reduced dramatically.
  • kamskikamski Posts: 4,199
    DavidL said:

    HYUFD said:

    A 1% popular vote lead would likely not be enough for the Democrats to hold the House. They had an over 1% lead in 2012 but the GOP held on.

    They should hold the Senate though

    ANd the gerrymandering has got a lot worse since 2012. My guess is that they will need a 3-4% lead in the generic vote to hold the House. Before the overturning of Wade that looked impossible but the SC has motivated women in particular to have a higher propensity to vote than is normal in the midterms.
    Although the 538 forecast says "Republicans are favored to win a majority of seats if they win the popular vote by at least 0.3 points"
  • eekeek Posts: 24,797

    Scott_xP said:

    Scott_xP said:

    I have low expectations of the Truss regime, but WTF is this?

    Seeing a GP in England within 2 weeks will be an "expectation" under new Govt, says new health secretary Therese Coffey (which isn't a guarantee)

    @BBCr4today


    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-62987823

    How is she going to deliver this? Any clues from her interview?
    🔵 Therese Coffey has admitted a new Government pledge for patients to be seen by a GP within two weeks could just mean them receiving a phone call.

    Read more on our politics live blog here ⬇️ https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2022/09/22/liz-truss-latest-news-tax-cuts-energy-freeze-live/?utm_content=politics&utm_medium=Social&utm_campaign=Echobox&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1663832231-2
    Phone call triage works. If you need to attend in person that usually happens quickly after the phone call. My wife and I have positive experience of email first, receive phone call and then attend in person.
    What is being offered may not be phone call triage with a GP - it's just a phone call from the nosy receptionist....
  • kjhkjh Posts: 10,458
    Selebian said:

    Another day of feeling like crap. Have been ill all month, this latest 2nd round of head cold isn't clearing. Not helped by getting fitful sleep due to coughing, my fatigue levels keep finding exciting new highs :(

    Much how my wife and I felt in August when we had covid

    You need to be kind to yourself and rest as much as possible
    Just joined the covid club on Tuesday. Not too bad, one really nasty night of shivers. Your point about rest is well made, but tricky with three children, two of whom have also been poorly (we were a bit concerned about number three who is only 4 months old, for a bit, but he's better now).

    Glad to have avoided this pre-vaccination. Post vaccination, I'd have to say I've felt worse for longer with other viral infections, but it's still nasty enough.
    I was rather proud of being in the non COVID club, but joined the COVID club 2weeks ago after 3 days of partying in Spain at a weddings. I wasn't too ill at all but have a lingering cough.

    Annoyingly I was able to get my next jab just as I got covid. Now have to wait a month.
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 39,145
    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    Car crash R4 Today interview by Thérèse Coffey.

    Perhaps…. Perhaps…. Blatant lie…. We will remove doctors’ monopoly prerogative to write prescriptions.

    Rough summary.

    I saw her on BBC1 and she was fine. What was the blatant lie? If she said that currently only doctors can prescribe then yes that is wrong, but did she say that?
    Moreover, she may not be lying. She may just be a bit dim. Remember, she was sent down from her Chemistry course at Oxford for not being up to it and while that *is* well known as a rigorous top level course my understanding is that that's quite rare.

    ...SNIP...
    My guess is there was more to it than that. First, Coffey has a PhD in Chemistry so it is not as if she does not know which end of the test tube goes in the bunsen burner. Second, I knew someone who was sent down from Oxford after being cleaned out at cards by the rich kids whose company he craved.

    Guardian reports it was from academic performance. It seems due to spending too much time rowing.

    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/sep/07/therese-coffey-had-to-leave-oxford-university-but-made-it-to-deputy-pm
    Interesting, given our own @TSE commented Mr Case did that at Cambridge, yet he still seems to have matriculated.
    Er, isn't matriculation what they do at the beginning, when they turn up dewy-cheeked from school? So the rowing comes later.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 66,751

    ydoethur said:

    Car crash R4 Today interview by Thérèse Coffey.

    Perhaps…. Perhaps…. Blatant lie…. We will remove doctors’ monopoly prerogative to write prescriptions.

    Rough summary.

    I saw her on BBC1 and she was fine. What was the blatant lie? If she said that currently only doctors can prescribe then yes that is wrong, but did she say that?
    Moreover, she may not be lying. She may just be a bit dim. Remember, she was sent down from her Chemistry course at Oxford for not being up to it and while that *is* well known as a rigorous top level course my understanding is that that's quite rare.

    ...SNIP...
    My guess is there was more to it than that. First, Coffey has a PhD in Chemistry so it is not as if she does not know which end of the test tube goes in the bunsen burner. Second, I knew someone who was sent down from Oxford after being cleaned out at cards by the rich kids whose company he craved.

    Guardian reports it was from academic performance. It seems due to spending too much time rowing.

    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/sep/07/therese-coffey-had-to-leave-oxford-university-but-made-it-to-deputy-pm
    It would appear that she’s now learned her lesson about too much rowing.
    She now just agrees with whatever Truss says?
  • https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/sep/22/majority-of-uk-public-agree-with-liberal-views-on-race-and-sexual-identity-annual-poll

    >50% want more tax and spend, <10% want less tax and spend. Doesn't suggest massive enthusiasm for Truss's new economic medicine.
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 66,751
    Carnyx said:

    ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    Car crash R4 Today interview by Thérèse Coffey.

    Perhaps…. Perhaps…. Blatant lie…. We will remove doctors’ monopoly prerogative to write prescriptions.

    Rough summary.

    I saw her on BBC1 and she was fine. What was the blatant lie? If she said that currently only doctors can prescribe then yes that is wrong, but did she say that?
    Moreover, she may not be lying. She may just be a bit dim. Remember, she was sent down from her Chemistry course at Oxford for not being up to it and while that *is* well known as a rigorous top level course my understanding is that that's quite rare.

    ...SNIP...
    My guess is there was more to it than that. First, Coffey has a PhD in Chemistry so it is not as if she does not know which end of the test tube goes in the bunsen burner. Second, I knew someone who was sent down from Oxford after being cleaned out at cards by the rich kids whose company he craved.

    Guardian reports it was from academic performance. It seems due to spending too much time rowing.

    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/sep/07/therese-coffey-had-to-leave-oxford-university-but-made-it-to-deputy-pm
    Interesting, given our own @TSE commented Mr Case did that at Cambridge, yet he still seems to have matriculated.
    Er, isn't matriculation what they do at the beginning, when they turn up dewy-cheeked from school? So the rowing comes later.
    Graduated then.
  • New homes to be built with bars in windows to prevent tall people from falling out
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2022/09/21/new-homes-built-bars-windows-prevent-tall-people-falling/ (£££)

    Heightism or April Fools Day?
  • Scott_xPScott_xP Posts: 32,739

    Phone call triage works. If you need to attend in person that usually happens quickly after the phone call. My wife and I have positive experience of email first, receive phone call and then attend in person.

    But the phone call isn't until 2 weeks after you are sick

    How is that good triage?
  • ydoethurydoethur Posts: 66,751

    New homes to be built with bars in windows to prevent tall people from falling out
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2022/09/21/new-homes-built-bars-windows-prevent-tall-people-falling/ (£££)

    Heightism or April Fools Day?

    I assumed this was in Russia.
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 39,145

    Carnyx said:

    HYUFD said:

    Union has become ‘decidedly less popular’ in Scotland, report finds

    The British Social Attitudes poll attempts to discover the prevailing feelings in the UK on a number of topics, Scottish independence among them.

    … the survey shows the shifting attitudes in Scotland through the years, with support for independence rising from 27% in 1999 to 33% in 2014 – in the weeks ahead of the referendum on Scottish independence – and eventually rising to 52% last year.

    The time series also showed a drop in support for devolution as the governing structure in Scotland, from 59% in 1999 to 50% in 2014 and a further drop to just 38% last year.

    Support for not having a Scottish Parliament has remained roughly at the same rate, falling from just 10% in 1999 to 8% last year, although the figure peaked at 17% in 2004, the survey suggested.

    The authors of the report, who included polling expert Professor Sir John Curtice, pointed to the 2014 referendum and Brexit as factors for the increase in support in the past decade.

    They said: “Since 2014 there has been a marked increase in the level of support for independence, and especially so since the EU referendum of 2016, after which leaving the UK became more popular than devolution for the first time.”

    “The Union has certainly become decidedly less popular north of the border.”

    https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/scotland-government-support-snp-scottish-parliament-b1027278.html

    Though an outdated poll from last year, support for independence has fallen since

    https://www.heraldscotland.com/politics/22292141.support-independence-queens-death-poll-suggests/
    "limited"
    Absolute cast iron guarantee that if the next Indy poll which will almost certainly be from a different pollster shows an increase for Yes, the likes of the Sun, Herald and HYUFD will not be saying support for the Union has fallen.

    On a secondary note, what a pathetic spectacle the Herald now makes, squeezing an article out of a half baked Sun poll. A recent reminder of a piece by the late lamented Ian Bell makes the decline even more stark.



    Yep, what happened to the Herald - and the Scotsman - was utterly criminal. Two fine (and, for those who don't know what they were like, middle of the road) broadsheets reduced to stuff I wouldn't use to line a ferret's cage.
  • NickPalmerNickPalmer Posts: 21,263

    Scott_xP said:

    Scott_xP said:

    I have low expectations of the Truss regime, but WTF is this?

    Seeing a GP in England within 2 weeks will be an "expectation" under new Govt, says new health secretary Therese Coffey (which isn't a guarantee)

    @BBCr4today


    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-62987823

    How is she going to deliver this? Any clues from her interview?
    🔵 Therese Coffey has admitted a new Government pledge for patients to be seen by a GP within two weeks could just mean them receiving a phone call.

    Read more on our politics live blog here ⬇️ https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2022/09/22/liz-truss-latest-news-tax-cuts-energy-freeze-live/?utm_content=politics&utm_medium=Social&utm_campaign=Echobox&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1663832231-2
    Phone call triage works. If you need to attend in person that usually happens quickly after the phone call. My wife and I have positive experience of email first, receive phone call and then attend in person.
    Yes, me too. But it does need the various steps to proceed quickly. I asked for a call from a GP for a non-urgent issue in the morning, got one in the afternoon, and had a blood test organised for next day. No problem with that level of service at all. I also don't think that we can reasonably insist that you must always see the same GP AND that the GP must be available in a short time.

    The problem is that many people don't find that their GP practices are anything like that fast - some seem to be almost overwhelmed.
  • Dura_Ace said:



    Amongst all the posh sods speaking at the funeral, Liz Truss accent stood out - and I liked it. She’s Yorkshire alright. It’s good that common uneducated people with an accent can get right up the greasy pole in politics, it gives me hope.

    What the fuck is this? Jizzy Lizzy has a PPE from Oxford and is a Chartered Accountant. How is that 'uneducated'?
    As long as people still equate talking posh with being educated, let alone intelligent, there is no hope for this country.
  • WhisperingOracleWhisperingOracle Posts: 8,480
    edited September 2022
    JRM, ofcourse, is a beacon of intellect and education. A veritable Platonic monarch of erudition.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 61,574
    Fishing said:

    Nigelb said:

    Fishing said:

    Scott_xP said:

    A majority of voters - including nearly half of Tories - want higher taxes to pay for better public services.

    The findings come as Kwasi Kwarteng plans to slash taxes in tomorrow's mini-budget.

    https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/blow-for-liz-truss-as-voters-back-higher-taxes_uk_632b1e68e4b0ed991abf9369

    That's utter bullshit. People say they want higher taxes to pay for better services until they have to pay for them. Then they squeal.like a pig.
    People wanting higher taxes for other people is not a surprise
    Nor is it a surprise that people like consequence-free virtue signalling, even to a pollster they'll probably never talk to again.
    And neither it is entirely a surprise when folks dismiss opinion poll findings they dislike...
    It is a fair point, but I am (just about) old enough to remember people repeatedly electing Conservative governments in the 80s, despite similar opinion poll results and Labour pledging higher taxes and spending at every opportunity.

    And anybody who wants to can send their own money into the Treasury to pay for higher spending if they really want. Hardly anybody does so. Or they can send cash in to their local school or hospital. Rather more people do that, but hardly an overwhelming majority.

    But people cheat on their taxes all the time.

    I think many people strongly suspect that the problem isn't the level of taxes, which is the highest in decades, but inefficiency and misallocation within government spending.
    I'm old enough to remember voting for them at least once.
    I won't be repeating that this time atround.
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 39,145

    JRM, ofcourse, is a beacon of intellect and education.

    He does have the physical and fashion attributes of a Belisha beacon to some extent, I found myself thinking rather unkindly. Shameful of me.
  • kjhkjh Posts: 10,458

    Scott_xP said:

    Scott_xP said:

    I have low expectations of the Truss regime, but WTF is this?

    Seeing a GP in England within 2 weeks will be an "expectation" under new Govt, says new health secretary Therese Coffey (which isn't a guarantee)

    @BBCr4today


    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-62987823

    How is she going to deliver this? Any clues from her interview?
    🔵 Therese Coffey has admitted a new Government pledge for patients to be seen by a GP within two weeks could just mean them receiving a phone call.

    Read more on our politics live blog here ⬇️ https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2022/09/22/liz-truss-latest-news-tax-cuts-energy-freeze-live/?utm_content=politics&utm_medium=Social&utm_campaign=Echobox&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1663832231-2
    Phone call triage works. If you need to attend in person that usually happens quickly after the phone call. My wife and I have positive experience of email first, receive phone call and then attend in person.
    Yes, me too. But it does need the various steps to proceed quickly. I asked for a call from a GP for a non-urgent issue in the morning, got one in the afternoon, and had a blood test organised for next day. No problem with that level of service at all. I also don't think that we can reasonably insist that you must always see the same GP AND that the GP must be available in a short time.

    The problem is that many people don't find that their GP practices are anything like that fast - some seem to be almost overwhelmed.
    When I had a paralysed vocal cord during lockdown the telephone appointment worked well. After the call I was in the surgery immediately, in hospital for a camera down my nose in days and in an MRI m/c in days. All done inside the 2 week promise. Turned out not to be urgent, but the reaction time was impressive.
  • DavidLDavidL Posts: 50,770
    kamski said:

    DavidL said:

    HYUFD said:

    A 1% popular vote lead would likely not be enough for the Democrats to hold the House. They had an over 1% lead in 2012 but the GOP held on.

    They should hold the Senate though

    ANd the gerrymandering has got a lot worse since 2012. My guess is that they will need a 3-4% lead in the generic vote to hold the House. Before the overturning of Wade that looked impossible but the SC has motivated women in particular to have a higher propensity to vote than is normal in the midterms.
    Although the 538 forecast says "Republicans are favored to win a majority of seats if they win the popular vote by at least 0.3 points"
    I really don't think that can be right. The example @HYUFD gave of 2012 where the Republicans held the House despite losing the popular vote by 1% is more in line with my understanding. Some of it is gerrymandering but some of it is just the old fashioned ineffeciency of the Democratic vote with pointless, massive wins in the cities but losing out in the more finely balanced suburbs. We see similar things here with Labour.
  • Selebian said:

    Another day of feeling like crap. Have been ill all month, this latest 2nd round of head cold isn't clearing. Not helped by getting fitful sleep due to coughing, my fatigue levels keep finding exciting new highs :(

    Much how my wife and I felt in August when we had covid

    You need to be kind to yourself and rest as much as possible
    Just joined the covid club on Tuesday. Not too bad, one really nasty night of shivers. Your point about rest is well made, but tricky with three children, two of whom have also been poorly (we were a bit concerned about number three who is only 4 months old, for a bit, but he's better now).

    Glad to have avoided this pre-vaccination. Post vaccination, I'd have to say I've felt worse for longer with other viral infections, but it's still nasty enough.
    Mine isn't Covid. Two rounds of head cold, with creaking sinuses followed by gunge and chesty cough. Hadn't cleared the cough of the first lot when round two came crashing in. Think I am more bleugh this morning than last couple of days because sinus creaking is quite bad and my balance has gone because of it.

    Its a family trait on my dad's side. I'm not too bad, my brother suffers with sinus issues far worse than I do.
    Do you take the flu vaccine? I suffered similar to what you’re describing 2 or 3 times a year Sep-Mar but it stopped/reduced in severity since I started with the vaccine. I don’t think there’s any provable link to cold prevention but that’s the way it worked for me.
    Same here. Work stress related coughs and colds were one after another. Touch wood, none in the last two years since taking the flu vaccine. I have also cut dairy to a minimum which (not a conversation for the breakfast table) has cut mucous production and sinusitis reduced dramatically.
    Appreciate the tips guys
  • Scott_xP said:

    Scott_xP said:

    I have low expectations of the Truss regime, but WTF is this?

    Seeing a GP in England within 2 weeks will be an "expectation" under new Govt, says new health secretary Therese Coffey (which isn't a guarantee)

    @BBCr4today


    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-62987823

    How is she going to deliver this? Any clues from her interview?
    🔵 Therese Coffey has admitted a new Government pledge for patients to be seen by a GP within two weeks could just mean them receiving a phone call.

    Read more on our politics live blog here ⬇️ https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2022/09/22/liz-truss-latest-news-tax-cuts-energy-freeze-live/?utm_content=politics&utm_medium=Social&utm_campaign=Echobox&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1663832231-2
    Our practice here in North Wales operates a telephone only triage service and you are not allowed to attend the surgery unless you are given an appointment

    I either phone or e mail and then receive a call from the practice nurse or pharmacists who will deal with the issue or escalate it to the doctor

    To be fair it works very well and our problems are not our GPs but A & E and operation waiting times
    Seems sensible.
    It really is and it works extremely well
  • Pro_RataPro_Rata Posts: 4,784
    Carnyx said:

    JRM, ofcourse, is a beacon of intellect and education.

    He does have the physical and fashion attributes of a Belisha beacon to some extent, I found myself thinking rather unkindly. Shameful of me.
    Let's hope his seat is flashing orange at the next GE.
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 39,145

    Carnyx said:

    Selebian said:

    Another day of feeling like crap. Have been ill all month, this latest 2nd round of head cold isn't clearing. Not helped by getting fitful sleep due to coughing, my fatigue levels keep finding exciting new highs :(

    Much how my wife and I felt in August when we had covid

    You need to be kind to yourself and rest as much as possible
    Just joined the covid club on Tuesday. Not too bad, one really nasty night of shivers. Your point about rest is well made, but tricky with three children, two of whom have also been poorly (we were a bit concerned about number three who is only 4 months old, for a bit, but he's better now).

    Glad to have avoided this pre-vaccination. Post vaccination, I'd have to say I've felt worse for longer with other viral infections, but it's still nasty enough.
    Mine isn't Covid. Two rounds of head cold, with creaking sinuses followed by gunge and chesty cough. Hadn't cleared the cough of the first lot when round two came crashing in. Think I am more bleugh this morning than last couple of days because sinus creaking is quite bad and my balance has gone because of it.

    Its a family trait on my dad's side. I'm not too bad, my brother suffers with sinus issues far worse than I do.
    Do you take the flu vaccine? I suffered similar to what you’re describing 2 or 3 times a year Sep-Mar but it stopped/reduced in severity since I started with the vaccine. I don’t think there’s any provable link to cold prevention but that’s the way it worked for me.
    Interesting. Currently feeling ropy thanks to having the covid no 4 yesterday - we got the flu one as well while at it, very efficient.
    We are doing that on Saturday; we were booked in for the flu vaccine, but while I was having a telephone consultation with the senior partner earlier this week she told me they had now got a small stock of Covid vaccine and "would I like it then? ".

    In Scotland, or at least this area, the two vaccines are being systematically offered together ab initio for the older folk - I can't remember if the cutoff date by age (poor @turbotubbs BTW) is the same for both, but of course the age ranges will be much the same whatever the actual detail. Very good to get them done together, even if both arms are uncomfortable now.
  • ydoethur said:

    ydoethur said:

    Car crash R4 Today interview by Thérèse Coffey.

    Perhaps…. Perhaps…. Blatant lie…. We will remove doctors’ monopoly prerogative to write prescriptions.

    Rough summary.

    I saw her on BBC1 and she was fine. What was the blatant lie? If she said that currently only doctors can prescribe then yes that is wrong, but did she say that?
    Moreover, she may not be lying. She may just be a bit dim. Remember, she was sent down from her Chemistry course at Oxford for not being up to it and while that *is* well known as a rigorous top level course my understanding is that that's quite rare.

    ...SNIP...
    My guess is there was more to it than that. First, Coffey has a PhD in Chemistry so it is not as if she does not know which end of the test tube goes in the bunsen burner. Second, I knew someone who was sent down from Oxford after being cleaned out at cards by the rich kids whose company he craved.

    Guardian reports it was from academic performance. It seems due to spending too much time rowing.

    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/sep/07/therese-coffey-had-to-leave-oxford-university-but-made-it-to-deputy-pm
    It would appear that she’s now learned her lesson about too much rowing.
    She now just agrees with whatever Truss says?
    As long as it’s ‘Have another snifter Tessy, and by all means spark up that Monte Cristo No.4'.
    Liz knows how to keep the troops happy.
  • Scott_xPScott_xP Posts: 32,739

    the various steps to proceed quickly. I asked for a call from a GP for a non-urgent issue in the morning, got one in the afternoon, and had a blood test organised for next day. No problem with that level of service at all.

    This is not what is being proposed though
  • kjh said:

    Selebian said:

    Another day of feeling like crap. Have been ill all month, this latest 2nd round of head cold isn't clearing. Not helped by getting fitful sleep due to coughing, my fatigue levels keep finding exciting new highs :(

    Much how my wife and I felt in August when we had covid

    You need to be kind to yourself and rest as much as possible
    Just joined the covid club on Tuesday. Not too bad, one really nasty night of shivers. Your point about rest is well made, but tricky with three children, two of whom have also been poorly (we were a bit concerned about number three who is only 4 months old, for a bit, but he's better now).

    Glad to have avoided this pre-vaccination. Post vaccination, I'd have to say I've felt worse for longer with other viral infections, but it's still nasty enough.
    I was rather proud of being in the non COVID club, but joined the COVID club 2weeks ago after 3 days of partying in Spain at a weddings. I wasn't too ill at all but have a lingering cough.

    Annoyingly I was able to get my next jab just as I got covid. Now have to wait a month.
    I have seriously wondered if this is Covid. I test negative, I have the same known symptoms of things I have had before, so officially its not Covid.

    But - AIUI the overlap between modern Covid and winter snot is significant. And I am struggling to recall a time when I have been this bleugh for this long. My voice going hoarse to the point of barely being able to talk has only ever happened to me once before.
  • Dura_Ace said:



    Amongst all the posh sods speaking at the funeral, Liz Truss accent stood out - and I liked it. She’s Yorkshire alright. It’s good that common uneducated people with an accent can get right up the greasy pole in politics, it gives me hope.

    What the fuck is this? Jizzy Lizzy has a PPE from Oxford and is a Chartered Accountant. How is that 'uneducated'?
    As long as people still equate talking posh with being educated, let alone intelligent, there is no hope for this country.
    There is a huge difference between academic intelligence and real world intelligence. "I got a 2:1 at Oxford" doesn't make the person street smart and able to both manage a complex department and communicate in a politically savvy manner. Nor does not having a degree make someone dumb.
  • Scott_xP said:

    Phone call triage works. If you need to attend in person that usually happens quickly after the phone call. My wife and I have positive experience of email first, receive phone call and then attend in person.

    But the phone call isn't until 2 weeks after you are sick

    How is that good triage?
    You are just being plainly ridiculous

    The triage system our practice uses results in a phone call from the practice that day and if not the day after where you are triaged and either the practice nurse, pharmacists, physio or doctor contacts you

    It is unfortunate you give the constant impression you actually want everything to fail in a desperate and ill fated hope that somehow will see us re joining the EU
  • kamskikamski Posts: 4,199
    DavidL said:

    kamski said:

    DavidL said:

    HYUFD said:

    A 1% popular vote lead would likely not be enough for the Democrats to hold the House. They had an over 1% lead in 2012 but the GOP held on.

    They should hold the Senate though

    ANd the gerrymandering has got a lot worse since 2012. My guess is that they will need a 3-4% lead in the generic vote to hold the House. Before the overturning of Wade that looked impossible but the SC has motivated women in particular to have a higher propensity to vote than is normal in the midterms.
    Although the 538 forecast says "Republicans are favored to win a majority of seats if they win the popular vote by at least 0.3 points"
    I really don't think that can be right. The example @HYUFD gave of 2012 where the Republicans held the House despite losing the popular vote by 1% is more in line with my understanding. Some of it is gerrymandering but some of it is just the old fashioned ineffeciency of the Democratic vote with pointless, massive wins in the cities but losing out in the more finely balanced suburbs. We see similar things here with Labour.
    I'm just reporting what 538 seem to be saying here:

    https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2022-election-forecast/house/

    It surprises me too, and they don't offer any explanation.
  • Dura_Ace said:



    Amongst all the posh sods speaking at the funeral, Liz Truss accent stood out - and I liked it. She’s Yorkshire alright. It’s good that common uneducated people with an accent can get right up the greasy pole in politics, it gives me hope.

    What the fuck is this? Jizzy Lizzy has a PPE from Oxford and is a Chartered Accountant. How is that 'uneducated'?
    Irony? LizT makes great play of having been educated at Dotheboys Hall.
  • kjhkjh Posts: 10,458

    kjh said:

    Selebian said:

    Another day of feeling like crap. Have been ill all month, this latest 2nd round of head cold isn't clearing. Not helped by getting fitful sleep due to coughing, my fatigue levels keep finding exciting new highs :(

    Much how my wife and I felt in August when we had covid

    You need to be kind to yourself and rest as much as possible
    Just joined the covid club on Tuesday. Not too bad, one really nasty night of shivers. Your point about rest is well made, but tricky with three children, two of whom have also been poorly (we were a bit concerned about number three who is only 4 months old, for a bit, but he's better now).

    Glad to have avoided this pre-vaccination. Post vaccination, I'd have to say I've felt worse for longer with other viral infections, but it's still nasty enough.
    I was rather proud of being in the non COVID club, but joined the COVID club 2weeks ago after 3 days of partying in Spain at a weddings. I wasn't too ill at all but have a lingering cough.

    Annoyingly I was able to get my next jab just as I got covid. Now have to wait a month.
    I have seriously wondered if this is Covid. I test negative, I have the same known symptoms of things I have had before, so officially its not Covid.

    But - AIUI the overlap between modern Covid and winter snot is significant. And I am struggling to recall a time when I have been this bleugh for this long. My voice going hoarse to the point of barely being able to talk has only ever happened to me once before.
    One of the tricky things is all the different symptoms for COVID. Practically everyone at the wedding went down with COVID but all with very different symptoms. Really odd.

    One just had a splitting headache. Rest of us not. I have a cough. Rest not, etc, etc.
  • Scott_xPScott_xP Posts: 32,739

    The triage system our practice uses results in a phone call from the practice that day and if not the day after where you are triaged and either the practice nurse, pharmacists, physio or doctor contacts you

    Which is not what was proposed by the Health Secretary this morning.

    The proposal is if you want an appointment, they will have an expectation that you will receive a phone call within 2 weeks.

    That's what I am unimpressed with
  • paulyork64paulyork64 Posts: 2,461
    Just picked up my wife's asthma inhalers from the local Boots. As I arrived an old lady exited and gave a big sigh. Foolishly I asked if she was ok. She said she'd been late for her doctors appointment and had been told she'd have to wait 2 weeks for another. "Oh no" I said. "Bloody well get up earlier then" I thought.
  • I wish politicians would stop interfering in the minutiae of the health care system. Years ago, when Blair was PM, there was some pledge that everyone should be able to get a GP appointment within 24 hours (how far we have fallen).

    The effect of this on me was that I became unable to make an appointment in advance, at a time convenient to me, with my preferred GP, and instead I had to join a scrum on the phone line to my surgery, first thing in the morning, for a same day appointment with a random GP at a random time, that I then had to get leave from my employer to attend.

    In many ways it's worse now, because instead I don't get an appointment at a specific time, I get a promise of a phone call at a random time, which means I've sometimes had to drop off work meetings to take a call from a locum GP.
  • CarnyxCarnyx Posts: 39,145

    Dura_Ace said:



    Amongst all the posh sods speaking at the funeral, Liz Truss accent stood out - and I liked it. She’s Yorkshire alright. It’s good that common uneducated people with an accent can get right up the greasy pole in politics, it gives me hope.

    What the fuck is this? Jizzy Lizzy has a PPE from Oxford and is a Chartered Accountant. How is that 'uneducated'?
    Irony? LizT makes great play of having been educated at Dotheboys Hall.
    Wasn't Dotheboys private? Surely you mean Bash Street.
  • NigelbNigelb Posts: 61,574

    I wish politicians would stop interfering in the minutiae of the health care system. Years ago, when Blair was PM, there was some pledge that everyone should be able to get a GP appointment within 24 hours (how far we have fallen).

    The effect of this on me was that I became unable to make an appointment in advance, at a time convenient to me, with my preferred GP, and instead I had to join a scrum on the phone line to my surgery, first thing in the morning, for a same day appointment with a random GP at a random time, that I then had to get leave from my employer to attend.

    In many ways it's worse now, because instead I don't get an appointment at a specific time, I get a promise of a phone call at a random time, which means I've sometimes had to drop off work meetings to take a call from a locum GP.

    The GP experience does seem to very massively between quite good and unremittingly sh*t.
    And in my anecdotal experience, there's not a small proportion of the latter.
  • Scott_xP said:

    Phone call triage works. If you need to attend in person that usually happens quickly after the phone call. My wife and I have positive experience of email first, receive phone call and then attend in person.

    But the phone call isn't until 2 weeks after you are sick

    How is that good triage?
    If its not an emergency, two weeks is fine.

    Not all calls to GPs are emergencies, but still not good to be waiting months on end even for non-emergencies.
  • MoonRabbitMoonRabbit Posts: 12,415
    Dura_Ace said:



    Amongst all the posh sods speaking at the funeral, Liz Truss accent stood out - and I liked it. She’s Yorkshire alright. It’s good that common uneducated people with an accent can get right up the greasy pole in politics, it gives me hope.

    What the fuck is this? Jizzy Lizzy has a PPE from Oxford and is a Chartered Accountant. How is that 'uneducated'?
    Tbf that’s a good point you pulled me up on there - and thanks for clearly toning down from your usual language to make it.

    I guess I was over focussed on what Truss called the awful state school and education she started from, before making good for herself. I do accept even common people like Truss can go the UKs great university’s (either of them) if they try very hard at a subject and want a proper job afterwards.
  • turbotubbsturbotubbs Posts: 14,878
    Scott_xP said:

    Phone call triage works. If you need to attend in person that usually happens quickly after the phone call. My wife and I have positive experience of email first, receive phone call and then attend in person.

    But the phone call isn't until 2 weeks after you are sick

    How is that good triage?
    It won't be.
  • Dura_Ace said:



    Amongst all the posh sods speaking at the funeral, Liz Truss accent stood out - and I liked it. She’s Yorkshire alright. It’s good that common uneducated people with an accent can get right up the greasy pole in politics, it gives me hope.

    What the fuck is this? Jizzy Lizzy has a PPE from Oxford and is a Chartered Accountant. How is that 'uneducated'?
    Irony? LizT makes great play of having been educated at Dotheboys Hall.
    One comment I read after one of her more rubbish speeches - if her Comprehensive managed to get her into Oxford it must have been a lot better than she is making out.
  • Dura_Ace said:



    Amongst all the posh sods speaking at the funeral, Liz Truss accent stood out - and I liked it. She’s Yorkshire alright. It’s good that common uneducated people with an accent can get right up the greasy pole in politics, it gives me hope.

    What the fuck is this? Jizzy Lizzy has a PPE from Oxford and is a Chartered Accountant. How is that 'uneducated'?
    Tbf that’s a good point you pulled me up on there - and thanks for clearly toning down from your usual language to make it.

    I guess I was over focussed on what Truss called the awful state school and education she started from, before making good for herself. I do accept even common people like Truss can go the UKs great university’s (either of them) if they try very hard at a subject and want a proper job afterwards.
    Her dad was a maths professor! She's middle class not "common". But like most middle class people and 93% of the population she went to a state school.
  • DecrepiterJohnLDecrepiterJohnL Posts: 23,926
    edited September 2022
    Nigelb said:

    I wish politicians would stop interfering in the minutiae of the health care system. Years ago, when Blair was PM, there was some pledge that everyone should be able to get a GP appointment within 24 hours (how far we have fallen).

    The effect of this on me was that I became unable to make an appointment in advance, at a time convenient to me, with my preferred GP, and instead I had to join a scrum on the phone line to my surgery, first thing in the morning, for a same day appointment with a random GP at a random time, that I then had to get leave from my employer to attend.

    In many ways it's worse now, because instead I don't get an appointment at a specific time, I get a promise of a phone call at a random time, which means I've sometimes had to drop off work meetings to take a call from a locum GP.

    The GP experience does seem to very massively between quite good and unremittingly sh*t.
    And in my anecdotal experience, there's not a small proportion of the latter.
    One of Coffey's proposals is league tables so patients can see when it would be advantageous to switch GPs. At root, there are not enough doctors.
  • I wish politicians would stop interfering in the minutiae of the health care system. Years ago, when Blair was PM, there was some pledge that everyone should be able to get a GP appointment within 24 hours (how far we have fallen).

    The effect of this on me was that I became unable to make an appointment in advance, at a time convenient to me, with my preferred GP, and instead I had to join a scrum on the phone line to my surgery, first thing in the morning, for a same day appointment with a random GP at a random time, that I then had to get leave from my employer to attend.

    In many ways it's worse now, because instead I don't get an appointment at a specific time, I get a promise of a phone call at a random time, which means I've sometimes had to drop off work meetings to take a call from a locum GP.

    The 24 hours thing was a disaster because the way it was implemented, it was a lie. You could get an appointment within 24 hours so long as you were first to call at 8am, but if you weren't then you'd be told to call back tomorrow.

    Simply not registering appointments, and telling people to call back another day, doesn't mean you're seeing them in 24 hours. It was pure dishonesty.

    Getting a same day appointment for urgent care, but a scheduled one for non-urgent issues, is better as you say.
  • WhisperingOracleWhisperingOracle Posts: 8,480
    edited September 2022
    Peston had a good interview with one of Liz Truss's contemporaries about sink, ghetto school Roundhay .. :

    https://twitter.com/ITVNewsPolitics/status/1552706404699586561

  • LostPasswordLostPassword Posts: 14,772
    edited September 2022

    Scott_xP said:

    Scott_xP said:

    I have low expectations of the Truss regime, but WTF is this?

    Seeing a GP in England within 2 weeks will be an "expectation" under new Govt, says new health secretary Therese Coffey (which isn't a guarantee)

    @BBCr4today


    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-62987823

    How is she going to deliver this? Any clues from her interview?
    🔵 Therese Coffey has admitted a new Government pledge for patients to be seen by a GP within two weeks could just mean them receiving a phone call.

    Read more on our politics live blog here ⬇️ https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2022/09/22/liz-truss-latest-news-tax-cuts-energy-freeze-live/?utm_content=politics&utm_medium=Social&utm_campaign=Echobox&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1663832231-2
    Phone call triage works. If you need to attend in person that usually happens quickly after the phone call. My wife and I have positive experience of email first, receive phone call and then attend in person.
    Phone call triage works for acute issues, such as an ear infection, say. It's completely crap for people with chronic conditions to be passed through the same system, so that they have to go through triage for their chronic condition time after time after time and bring yet another person up to speed with their condition.

    It means that someone with a chronic condition receives the same trite and superficial advice and they don't get the professional help to understand their condition and manage it.
  • PulpstarPulpstar Posts: 75,842
    My biggest beef with phone calls from GP is if you miss it it is literally impossible sometimes to immediately call the GP back.
  • Scott_xP said:

    Phone call triage works. If you need to attend in person that usually happens quickly after the phone call. My wife and I have positive experience of email first, receive phone call and then attend in person.

    But the phone call isn't until 2 weeks after you are sick

    How is that good triage?
    You are just being plainly ridiculous

    The triage system our practice uses results in a phone call from the practice that day and if not the day after where you are triaged and either the practice nurse, pharmacists, physio or doctor contacts you

    It is unfortunate you give the constant impression you actually want everything to fail in a desperate and ill fated hope that somehow will see us re joining the EU
    You are both right. Your surgery has a brilliant phone triage service - that's great! But your experience isn't universal, with so many GP practices impossible to get hold of. If the processing time target is set at 2 weeks, that's the earliest they need to do triage.

    Wanting things to fail is not some kind of choice. Things ARE failing. Badly. The inability to recognise this drives the inability to fix this which means more things fail.
  • Scott_xPScott_xP Posts: 32,739
    First clips coming out of Russia this morning of draftees saying bye to their families. This from a small town in Yakutsk. Credits @taygainfo https://twitter.com/PjotrSauer/status/1572863899934019585/video/1
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