• Mental Health Act inquiry
    I myself have been abused by the Mental Health System my first experience of being treated was as follows: I was approached by 5 nurses, one of which was carrying a needle, in response to this I panicked, I ran down the corridor and closed a door behind me and tried to hold it shut. Without any sort of negotiation they all began to barge the door open, one nurse grabbed one of my limbs until I was unable to move and I forced face down on the corridor floor, they proceeded to remove my trousers and pants and a nurse injected a psychotropic drug into the buttock. After this I passed out. I was not allowed to leave the ward to go outside, even under supervision, for simple things such as fresh air: which in the smelly, dirty, contained environment where the closest thing to fresh air was the smoking room. A similar event happened when I had given up and they medicated me by force, after this I set off the fire alarm and ended up being sent to an even more secure unit. They deprive liberty and expect you to conform to 3 hour passes that even if you are 10 minutes late they take them away. They have made me homeless before, and they continue to use invasive treatments on me. This started happening to me in 2007 and they still harass me now. This is because every tribunal is heard by 3 people tribunal of a Psychiatric member (claiming to be medical). Legal member. (Probably the psychiatrists lawyer) and a General member (Mental health Officer). There is a huge case of fraud here as it is bias and their medication is subject to publication biasing. http://youtu.be/RKmxL8VYy0M I still suffer side effects from their medication, but they ignore them. They also disregarded my advanced statement which was similar to: http://www.cchr.org.uk/wp- content/uploads/2010/01/Advance_Statement_form.pdf Every piece of evidence they have on me is hearsay and nonsense, a complete violation of human rights. http://youtu.be/RfAMbmxs7KE This is a political Science gone out of control, it is dictated by psychiatrists. http://youtu.be/II96QkZaz1E For too long have people(including me) been abused by these psychiatrists, we have to start somewhere.
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    Created by David Taylor
  • Stop PFI Bankrupting the NHS
    This is especially important to the NHS. The NHS gets a LOT of funding, plenty of funding to provide an excellent 24h 365 day service to millions. BUT: A HUGE amount of this funding is syphoned off to "Private Finance Initiative" deals whereby a hospital that costs 1.34Bn to build is actually costing 10.32Bn via PFI repayments. This is the reason the NHS is so stretched,- the amount given by the treasury to the NHS is plenty for the service, but it its being massively wasted by epically badly planned government devised PFI deals whereby middle men and hedge funds make an absolutely (offshore) fortune from the fact they can charge anything (and do) and the government can't (legally or morally) give in and let hospitals go to waste. ===== Why has this occurred? The PFI deals came around from Gordon Brown as Treasury Cabinet Minister to allow the government to make massive expenses and to not declare them because they're actually "Private business" expenses, so the government says "Over the course of 10/25 years we will pay you an amount you want if you build this [hospital/airbase/whatever] for us right now. The Businesses said "oooh yes!" and built what was asked and had a legal contract in place that the government would pay them back a net sum approximately (as illustrated above) of approximately ten times the build cost. Failure to pay back the costs (for example if voters forced government to renegotiate or void the contract) would also be covered by legally binding charges for ~8Bn, in the example above and rather than paid for over years that would be IMMEDIATELY REQUIRED. So the government and the NHS is saddled with massive charges that are extortionate, just for build now, pay later hospital buildings. ===== What we Can do: We can not (as detailed above) void the current contracts, but we can push and force the government to remove PFI as an option for any future contracts for any public service, and also make government only take contracts where the costs are reasonable, and provable - as often PFI contracts where awarded by only being a few hundred pounds under the nearest competition offer - and then once awarded the contract costs "escalated". Certain politicians (David Cameron, I believe) did promise to end PFI before taking office, but has now changed his tune - force him to keep his word. Force his successor to keep his word. PFI is now widespread across the NHS and is the principle cause of shortage of funding, it is also getting a larger and larger hold in the UK Armed forces as well as other departments of government. We Must Stop It. ===== Background reading: This issue is well outlined in Private Eye 1383 page 10. this issue is also very well explained in the Private Finance Initiative Special Report by Paul Foot in 2004.
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    Created by Martin Heaps
  • Better Prevention Services for Men and Depression
    Everyone has times in their lives when they feel down or depressed. It is usually for a good reason, does not dominate your life and does not last for a long time. However, if the depression goes on for weeks, months, or becomes very bad, you may find yourself stuck and unable to lift yourself out of it. It can start to affect every area of your life - and this is when you may need to get help. Depression is not a sign of weakness - it has affected many famous and successful men.
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    Created by Mark Williams Picture
  • Mental Health Education in ALL Schools.
    Education on Mental health is vital. To end the stigma and to help children understand and cope if they are suffering with this illness.
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    Created by Mark Williams Picture
  • Apologise for this insensitive article.
    Hundreds of thousands of people (in the UK alone) are affected by, or die from cancer every year. If Mr Smith honestly believes what he has written then I suggest he should speak to people who have suffered/are suffering from this horrible disease, or who have nursed people or loved ones through their illness, what their feelings on continued research into a cure for cancer are. Mr Smith has written a blog, which the BMJ have seen fit to publicise, entitled "cancer is the best death": http://bmj.co/1BqiNFv. How and why he feels about this issue is, I grant, his opinion which he is entitled to. However he doesn't take into account the feelings and emotions of those who have dealt/are dealing with this horrible, debilitating illness either in themselves or in friends or loved ones. If he genuinely believes that research into cures and treatments for this disease are a waste of resources, maybe he should talk to those who are only with us today because of that research? To imply that wishing for a quick death is, essentially, selfish is ridiculous. I lost 3 grandparents suddenly and one slowly to leukaemia and I feel that, having seen the pain and suffering of the slow, debilitating and, ultimately, dehumanising death for the person who died from leukaemia (as well as the suffering of those who loved them and felt so utterly helpless), a short lived or sudden death is much to be preferred for all concerned. If we can't be selfish in death then when can we be? I would also like to point out that only in the final stages of this disease can it be made painless, for most the progress of this disease through the body is far from painless. We call upon the BMJ and Mr Smith to acknowledge the offense this article has caused, apologise for publishing this article, and consider removing it from their website.
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    Created by Neal Harrison
  • Care of the increasing elderly population
    We have all heard about people who become unable to care for themselves in old age, and who have had to sell their homes to pay for accommodation in retirement homes. This is upsetting and unsatisfactory, both for the elderly people and for their relatives, and the quality of care in these places is often dubious. A tax raised specifically to address this situation could be used to ensure proper levels of care in every retirement home, or care in the person's home, all governed by NOS (Health and Social Care National Occupational Standards). The urgency of this need is increasing rapidly, in line with the size of the elderly population in this country. The proposal would solve problems at many levels, as the children and other relatives of the elderly people would be saved much anxiety; also hospital beds would be freed up.
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    Created by John Covell
  • Better Care For Carer's
    There is a lot of Isolation for these Carer's, I am a Carer in Pembrokeshire and I am struggling to access GENERAL Support for Carer's my, Wife suffers with Fibromyalgia, M.E and also I look after my Mother In Law who has a severe Heart Problem and I am the Chairperson for a support group for those who suffer with these life changing Illness these affect family members and Carer's
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    Created by Gary Yates
  • Reform for the "Misuse of Drugs Act of 1971".
    This will not only end the treatment of addicts and recreational drug users as criminals, but it can also see an increase in revenues through taxation, a reduction of the government deficit by roughly £1.25 billion and a decrease in crime as seen in the US state of Colorado. The "Misuse of Drugs Act 1971" is a 43 year old law with a desperate need of an overhaul and needs to be repealed, if possible, in order to allow for a safer, better law regarding decriminalisation of illicit substances to be put in place. For information regarding the legalisation of Cannabis and decriminalisation of other illicit substances visit: http://www.clear-uk.org/ http://norml-uk.org/ And watch the documentaries: "The Culture High" and "The Union: The Business Behind Getting High".
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    Created by Charlie Attwater
  • Manifesto Comitment to Ban Sugar Boarding
    Everyone knows what is going on here and it is getting ridiculous: We talk about a "bad food environment" and yet there is little legislation to prevent the powerful retailers who supply most of our nutrition from using pernicious sales tack-ticks. Supermarkets know that will power is finite resource and the most effective way of getting customers to crack, is to tempt them with high sugar foods in close proximity for a long time. These counters are designed cause sugar cravings. They are deliberately overriding the consumers free will and in light of the obesity and diabetes pandemics it is a disgraceful business practice.
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    Created by Alexander Baines-Buffery
  • Find a new landing spot near Basildon Hospital for Essex Air Ambulance
    Having a site near Basildon Hospital will save vital minutes between onset of illness to the patient receiving specialist medical care in hospital. Therefore it is paramount that in the case of cardiac arrests and other heart problems; there is a dedicated landing site allowing these patients the best chance of survival. It would be a tragedy if this crucial and life-saving service lost its ability to serve our community. The Essex Air Ambulance team are attending an increasing number of cardiac arrest cases and for them to lose their ability to do their work is something we should all make a stand against.
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    Created by Richard Gregory
  • Save our NHS: West Tyrone
    Our NHS is precious. We all rely on it to care for us and our loved ones. We want to protect it for the future, and we don't want to see it run down or sold off. Over the past few years, NHS funding has been squeezed so much that services are suffering. This winter, hospitals up and down the country have declared "major incidents" because they're struggling to cope. And now most hospitals are warning that their budget for next year has " reached the point where patient care is at risk” Meanwhile, the government is letting profit-hungry companies take over more and more NHS services. At at a time of squeezed budgets, this is the last thing the NHS needs. We want an NHS where patient safety is put first, and where the NHS is run for the public good. TTIP, the planned trade deal between the EU and the USA, could threaten the NHS further. If TTIP opens our NHS to American private healthcare companies, we could see even more privatisation and a slide into more US-style healthcare. We want the NHS excluded from TTIP. If this is not the constituency that you live in you can sign the petition to your MP and the candidates to be your MP here: https://you.38degrees.org.uk/efforts/save-our-nhs/near/new
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  • Save our NHS: Strangford
    Our NHS is precious. We all rely on it to care for us and our loved ones. We want to protect it for the future, and we don't want to see it run down or sold off. Over the past few years, NHS funding has been squeezed so much that services are suffering. This winter, hospitals up and down the country have declared "major incidents" because they're struggling to cope. And now most hospitals are warning that their budget for next year has " reached the point where patient care is at risk” Meanwhile, the government is letting profit-hungry companies take over more and more NHS services. At at a time of squeezed budgets, this is the last thing the NHS needs. We want an NHS where patient safety is put first, and where the NHS is run for the public good. TTIP, the planned trade deal between the EU and the USA, could threaten the NHS further. If TTIP opens our NHS to American private healthcare companies, we could see even more privatisation and a slide into more US-style healthcare. We want the NHS excluded from TTIP. If this is not the constituency that you live in you can sign the petition to your MP and the candidates to be your MP here: https://you.38degrees.org.uk/efforts/save-our-nhs/near/new
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