Tag Archives: Mail Online

LORD WEST on how to rid the Middle East of ISIS | Daily Mail Online

November 22, 2015 By in David Cameron, Defense Policy, Foreign Policy, People, Politics Tags: , , 1 Comment
English: The Daily Mail clock, just off Kensin...

English: The Daily Mail clock, just off Kensington High Street (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In this must read article by the Daily Mail, former First Sea Lord, Admiral Lord West provides three-step analysis on how to crush the Islamic State.

Lord West argues that because the Islamic State is weaker in Iraq, he would suggest that international and indigenous troops try to defeat it there before taking the fight to within Syria.

Source: LORD WEST on how to rid the Middle East of ISIS | Daily Mail Online

Lord West’s analysis is crystal clear. It analyses the current coalition forces – note the absence of Saudi Arabia and the Gulf countries.

It stresses the need for a political solution to Syria which recognizes the important of Assad in the short-term.

BUT for me, the critical words from Lord West are:

In the meantime, we should confront states such as Saudi Arabia and Turkey which have financed IS and bought its oil supplies on the black market.

This article cuts through the postering and procrastinating of political leaders. For sure, US military experts share Lord West’s analysis but they have been effectively muzzled by the Obama regime.

It’s time for proper public debate and analysis as the allies up the stakes in the war against ISIS.

Most critically, the mainstream media must challenge Saudi Arabia and Turkey for providing indirect support to ISIS.

Thought?

Hospitals could save £3bn by not paying too much for medical equipment and supplies | Daily Mail Online

June 9, 2015 By in Austerity, Healthcare, NHS, Outsourcing, People, Politics, Public Services Reform Tags: , , 1 Comment

This short article from the MailOnline is a must-read, citing latest research. Check it out!

via Hospitals could save £3bn by not paying too much for medical equipment and supplies | Daily Mail Online.

It’s no surprise that there are eye-watering savings available from both improving procurement and staff rotoring practices in the NHS. It’s the same old debate, whether NHS insiders, like doctors and nurses know best, or professionals from outside the NHS. Intuitively, I favor outsiders for non-technical management, i.e. let the professionals stick to medicine.

I have a friend who is a retired senior administrator from the NHS. Listening to him, his views are quite radical, including introducing elements of Obamacare in the UK. He was man and boy in the NHS.

I also knew quite well a very senior NHS procurement professional. His background was a career in consulting. I met him first in a major UK government department – his proposed economies and efficiencies built in to the business case failed to materialize.

My personal take is that the biggest problems with reform in the NHS are:

  • Weak procurement practices
  • Ineffective staff management, especially concerning rostering
  • Excessive bureaucracy
  • Political meddling
  • Absence of strategy
  • Powerful stakeholders, like doctors and nurses, protecting their own interests
  • Failure to address preventative factors, like obesity and drug and drink abuse

Finally, let me share that in Cyprus, when hospitals started charging small fees for visits to doctors and specialists, waiting times were slashed. Too many patients in public healthcare are time-wasters.

Like my good friend, the retired NHS administrator, I too think that the answer to the UK’s healthcare challenge is a universal basic healthcare policy (modeled on the World’s best practice).

Thoughts?