Starmergeddon: They Came And Ate Us

[_Os_]

At a time when they're having to release prisoners early due to over-crowding, multi-year sentences for peaceful protestors is insane.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment ... re_btn_url

Perhaps a vain hope, but it'd be super swell if Labour could do something about the bullshit anti-protest measures the last government introduced.

They didn't even get to the protest. It's for conspiracy to disrupt rather than actual disruption.

An insane sentence, they will be appealed successfully you'd think.

Labour already said pre-election they're not going to repeal all the anti-protest laws as it would take up too much time. Doesn't stop new laws replacing the old laws though. The law is what it is, so I'm not sure what an appeal is going to do.

A very stupid batch of laws to create. Which very obviously will be applied more widely than climate protestors. Good luck to anyone on the far right so much as looking to protest, without positive media coverage, and looking more like a racist football hooligan than a climate protestor looking more like 12 year old girl called Tamzin or an old age pensioner. Lots of people going down for long stretches and treated like hardcore criminals once this is fully embedded.

[JM2K6]

The judge in question claimed the offences were very serious indeed and they were fanatics who deserved long custodial sentences.

Contrasts quite strongly with his comments on a rapist police officer who he wanted to not send to jail to show him "an act of mercy", and not jailing the guy who rammed the Downing Street gates even after he was found to be in possession of child abuse images.

Remarkable stuff.

[sockwithaticket]

The judge in question claimed the offences were very serious indeed and they were fanatics who deserved long custodial sentences.

Contrasts quite strongly with his comments on a rapist police officer who he wanted to not send to jail to show him "an act of mercy", and not jailing the guy who rammed the Downing Street gates even after he was found to be in possession of child abuse images.

Remarkable stuff.

He also gave suspended sentences to two blokes who beat up an off-duty police officer badly enough that he needed titanium plates in his face. Funnily enough they were the sons of one of the UK's wealthiest men

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/g ... il-3490196

[epwc]

Sounds like he truly understands what justice means

[_Os_]

This is interesting. Labour stating they're not going to do anything regarding China that harms the UK economy, in other words the UK is going to take Chinese money. Shein is a Chinese clothing retailer and wants to list in London, looks like London isn't going to be prevented from competing with other European markets for Chinese companies that want a Western listing but are avoiding the US.

Also a strong signal that if the US gives up on NATO and abandons Ukraine, then there's not much chance of them being able to strong arm their unsupported allies into doing anything at all about China.

This is much more realistic than the Tory position of maximum exit from the EU, opposing China, and not being able to get any trade deal with the US (not even a bad one). Then having achieved maximum distance from the three largest economic blocs, waffling nonsense about the Commonwealth.

[Paddington Bear]

I don’t see how an economy of our size could possibly turn away a listing on the scale Shein are talking about

[Hal Jordan]

The prison hulk has been deems as no longer of any use, as the Bibby Stockholm barge is to be closed.

Still, someone made some money.

[epwc]

Still, someone made some money.

That's the most important thing here

[Biffer]

The prison hulk has been deems as no longer of any use, as the Bibby Stockholm barge is to be closed.

Still, a friend of a Tory minister made some money.

Fixed that for you

[Raggs]

Apparently Farage was excluded from the party leader security briefing. Apparently the speaker gets briefed by the security services before inviting the leaders, to be excluded suggests a potential risk.

[epwc]

Is he back serving the people of Clacton now or still waiting for his audience with Trump?

[Slick]

Have Labour really just removed the whip from a bunch of their MP’s?

[sockwithaticket]

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/ar ... or-starmer

Suspended 7.

Seems they thought the first big vote in the house was the time to try and flex a little. Labour's whole thing is 'We're the grown ups' and 'An end to Tory chaos', so I'm not surprised this is the outcome of breaking party discipline so early.

[Raggs]

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/ar ... or-starmer

Suspended 7.

Seems they thought the first big vote in the house was the time to try and flex a little. Labour's whole thing is 'We're the grown ups' and 'An end to Tory chaos', so I'm not surprised this is the outcome of breaking party discipline so early.

With such a massive majority they can afford to as well. There's little risk.

[Slick]

Quite impressed how seamlessly Private Eye have moved on to interrogating the new government

[I like neeps]

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/ar ... or-starmer

Suspended 7.

Seems they thought the first big vote in the house was the time to try and flex a little. Labour's whole thing is 'We're the grown ups' and 'An end to Tory chaos', so I'm not surprised this is the outcome of breaking party discipline so early.

With such a massive majority they can afford to as well. There's little risk.

And the Kings Speech is a defacto confidence vote so you have to expect some punishment for voting against it.

[Paddington Bear]

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/ar ... or-starmer

Suspended 7.

Seems they thought the first big vote in the house was the time to try and flex a little. Labour's whole thing is 'We're the grown ups' and 'An end to Tory chaos', so I'm not surprised this is the outcome of breaking party discipline so early.

With such a massive majority they can afford to as well. There's little risk.

And the Kings Speech is a defacto confidence vote so you have to expect some punishment for voting against it.

Yep they have no choice. Anyone who wins this sort of landslide is going to have some MPs who are nutters/still in sixth form debate club etc. reminding them early that they’re in Parliament and things have to be different is the smart move

[fishfoodie]

With such a massive majority they can afford to as well. There's little risk.

And the Kings Speech is a defacto confidence vote so you have to expect some punishment for voting against it.

Yep they have no choice. Anyone who wins this sort of landslide is going to have some MPs who are nutters/still in sixth form debate club etc. reminding them early that they’re in Parliament and things have to be different is the smart move

Yeah, a few slaps now will hopefully avoid having to go nuclear later.

Ministers have only just got their feet under their desks, & I'm sure there will be Bill down the line which will have a series of measures to help reduce poverty, but it has to be done in a measured way, & not just slash & burn.

Is child benefit not means tested in the UK too ?, do you have millionaires getting it while the children go to Eton ?

[Biffer]

And the Kings Speech is a defacto confidence vote so you have to expect some punishment for voting against it.

Yep they have no choice. Anyone who wins this sort of landslide is going to have some MPs who are nutters/still in sixth form debate club etc. reminding them early that they’re in Parliament and things have to be different is the smart move

Yeah, a few slaps now will hopefully avoid having to go nuclear later.

Ministers have only just got their feet under their desks, & I'm sure there will be Bill down the line which will have a series of measures to help reduce poverty, but it has to be done in a measured way, & not just slash & burn.

Is child benefit not means tested in the UK too ?, do you have millionaires getting it while the children go to Eton ?

Yeah, it costs less to give it to everyone than it does to means test every household in the country.

[fishfoodie]

Yep they have no choice. Anyone who wins this sort of landslide is going to have some MPs who are nutters/still in sixth form debate club etc. reminding them early that they’re in Parliament and things have to be different is the smart move

Yeah, a few slaps now will hopefully avoid having to go nuclear later.

Ministers have only just got their feet under their desks, & I'm sure there will be Bill down the line which will have a series of measures to help reduce poverty, but it has to be done in a measured way, & not just slash & burn.

Is child benefit not means tested in the UK too ?, do you have millionaires getting it while the children go to Eton ?

Yeah, it costs less to give it to everyone than it does to means test every household in the country.

Not aimed as a poke at you, but that really sounds like something Sir Humphrey says when he wants to block a change ?

The Tax man knows more about every families income than they ever had before, & in the age of computing it should be a piece of piss to draw a line across the top, say 20% of earners & tell them they don't need the bottom 80% subsidizing their kids.

[Biffer]

Yeah, a few slaps now will hopefully avoid having to go nuclear later.

Ministers have only just got their feet under their desks, & I'm sure there will be Bill down the line which will have a series of measures to help reduce poverty, but it has to be done in a measured way, & not just slash & burn.

Is child benefit not means tested in the UK too ?, do you have millionaires getting it while the children go to Eton ?

Yeah, it costs less to give it to everyone than it does to means test every household in the country.

Not aimed as a poke at you, but that really sounds like something Sir Humphrey says when he wants to block a change ?

The Tax man knows more about every families income than they ever had before, & in the age of computing it should be a piece of piss to draw a line across the top, say 20% of earners & tell them they don't need the bottom 80% subsidizing their kids.

None of that is centralised and it’d be an insane amount of effort to bring it together. People have this idea that government has these big databases. It doesn’t. There are lots of small ones, probably hundreds, in different formats. Combining them would be a huge effort, on a scale with all the failed expensive government it projects of the past.

[fishfoodie]

Yeah, it costs less to give it to everyone than it does to means test every household in the country.

Not aimed as a poke at you, but that really sounds like something Sir Humphrey says when he wants to block a change ?

The Tax man knows more about every families income than they ever had before, & in the age of computing it should be a piece of piss to draw a line across the top, say 20% of earners & tell them they don't need the bottom 80% subsidizing their kids.

None of that is centralised and it’d be an insane amount of effort to bring it together. People have this idea that government has these big databases. It doesn’t. There are lots of small ones, probably hundreds, in different formats. Combining them would be a huge effort, on a scale with all the failed expensive government it projects of the past.

It's no wonder you ended up with a fucking Prime Minister who was a tax exile !

In Ireland the one part of the CS that always has the best people, & is actually pro-active is the Revenue, because they're the ones who pay for everything else !

FFS, If there is one part of Government IT that has, repeat HAS to work, it's the collection of taxes !!!!!

I suppose it's no surprise that after 14 years of Tory rule, they didn't really prioritize actually collecting the taxes due, because it's the PAYE worker who gets fucked, & the ones who who will lose out if they have to pay their fair share who call the shots for the Government.

[duke]

Parents earning over £60k get taxed on child benefit if they receive it so most tend to forego it.

[Raggs]

Parents earning over £60k get taxed on child benefit if they receive it so most tend to forego it.

Yep, just to make it even more complicated, rather than simply not giving it to them, and leaving everything alone, they can get it, but then have more complicated taxes.

I'd love to see a centralised data system attached to an ID number. Different branches of government/services etc able to retrieve different information simply by inputting your ID number. Health, taxes, criminal history etc etc. Suddenly changing from one doctor's clinic to another, or going to a different hospital, wouldn't require a request for all your previous health records etc.

[Hal Jordan]

Parents earning over £60k get taxed on child benefit if they receive it so most tend to forego it.

Yep, just to make it even more complicated, rather than simply not giving it to them, and leaving everything alone, they can get it, but then have more complicated taxes.

I'd love to see a centralised data system attached to an ID number. Different branches of government/services etc able to retrieve different information simply by inputting your ID number. Health, taxes, criminal history etc etc. Suddenly changing from one doctor's clinic to another, or going to a different hospital, wouldn't require a request for all your previous health records etc.

[Socialist/Fascist/Big Brother/WEF stooge]!

[sockwithaticket]

I imagine most governments would like something better, but have calculated that telling the electorate they need x billion for what many would view as a fancy IT upgrade would go down quite poorly. The electorate not responding well to money being used on unsexy, yet important things is a pretty big contributory factor to our infrastructure crisis.

[Jock42]

Parents earning over £60k get taxed on child benefit if they receive it so most tend to forego it.

Yep, just to make it even more complicated, rather than simply not giving it to them, and leaving everything alone, they can get it, but then have more complicated taxes.

I'd love to see a centralised data system attached to an ID number. Different branches of government/services etc able to retrieve different information simply by inputting your ID number. Health, taxes, criminal history etc etc. Suddenly changing from one doctor's clinic to another, or going to a different hospital, wouldn't require a request for all your previous health records etc.

The cost for the latter is the reason I've been given for it not happening. Protecting confidentiality with servers etc. It can be frustrating in my line of work not being able to see the past medical history of every single patient I see. Not sure how true it is but it makes sense to me as a computing layman.

[epwc]

It's bonkers that the NHS is still so disjointed when it comes to IT, did the Police system ever get fixed?

We are so shit at government IT infrastructure

[inactionman]

Parents earning over £60k get taxed on child benefit if they receive it so most tend to forego it.

Yep, just to make it even more complicated, rather than simply not giving it to them, and leaving everything alone, they can get it, but then have more complicated taxes.

I'd love to see a centralised data system attached to an ID number. Different branches of government/services etc able to retrieve different information simply by inputting your ID number. Health, taxes, criminal history etc etc. Suddenly changing from one doctor's clinic to another, or going to a different hospital, wouldn't require a request for all your previous health records etc.

The cost for the latter is the reason I've been given for it not happening. Protecting confidentiality with servers etc. It can be frustrating in my line of work not being able to see the past medical history of every single patient I see. Not sure how true it is but it makes sense to me as a computing layman.

The earlier attempt was a bit of a disaster.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/201 ... ystem-10bn

As I understand it, one of the issues was a lack of engagement and understanding of the GP side of it - as suppliers and not direct employees/internal functions, they can use whatever business processes (Within reason) and IT systems they want on their side, and integrations to these were not well thought through.

(There were many issues, but I raise just one to highlight that integrating disparate services is not easy - you can't just throw data over a wall.)

[Jock42]

Yep, just to make it even more complicated, rather than simply not giving it to them, and leaving everything alone, they can get it, but then have more complicated taxes.

I'd love to see a centralised data system attached to an ID number. Different branches of government/services etc able to retrieve different information simply by inputting your ID number. Health, taxes, criminal history etc etc. Suddenly changing from one doctor's clinic to another, or going to a different hospital, wouldn't require a request for all your previous health records etc.

The cost for the latter is the reason I've been given for it not happening. Protecting confidentiality with servers etc. It can be frustrating in my line of work not being able to see the past medical history of every single patient I see. Not sure how true it is but it makes sense to me as a computing layman.

The earlier attempt was a bit of a disaster.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/201 ... ystem-10bn

As I understand it, one of the issues was a lack of engagement and understanding of the GP side of it - as suppliers and not direct employees/internal functions, they can use whatever business processes (Within reason) and IT systems they want on their side, and integrations to these were not well thought through.

(There were many issues, but I raise just one to highlight that integrating disparate services is not easy - you can't just throw data over a wall.)

It must be larger issue than that as different trusts can't share info but that definitely makes sense for GPs. A fairly recent development allows GPs (I don't think hospitals can) see any report forms the ambulance service generates about one of their patients. I'm not sure how long the info is available for though.

[robmatic]

Parents earning over £60k get taxed on child benefit if they receive it so most tend to forego it.

Yep, just to make it even more complicated, rather than simply not giving it to them, and leaving everything alone, they can get it, but then have more complicated taxes.

I'd love to see a centralised data system attached to an ID number. Different branches of government/services etc able to retrieve different information simply by inputting your ID number. Health, taxes, criminal history etc etc. Suddenly changing from one doctor's clinic to another, or going to a different hospital, wouldn't require a request for all your previous health records etc.

We have a centralised data system like that in Turkey. It is quite comprehensive and it does make interacting with the health system a lot easier. The flip side of that is that everybody's data has been leaked multiple times and every scammer in the country seems to have access to your personal details.

[inactionman]

The cost for the latter is the reason I've been given for it not happening. Protecting confidentiality with servers etc. It can be frustrating in my line of work not being able to see the past medical history of every single patient I see. Not sure how true it is but it makes sense to me as a computing layman.

The earlier attempt was a bit of a disaster.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/201 ... ystem-10bn

As I understand it, one of the issues was a lack of engagement and understanding of the GP side of it - as suppliers and not direct employees/internal functions, they can use whatever business processes (Within reason) and IT systems they want on their side, and integrations to these were not well thought through.

(There were many issues, but I raise just one to highlight that integrating disparate services is not easy - you can't just throw data over a wall.)

It must be larger issue than that as different trusts can't share info but that definitely makes sense for GPs. A fairly recent development allows GPs (I don't think hospitals can) see any report forms the ambulance service generates about one of their patients. I'm not sure how long the info is available for though.

Yep, the whole thing should have addressed the whole patient lifecycle which would include intra-trust sharing, but it didn't really work so we're not really much further on.

It's a tough ask, as so many parties have a touch upon a patient and medical care is a complex old beast, but to my outsider's eyes it looks like there wasn't sufficient upfront business service, process and commercial alignment. I'm basically an architect it IT who tries to align information and process understanding before the techies begin, which is a frequently overlooked aspect and causes all sorts of downstream problems, and I suppose I always see problems through that lens.

GPS seeing ambulance reports makes absolute sense, I'll admit to some surprise that hospitals can't. I assume they just take a set of information straight from paramedics as the patient comes through the doors of A&E? Seems ripe for something to be missed.

[Jock42]

The earlier attempt was a bit of a disaster.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/201 ... ystem-10bn

As I understand it, one of the issues was a lack of engagement and understanding of the GP side of it - as suppliers and not direct employees/internal functions, they can use whatever business processes (Within reason) and IT systems they want on their side, and integrations to these were not well thought through.

(There were many issues, but I raise just one to highlight that integrating disparate services is not easy - you can't just throw data over a wall.)

It must be larger issue than that as different trusts can't share info but that definitely makes sense for GPs. A fairly recent development allows GPs (I don't think hospitals can) see any report forms the ambulance service generates about one of their patients. I'm not sure how long the info is available for though.

Yep, the whole thing should have addressed the whole patient lifecycle which would include intra-trust sharing, but it didn't really work so we're not really much further on.

It's a tough ask, as so many parties have a touch upon a patient and medical care is a complex old beast, but to my outsider's eyes it looks like there wasn't sufficient upfront business service, process and commercial alignment. I'm basically an architect it IT who tries to align information and process understanding before the techies begin, which is a frequently overlooked aspect and causes all sorts of downstream problems, and I suppose I always see problems through that lens.

GPS seeing ambulance reports makes absolute sense, I'll admit to some surprise that hospitals can't. I assume they just take a set of information straight from paramedics as the patient comes through the doors of A&E? Seems ripe for something to be missed.

They get the physical copy. Thinking on it I think they can see the past report online too. We can only see them (sometimes) for 3 months so I assume everyone else is the same. AFAIK the GP gets sent the report so I suppose it's up to them to log/save the info.

[Raggs]

Parents earning over £60k get taxed on child benefit if they receive it so most tend to forego it.

Yep, just to make it even more complicated, rather than simply not giving it to them, and leaving everything alone, they can get it, but then have more complicated taxes.

I'd love to see a centralised data system attached to an ID number. Different branches of government/services etc able to retrieve different information simply by inputting your ID number. Health, taxes, criminal history etc etc. Suddenly changing from one doctor's clinic to another, or going to a different hospital, wouldn't require a request for all your previous health records etc.

We have a centralised data system like that in Turkey. It is quite comprehensive and it does make interacting with the health system a lot easier. The flip side of that is that everybody's data has been leaked multiple times and every scammer in the country seems to have access to your personal details.

It's how it's done in Israel. But scamming didn't seem too common there. I'm sure there have been leaks/hacks though.

In the end, I think I'd rather hospitals and paramedics etc be able to quickly access my medical history (and police/fire for the basics too), as well as hackers. Rather than hackers only have my facebook/email etc data, but also hosptails/paramedics etc not have access to that data either.

Emergency services being able to quickly know about allergies etc must be life saving.

[Jock42]

Yep, just to make it even more complicated, rather than simply not giving it to them, and leaving everything alone, they can get it, but then have more complicated taxes.

I'd love to see a centralised data system attached to an ID number. Different branches of government/services etc able to retrieve different information simply by inputting your ID number. Health, taxes, criminal history etc etc. Suddenly changing from one doctor's clinic to another, or going to a different hospital, wouldn't require a request for all your previous health records etc.

We have a centralised data system like that in Turkey. It is quite comprehensive and it does make interacting with the health system a lot easier. The flip side of that is that everybody's data has been leaked multiple times and every scammer in the country seems to have access to your personal details.

It's how it's done in Israel. But scamming didn't seem too common there. I'm sure there have been leaks/hacks though.

In the end, I think I'd rather hospitals and paramedics etc be able to quickly access my medical history (and police/fire for the basics too), as well as hackers. Rather than hackers only have my facebook/email etc data, but also hosptails/paramedics etc not have access to that data either.

Emergency services being able to quickly know about allergies etc must be life saving.

Regards you're last point, not really, the symptoms are enough but I'd like to be able to see past ECGs, history, etc, sometimes we can see meds or care plans.

Fire, police will never be able to see this info as that would breach patient confidentiality.

Edit: tbf your last point links in with history. Although the tablet only works in a close proximity of the ambulance and we need specific details to access what records we do have which we don't always have on arrival.

[dpedin]

The earlier attempt was a bit of a disaster.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/201 ... ystem-10bn

As I understand it, one of the issues was a lack of engagement and understanding of the GP side of it - as suppliers and not direct employees/internal functions, they can use whatever business processes (Within reason) and IT systems they want on their side, and integrations to these were not well thought through.

(There were many issues, but I raise just one to highlight that integrating disparate services is not easy - you can't just throw data over a wall.)

It must be larger issue than that as different trusts can't share info but that definitely makes sense for GPs. A fairly recent development allows GPs (I don't think hospitals can) see any report forms the ambulance service generates about one of their patients. I'm not sure how long the info is available for though.

Yep, the whole thing should have addressed the whole patient lifecycle which would include intra-trust sharing, but it didn't really work so we're not really much further on.

It's a tough ask, as so many parties have a touch upon a patient and medical care is a complex old beast, but to my outsider's eyes it looks like there wasn't sufficient upfront business service, process and commercial alignment. I'm basically an architect it IT who tries to align information and process understanding before the techies begin, which is a frequently overlooked aspect and causes all sorts of downstream problems, and I suppose I always see problems through that lens.

GPS seeing ambulance reports makes absolute sense, I'll admit to some surprise that hospitals can't. I assume they just take a set of information straight from paramedics as the patient comes through the doors of A&E? Seems ripe for something to be missed.

I have actually found the NHS up here quite well connected between hospitals, labs, GPs, imaging, etc. Anytime I have had tests, treatment etc then no matter where I have been the medic has had access to all my records and results.

From my experience the number of legacy systems (patient record, pharmacy, labs, procurement, HR, finance, payroll, estates, imaging, ambulance, theatres, etc plus individual speciality systems for audit etc ie neonatal care, cardiac surgery, diabetes, etc.) across the NHS is a major problem and they are supplied by a range of suppliers and some date back many, many years. Often commercial systems weren't available or affordable and individuals/groups/ professions developed their own in house systems for local use and these often spread across the wider NHS and were maintained by one man and his dog. Connecting up everything in a safe and secure manner is a major technical problem.

A few years ago one NHS board in Scotland had to upgrade its Windows operating system it found it had well over 100 legacy systems and it had major problems with implementation as a result. Bringing all these systems up to date and then ensuring they can all speak to each other safely and securely is still a major problem. Also many systems need to link with or speak to other 'external' systems - ie junior docs training and education is also managed through post graduate Deaneries and junior docs will rotate across a number of different employers so info needs to flow across them all. It really is a very complex issue!

[Paddington Bear]

On government incompetence, the audit into HS2 shows that Sunak’s decision to scrap Phase 2 will likely cost £100m, result in building platforms that are never used, and reduce train capacity between Birmingham and Manchester from the present situation, so much so that travel will need to be discouraged by the mid-2030s.

[inactionman]

It must be larger issue than that as different trusts can't share info but that definitely makes sense for GPs. A fairly recent development allows GPs (I don't think hospitals can) see any report forms the ambulance service generates about one of their patients. I'm not sure how long the info is available for though.

Yep, the whole thing should have addressed the whole patient lifecycle which would include intra-trust sharing, but it didn't really work so we're not really much further on.

It's a tough ask, as so many parties have a touch upon a patient and medical care is a complex old beast, but to my outsider's eyes it looks like there wasn't sufficient upfront business service, process and commercial alignment. I'm basically an architect it IT who tries to align information and process understanding before the techies begin, which is a frequently overlooked aspect and causes all sorts of downstream problems, and I suppose I always see problems through that lens.

GPS seeing ambulance reports makes absolute sense, I'll admit to some surprise that hospitals can't. I assume they just take a set of information straight from paramedics as the patient comes through the doors of A&E? Seems ripe for something to be missed.

I have actually found the NHS up here quite well connected between hospitals, labs, GPs, imaging, etc. Anytime I have had tests, treatment etc then no matter where I have been the medic has had access to all my records and results.

From my experience the number of legacy systems (patient record, pharmacy, labs, procurement, HR, finance, payroll, estates, imaging, ambulance, theatres, etc plus individual speciality systems for audit etc ie neonatal care, cardiac surgery, diabetes, etc.) across the NHS is a major problem and they are supplied by a range of suppliers and some date back many, many years. Often commercial systems weren't available or affordable and individuals/groups/ professions developed their own in house systems for local use and these often spread across the wider NHS and were maintained by one man and his dog. Connecting up everything in a safe and secure manner is a major technical problem.

A few years ago one NHS board in Scotland had to upgrade its Windows operating system it found it had well over 100 legacy systems and it had major problems with implementation as a result. Bringing all these systems up to date and then ensuring they can all speak to each other safely and securely is still a major problem. Also many systems need to link with or speak to other 'external' systems - ie junior docs training and education is also managed through post graduate Deaneries and junior docs will rotate across a number of different employers so info needs to flow across them all. It really is a very complex issue!

It is very complex, so I don't envy whoever tries/tried to integrate it. I'd alway argue that simplifying the business process and understanding the touch points is the first step though - don't design around dodgy processes themselves which in many cases are only dodgy as they were a workaround for poor IT.

I've always found the NHS is very good at the medical side of things, but very bad at manging expectations and keeping the patient informed. We've had a number of referrals for our eldest daughter, and some of these have clashed. Getting absolutely everything paper-based is also a pain in the arse, not least as I'll see note for an appinmtne tthat my wife has already rescheduled. There really needs to be an electronic interface for the customer.

[inactionman]

On government incompetence, the audit into HS2 shows that Sunak’s decision to scrap Phase 2 will likely cost £100m, result in building platforms that are never used, and reduce train capacity between Birmingham and Manchester from the present situation, so much so that travel will need to be discouraged by the mid-2030s.

Did the tories salt the earth so successfully that we can't ever re-start it?

(Not that I'm advocating it, just wondering how badly the tories screwed the pooch)

[Paddington Bear]

On government incompetence, the audit into HS2 shows that Sunak’s decision to scrap Phase 2 will likely cost £100m, result in building platforms that are never used, and reduce train capacity between Birmingham and Manchester from the present situation, so much so that travel will need to be discouraged by the mid-2030s.

Did the tories salt the earth so successfully that we can't ever re-start it?

(Not that I'm advocating it, just wondering how badly the tories screwed the pooch)

I think they tried but had struggled (as it is very challenging to sell land that has been compulsorily purchased). We could still very easily build phase 2a (i.e. the line to Crewe), which would mitigate a large amount of the fuck ups. Extending to Manchester is now much more difficult.

With that said, the case for increased capacity to Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds and Sheffield remains unarguably strong, so eventually a government is going to have to build it