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Politics 2023 (Read 465715 times)

Durbs

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#3375 Re: Politics 2020
December 07, 2022, 09:33:36 am
Last thing from me around mental health in the NHS - they've only just, this year I believe, enforced that once you complete your DClinPsy course (i.e. trained to be a Clinical Psychologist), which is a funded course, paid for by the NHS - you have to actually work in the NHS for a period.

Up until last year, the NHS was literally funding people who were training up to become private Mental Health professionals. And they wondered why they were struggling to recruit...


Agree on the general sentiment around the UK being a bit gloomy at the moment. I'd like to think it's a case of the grass is always greener, but I think in this instance it actually is. So many friends now living in Europe, or further afield, just looking in despair at what's going on.

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#3376 Re: Politics 2020
December 07, 2022, 10:16:28 am
Quote
This is precisely my 4th anecdote. We've been waiting 2 years for an autism assessment for one of my kids that was originally referred through nursery. We considered going private, but it then wouldn't be well joined up with the school, for them to get additional funding, etc. (at least that was my understanding). Currently, the school can't give the right support without a diagnosis but are doing what they can to help.

We got a private assesment and diagnosis and it has been very helpful in terms of talking with school about extra support etc. I don't think anything would be different if we had waited and done an NHS one, oh, except we wouldn't have had it yet..

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#3377 Re: Politics 2020
December 07, 2022, 11:30:57 am
Quote
This is precisely my 4th anecdote. We've been waiting 2 years for an autism assessment for one of my kids that was originally referred through nursery. We considered going private, but it then wouldn't be well joined up with the school, for them to get additional funding, etc. (at least that was my understanding). Currently, the school can't give the right support without a diagnosis but are doing what they can to help.

We got a private assesment and diagnosis and it has been very helpful in terms of talking with school about extra support etc. I don't think anything would be different if we had waited and done an NHS one, oh, except we wouldn't have had it yet..

I don't know anything about how schools deal with autism diagnoses, etc, but my experience with getting an ADHD assessment - initially trying via my GP and then privately - has been very much along the lines of: this should not be so difficult, complicated and frustrating a process on the NHS, but it is, and (reluctantly) if you're in a position to be able to speed up the process, it probably makes sense to take it. It was for me (the cost of 1x in person assessment, and a couple of phone / video follow-ups) vs waiting for 2-3 years. I can imagine that for a child at a particularly formative stage of development, anything to speed things up would be very valuable.

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#3378 Re: Politics 2020
December 07, 2022, 11:41:50 am
Quote
This is precisely my 4th anecdote. We've been waiting 2 years for an autism assessment for one of my kids that was originally referred through nursery. We considered going private, but it then wouldn't be well joined up with the school, for them to get additional funding, etc. (at least that was my understanding). Currently, the school can't give the right support without a diagnosis but are doing what they can to help.

We got a private assessment and diagnosis and it has been very helpful in terms of talking with school about extra support etc. I don't think anything would be different if we had waited and done an NHS one, oh, except we wouldn't have had it yet..
Realise that this is hijacking a thread about politics a little with specific stuff around Autism diagnosis etc.  However, I run a Communication and Interaction 'Resource Base' within a secondary mainstream school and as a part of the role I advise other schools,  so feel I may be able to give you some useful information/ advice.  I guess it all relates back to a political root cause though. 

Where a diagnosis originates from is of little significance in terms of things being 'joined up' with school.  The diagnostic team is just that, (certainly in Devon anyway may be a different model in other Counties?), they diagnose ASD.  A diagnosis is a means of accessing other services and affirming/explaining differences.  The diagnosis may come with some specific information and/or advice, suggestions of support teams to access and signposting to services but the diagnostic team won't provide any on-going support or service.  Diagnostic teams, (like the majority of our essential services), are hugely underfunded, under resourced and understaffed.  Going private will speed things considerably. 

This makes me very sad because we are all being forced into using private (usually profit driven) services because the one's our taxes should be paying for are being run down (IMO deliberately so).  There's your politics folks.

Once the diagnosis is in place, you can approach the school with the diagnosis to ensure that support is put in place and that school is making reasonable adjustments for the child.  In Devon schools can approach the Communication and Interaction advisory team to seek further advice and support for the young person.  I would assume there is a similar service or team of advisory teachers in place in your area that school can seek support from.  You should also be able access free parental workshops/ courses regardless of where the diagnosis came from.  If you and the school feel that the 'universal' provision in the school is not enough to meet your child's needs you can request an EHC assessment.

There's is loads of info. advice on tinterweb, National Autistic Society's website is a useful resource and the parent forum may a good place to get advice and experiential knowledge from a parental perspective.

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#3379 Re: Politics 2020
December 07, 2022, 03:03:23 pm

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#3380 Re: Politics 2020
December 07, 2022, 05:41:35 pm
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/dec/07/right-and-important-that-michelle-mone-is-investigated-says-minister-steve-barclay

Hopefully this is just the start of it. Will the money ever be seen again though?

If the allegations are correct, she deserves to be in prison. But the money? No chance, it'll be in some offshore account in the BVI or similar.

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#3381 Re: Politics 2020
December 07, 2022, 08:29:04 pm
Quote
This is precisely my 4th anecdote. We've been waiting 2 years for an autism assessment for one of my kids that was originally referred through nursery. We considered going private, but it then wouldn't be well joined up with the school, for them to get additional funding, etc. (at least that was my understanding). Currently, the school can't give the right support without a diagnosis but are doing what they can to help.

We got a private assessment and diagnosis and it has been very helpful in terms of talking with school about extra support etc. I don't think anything would be different if we had waited and done an NHS one, oh, except we wouldn't have had it yet..
Realise that this is hijacking a thread about politics a little with specific stuff around Autism diagnosis etc.  However, I run a Communication and Interaction 'Resource Base' within a secondary mainstream school and as a part of the role I advise other schools,  so feel I may be able to give you some useful information/ advice.  I guess it all relates back to a political root cause though. 

Where a diagnosis originates from is of little significance in terms of things being 'joined up' with school.  The diagnostic team is just that, (certainly in Devon anyway may be a different model in other Counties?), they diagnose ASD.  A diagnosis is a means of accessing other services and affirming/explaining differences.  The diagnosis may come with some specific information and/or advice, suggestions of support teams to access and signposting to services but the diagnostic team won't provide any on-going support or service.  Diagnostic teams, (like the majority of our essential services), are hugely underfunded, under resourced and understaffed.  Going private will speed things considerably. 

This makes me very sad because we are all being forced into using private (usually profit driven) services because the one's our taxes should be paying for are being run down (IMO deliberately so).  There's your politics folks.

Once the diagnosis is in place, you can approach the school with the diagnosis to ensure that support is put in place and that school is making reasonable adjustments for the child.  In Devon schools can approach the Communication and Interaction advisory team to seek further advice and support for the young person.  I would assume there is a similar service or team of advisory teachers in place in your area that school can seek support from.  You should also be able access free parental workshops/ courses regardless of where the diagnosis came from.  If you and the school feel that the 'universal' provision in the school is not enough to meet your child's needs you can request an EHC assessment.

There's is loads of info. advice on tinterweb, National Autistic Society's website is a useful resource and the parent forum may a good place to get advice and experiential knowledge from a parental perspective.

This is all really helpful, thank you. We are at the very beginning of exploring what, if any, ongoing support our eldest might need and it feels like such a minefield that I am really struggling with in more ways than one. I've resisted googling as I don't want to preempt anything or get incorrect info but a forum with other parents might prove helpful.

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#3382 Re: Politics 2020
December 07, 2022, 09:57:31 pm
My son has Aspergers / ASD, and is nearly 13 now. Feel free to contact me directly any time. I think the process is not the same across the UK though, and seems to change all the time.

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#3383 Re: Politics 2020
December 09, 2022, 10:31:34 pm
The UK may be in a terrible state where nothing works, but at least this doesn't happen if you criticise the government: https://news.sky.com/story/russian-opposition-politician-ilya-yashin-jailed-for-eight-years-for-spreading-fake-news-on-ukraine-war-12764863

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#3384 Re: Politics 2020
December 11, 2022, 10:53:19 am
Quote
This is precisely my 4th anecdote. We've been waiting 2 years for an autism assessment for one of my kids that was originally referred through nursery. We considered going private, but it then wouldn't be well joined up with the school, for them to get additional funding, etc. (at least that was my understanding). Currently, the school can't give the right support without a diagnosis but are doing what they can to help.

We got a private assessment and diagnosis and it has been very helpful in terms of talking with school about extra support etc. I don't think anything would be different if we had waited and done an NHS one, oh, except we wouldn't have had it yet..
Realise that this is hijacking a thread about politics a little with specific stuff around Autism diagnosis etc.  However, I run a Communication and Interaction 'Resource Base' within a secondary mainstream school and as a part of the role I advise other schools,  so feel I may be able to give you some useful information/ advice.  I guess it all relates back to a political root cause though. 

Where a diagnosis originates from is of little significance in terms of things being 'joined up' with school.  The diagnostic team is just that, (certainly in Devon anyway may be a different model in other Counties?), they diagnose ASD.  A diagnosis is a means of accessing other services and affirming/explaining differences.  The diagnosis may come with some specific information and/or advice, suggestions of support teams to access and signposting to services but the diagnostic team won't provide any on-going support or service.  Diagnostic teams, (like the majority of our essential services), are hugely underfunded, under resourced and understaffed.  Going private will speed things considerably. 

This makes me very sad because we are all being forced into using private (usually profit driven) services because the one's our taxes should be paying for are being run down (IMO deliberately so).  There's your politics folks.

Once the diagnosis is in place, you can approach the school with the diagnosis to ensure that support is put in place and that school is making reasonable adjustments for the child.  In Devon schools can approach the Communication and Interaction advisory team to seek further advice and support for the young person.  I would assume there is a similar service or team of advisory teachers in place in your area that school can seek support from.  You should also be able access free parental workshops/ courses regardless of where the diagnosis came from.  If you and the school feel that the 'universal' provision in the school is not enough to meet your child's needs you can request an EHC assessment.

There's is loads of info. advice on tinterweb, National Autistic Society's website is a useful resource and the parent forum may a good place to get advice and experiential knowledge from a parental perspective.

This is all really helpful, thank you. We are at the very beginning of exploring what, if any, ongoing support our eldest might need and it feels like such a minefield that I am really struggling with in more ways than one. I've resisted googling as I don't want to preempt anything or get incorrect info but a forum with other parents might prove helpful.


 :wave:

Hello, autistic spectrum adult here (and I'd bet I'm not the only one -- I think there are disproportionately high numbers of neurodivergent people in the climbing community).

I can second the rec for the National Autistic Society as a starting point; they tend to be pretty solid as a source of info.

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#3385 Re: Politics 2020
December 11, 2022, 01:07:37 pm
If you’re a public sector employee facing a Christmas of explaining to bloated uncles why you deserve a pay rise, then this latest missive from the Boss Class paper may help:

https://archive.vn/2022.12.11-124437/https://www.ft.com/content/ca81509b-e929-487f-8975-49d75dc4f78d

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#3386 Re: Politics 2020
December 13, 2022, 09:56:46 am
Bloody hell, the Trussites were right all along - the FT are part of the far left anti-growth coalition!

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#3387 Re: Politics 2020
December 13, 2022, 10:33:27 am
Found this Kings Fund report, covered in the Guardian, pretty worrying:


“A “decade of neglect” by successive Conservative administrations has weakened the NHS to the point that it will not be able to tackle the 7 million-strong backlog of care, a government-commissioned report has concluded.

“The paper by the King’s Fund health thinktank says years of denying funding to the health service and failing to address its growing workforce crisis have left it with too few staff, too little equipment and too many outdated buildings to perform the amount of surgery needed…

“The report pinpoints Cameron’s decision to reduce the NHS’s annual budget increases from Labour’s 3.6% to an average of just 1.5% as the key reason for the service’s loss of capacity.”

And we keep coming back to that man, Cameron, probably the most destructive PM in recent history. Still, he was popular at the time wasn’t he? Somehow we have to wean ourselves off fantasies of low taxes and acceptable public services being peddled by smooth faced posh boys. 


https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/dec/12/decade-of-neglect-means-nhs-unable-to-tackle-care-backlog-report-says?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other



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#3388 Re: Politics 2020
December 13, 2022, 11:22:54 am
I’m always slightly baffled when I see conservative politicians touting various other “low tax” nations/states as models for UK economic growth. They’re always vastly smaller populations or high migrant workforce states, often not much more than “City states”. Along with the whole “Reduced regulation” garbage.
Having been out of Dubai for 15 years, returning has been eye opening.
It was never as low in regulation as people outside assumed and, really, it was more a case that the place grew faster than it’s legal and regulatory systems could cope with. Even in the early 00’s it was often incredibly bureaucratic etc.
Now, we get weekly site inspections by their HSE. Labour accommodation is inspected monthly. Anonymous reporting facilities are everywhere and easy to access for all. Residence and employment visas take months to  finalise, instead of days and involve deep background checks and full biometric recording/checking etc and strict enforcement of “categories” of your trade licenses. If you get caught adjusting scaffolding without the approved supervisors on site, you get shut down, for instance. In Maritime City, the patrolling HSE guys will pounce if they see anything major being undertaken and want to see all the paper work etc. We have to have full time “compliance” managers, on our payroll, to sign off permits to work etc, on everything.
Even salaries are strictly regulated. They are not that much lower (for labourers) than they would be in the UK.
For instance, our lowest paid staff member is earning 2000aed/mnth.(before overtime) All found food and accommodation, health and dental insurance, 30 days annual leave with flights. His role is to sweep the work areas and tidy up. All the guys work from 8am to 6pm. Any work after 6pm and the inspectors will visit to ensure overtime and break requirements are met. There is a strictly enforced 1/2hr break at 10am and another at 3pm. They get a 2hr lunch break from 12-2pm. We have to provide air conditioned rest areas for their breaks etc.
Shit, I had to give the bank full biometrics, just to open a Current account.
When I was running the wall in the UK, HSE visited the week before we opened and not even once more in the 10 years we were open.

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#3389 Re: Politics 2020
December 13, 2022, 05:47:13 pm
I’m always slightly baffled when I see conservative politicians touting various other “low tax” nations/states as models for UK economic growth.
...

I agree. Singapore has famously restrictive laws and they pay their politicians a huge salary, there's no way British people actually want anything like that. Similar for the parts of the Middle East you mention. I'm always a bit baffled by the enthusiasm of usually the same conservative politicians for trade in commodities, most of which, given that we left the single market, is slightly irrelevant. The primary goal, I believe, of an India trade deal would be to reduce the tariff on whiskey. That is not going to solve the recession, or anything else.

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#3390 Re: Politics 2020
December 13, 2022, 06:54:50 pm
Along with the whole “Reduced regulation” garbage.

I think this will vary by industry. I've worked in financial services regulation for the last 6/7 years and I could point you to all sorts of pieces that are utterly pointless and deeply unhelpful to anyone.

To give just one example, in the recently published Edinburgh Reforms is the abolition of the PRIIPs Regulation. Since its introduction in 2018 this will have cost the industry (and therefore its customers) billions of pounds to implement and manage, and yet now it's being revoked as, per the new consultation it "created unnecessarily prescriptive measures that led to information being presented to investors in unhelpful or, worse, misleading ways".

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#3392 Re: Politics 2020
December 21, 2022, 12:46:56 pm
This is the food bank, down a private corridor in my wife's hospital, set up for the Anaesthetics and Surgical Department staff who cannot afford food.



The bunting is a nice touch. Someone's tried to take the edge off the shame.

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#3393 Re: Politics 2020
December 21, 2022, 01:26:00 pm
There shouldn't be any shame for anyone having to use a food bank.

The shame should be reserved for those responsible for food banks being necessary.

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#3394 Re: Politics 2020
December 21, 2022, 01:34:09 pm
Of course. But I've no doubt that many users feel shame nonetheless.

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#3395 Re: Politics 2020
December 21, 2022, 01:49:10 pm
I see Braverman is advocating the use of ships to house asylum seekers. Maybe we should go the full Dickens and use rotting hulks on Thames estuary.
Fuck me can it get any worse.

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#3396 Re: Politics 2020
December 21, 2022, 01:57:03 pm
The rule of Braverman: it can always get worse.

At least she doesn't have the power or the competence to see most of her ideas implemented.

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#3397 Re: Politics 2020
December 21, 2022, 02:16:10 pm
I see Braverman is advocating the use of ships to house asylum seekers. Maybe we should go the full Dickens and use rotting hulks on Thames estuary.
Fuck me can it get any worse.

I'm curious what your view is of the Scottish Executive following the same policy for Ukranian refugees, whether you made the same criticisms of Nicola Sturgeon at the time?

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#3398 Re: Politics 2020
December 21, 2022, 02:32:37 pm
I don’t follow the policies of Scottish executive but having been  enlightened I’m equally appalled.

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#3399 Re: Politics 2020
December 22, 2022, 09:20:41 am
I haven't seen any details of this story so apologies if this is miles off but is the objection coming from an assumption that the conditions will be filthy, tiny and unfit for human habitation? Because detention centres, approved premises, prisons, hostels and statutory run housing can and is a shit hole - if a small child can end up dying of breathing difficulties caused by the mold growing in their housing association house, you can imagine the care, attention and investment that our increasingly right wing government give to housing so called 'undesireables'.

So, if the ships are clean and have services then I don't see an issue in practical terms. Obviously in moral terms there's something repugnant about putting people somewhere else to truly 'other' then but is that any worse than putting people behind a 10 foot fence with razor wire on top?

 

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