Labour pledged not to raise taxes directly on “working people,” committing to hold off on increases to National Insurance, VAT, and income tax. However, the budget raised National Insurance contributions for employers and increased capital gains tax, which may indirectly affect workers by driving up business costs.
Primary care appears to be under immense strain, facing financial challenges that threaten its sustainability. The Treasury has compounded these pressures by imposing significant National Insurance increases on GP practices. This comes on top of rising operational costs and an overwhelming demand for services.
Hearing those words—Mr. Lilley, you have cancer—changed everything. You’ll never feel the same again. Even writing them sends a chill down my spine, raising the hair on the back of my neck. It sets my mind racing, replaying the moments of my life, with all its failures and missteps flashing before me.
Budgets aren’t just abstract figures on a screen; they arrive with heavy boots, and those setting them should step carefully, mindful of the lives they impact.
Customers tend to judge their waiting or queueing experience based more on how long they wait rather than the number of people ahead of them. This is often seen in situations like airport border control.
Quadrant prioritisation, popularised by Steven Covey in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, is actually based on Eisenhower’s Matrix. President Dwight D. Eisenhower originally developed this method to prioritise tasks by urgency and importance.
Missed hospital appointments, or DNAs (Did Not Attend), cost the NHS around £2.6 million per day. In the UK, 46 appointments are missed every minute. In 2023/24 alone, eight million patients failed to attend their scheduled appointments, significantly impacting healthcare resources.
The plan was to break apart various components of the service, transforming the NHS’s organisational structure into a chaotic mess that would make a Jackson Pollock painting seem orderly by comparison.
Start with the most difficult task on your list. Tackle the job you’re dreading the most, the one you’ve been putting off. By getting it done first, you’ll feel a sense of accomplishment, and the rest of your day will seem much easier in comparison.
Those aware understand that obesity is the second leading cause of cancer and costs the NHS £6.5 billion annually, with projections exceeding £11 billion.
