Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: avastin, betsan powys, cancer, edwina hart, sutent, wales, welsh assembly government
Whoops (again)!
According to Betsan Powys’ blog the health minister has sent out a statement that clarifies (sic) the earlier one.
First, in January, the Minister said ‘to hell with NICE’ (paraphrased), there would be funding for Sutent and some other drugs. Then NICE announced they weren’t cost effective yesterday. The Minister ‘clarified’ her first position and said that January’s decision would be superceded by the NICE guidance. Hold the prescriptions for these drugs, in other words, they are not cost effective – repeat, not cost effective.
Then, as Betsan Powys revealed, the Minister had further clarified her position, to say she was mulling over NICE’s guidance and taking advice from clinicians. Just a thought, but perhaps the free prescriptions policy was coming back with a bite – given that if the drugs are NHS Wales-approved then they’ll be free to the cancer sufferers.
Disgusted’s opinion: the Health Minister is getting a little excitable and prone to announcements that she later regrets. Prescription (free of course): a cold shower or a spell in a darkened room with a damp cloth over the eyes.
Whoops!
Only months after ordering local health boards that cancer drugs should be NHS-funded Edwina Hart, WAG’s health minister, has had to announce the withdrawal of funding thanks to NICE’s decision that the drugs weren’t cost effective.
WAG’s very own Iron Lady started throwing her weight around at the beginning of year over the funding for the drugs – trade names Nexavar, Sutent, Torisel and the nautical-sounding Avastin.
Now she has flip-flopped on the decision, performing a complete volte face (farce, surely?), saying she expects health boards now to follow the NICE guidelines. This of course after she told them in January to listen to her orders instead.
The real boob was to misjudge the decision by NICE, which has been under fire for its decision not to fund these drugs. At the time Hart said she found it ‘unacceptable’ that people should have to wait any longer for Sutent, the kidney cancer drug. Presumably it is now acceptable that instead of waiting on the decision they now have nothing to wait for, since the drug is not available on the NHS.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: a-level, all wales convention, cardiff, wales
The successful policy of Cardiff Council to gridlock the city during weekdays is extended to the weekend.
The gender gap in A-Level results reporting continues (97% of pretty girls were photographed celebrating their results, while only 65% of photogenic boys appeared in newspaper coverage).
The All Wales Convention deadline for responses closed. Skies all over Wales responded in biblical fashion with torrential rain.
Yowser. There’s a front page splash on the Western Mail today about Welsh Tory ‘links’ to a ‘think tank’ that had called for the NHS to be abolished.
“A RIGHT-WING Tory website and think tank was under fire last night after calling for the dismantling of the “Stalinist” NHS and its replacement by compulsory medical insurance for all,” thundered the paper.
Disgusted may be missing something but doesn’t recall seeing any left-wing Tory websites on the interweb.
Carwyn Jones, who found the site during one of his legendary internet sessions, said:
“I was appalled when I found this article on this group’s website. It’s a direct attack on the NHS and shows the real thinking in the minds of so many Tory MPs.”
This ‘real thinking’, by the way, was encapsulated by Tory MP Peter Bone, who considered ways to “provide everybody in this country with access to the same level of high quality health care, when they need it, at no huge additional cost.” The bastard!
In fact the whole premise of the story seems to fall apart once you get past the headline. Once again, the desperate Western Mail is determined to milk this non-story for all it’s worth – and Labour is desperately trying to smear the Tories as the ‘party of cuts’, when cuts are what is needed to put obese public finances back in shape.
Disgusted’s beady eye was drawn to this piece in today’s Echo. It’s full of praise for Cardiff council. Exhibit A:
“Cardiff council is one South Wales authority which says it’s helping to lead the way and is committed to making a 60% reduction in carbon emissions by 2018.”
However, a walk through the butchered heart of the capital suggests there are gaps in Cardiff’s amazing carbon dioxide emissions measures. The areas from the top of Queen Street (by Aneurin Bevan) up to the vast shopping monstrosity that towers over the Hayes have been newly repaved. And yet there is absolutely no designated area for cyclists.
This is in addition to the warren of streets by the church, down to St Mary Street and by the Central Market. Cyclists aren’t allowed on Queen Street during the day. Oh, and there are no cycle paths practically anywhere in the entire city centre. The signs denoting the cycle path coming into the city from the west on Cardiff Bridge have been crossed out.
Is Cardiff Council’s talk about being a ‘sustainable city’ just a load of hot air?
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: anglesey aluminium, anglesey council, peter hain
Anglesey Council’s bickering boys and girls have had their heads knocked together by WAG for failing to play nicely.
As the BBC reports today, members of the council’s audit committee are being asked to sign a pledge to stopthe rather naughty practice of using the committee to further personal interests and to pursue constituency matters and narrow party goals.
Meanwhile, as the council slowly extracts itself from its own posterior the announcement has come that Anglesey Aluminium has closed, with the loss of some 250 skilled jobs. The council added nothing of value and it was left to Peter Hain to try to salvage something from the situation.
Disgusted remains puzzled that there are 22 unitary authorities in Wales. Why does Anglesey even have a council – cannot it be subsumed into Gwynedd’s?
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: manchester evening news, plastic bags, welsh assembly, welsh assembly government
The British press [sic] has belatedly noticed the Welsh debate about charging for plastic bags, as Disgusted noted yesterday. There’s further mining of the topic today:
- A cryptic rant from a blogger at a Manchester-based paper
- A Guardian piece that confuses ‘Welsh Assembly’ with ‘Assembly Government’
- A predictably frosty reception from Packaging News.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: national assembly for wales, welsh, welsh assembly government
Guerilla Welsh Fare points out that there hasn’t been much debate about the quietly announced plan to water down Welsh translation of Assembly proceedings.
Neglect of Yr Iaith featured in WAG’s Single Equality Scheme, launched on March 31st. With usual strategic guffspeak WAG claimed the scheme set out measures to make sure public policy making goes further than “legal responsibilities to promote equality of opportunity and eliminate unlawful discrimination in respect of disability, gender and race”. WAG promises to “apply the same broad principles to the new areas of equality – age, religion and belief or non-belief, sexual orientation and transgender”. Welsh does not come under the scheme.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: jane davidson, plastic bags, telegraph, times, welsh assembly government
Like an unused plastic bag flapping in the wind the story about the Assembly Government’s dalliance with charging up to 15p a pop for plastic bags just keeps coming back. Suddenly there are stories in the Times and the Telegraph about it
The source for these stories appears to be Jane Davidson – the Welsh environment minister – talking to the Times about the plans. If Welsh ministers are smart enough they will bend the ear of the London-based journalists more often, with soothing tales about how great WAG’s policies are.
Appointed, that is, unilaterally by the Western Mail. And then moved back to her old job by the byline.
Disgusted of Llandrindod Wells 