Sunday news catchup

1. Two articles in The Mail on "the envy of the world" the NHS. The first records how:

"Sick children at a leading hospital were forced to wash in buckets for almost a month after bosses failed to fix the hot water supply.

More than 100 youngsters, some of them seriously ill, were left without hot running water.

Parents were forced to carry hot water in buckets from a single working tap in a sluice room so their children could wash. Youngsters suffering from brain tumours and cystic fibrosis were among those affected."

The second reports how a journalist spent a year undercover in the NHS and what they discovered, here's one:

"In the year I spent visiting hospitals, I met only one person who was doing what a good manager in the NHS should be doing - questioning activity and redesigning processes to get the best care and the most efficient use of taxpayers' money.

Even finance directors didn't see that as their role. I asked one what he was doing to save money and increase efficiency. He looked at me as if I were mad. He had no time for that. His time was spent reacting to the 'hell of a lot of indicators' pouring out of Whitehall.

He told me he was working out the implications 'of a whole new agenda about the way funds flow around the system'. This meant he had little time to look at the finances of his own hospital, let alone work out how to save money.

In fact, what went on in his own hospital was a bit of a mystery to him. He admitted this meant he spent most of his time fire-fighting - rushing from one crisis to another. He was ten minutes late for our interview because his budget deficit had shot up that month. Was it a one-off or a trend? He had no idea."

2. The BBC manage to report the imminent closure of the Corus Teesside Cast Products factory, putting 1,700 people out of work, without mentioning carbon offsetting or Tata moving production to a plant in India. Instead the Labour party supporting broadcaster reports the twice disgraced Peter Mandelson's claim that "The steel industry overall has suffered an unprecedented fall in demand in the global recession."


3. The Times report on the ongoing scandal that is the Labour ruined English education system. Here are some extracts:

"A report out on Friday points out that a fifth of firms and a quarter of employers in the state sector are still hiring — despite the recession. Except they are taking on migrant workers — not our home-grown “discouraged” variety.

...

The managing director of a medium-sized IT company explained why. High-flyers — Oxford and Cambridge graduates — are still as good as any in the world. His problems come when he tries to recruit middle management. Last year he interviewed 52 graduates — all educated in state schools. On paper they looked “brilliant students”. Each had three As at A-level and a 2:1 degree. He shook his head. “There’s a big difference between people passing exams and being ready for work.”

This was obvious even before the interview began. Of the 52 applicants, half arrived late. Only three of the 52 walked up to the managing director, looked him in the eye, shook his hand and said, “Good morning.” The rest “just ambled in”. When he asked them to solve a problem, only 12 had come equipped with a notebook and pencil.

The three who had greeted him proved the strongest candidates and he hired them. Within a year they were out because of their “lackadaisical” attitude. They did not turn up on time; for the first six months a manager had to check all their emails for spelling and grammar; they did not know how to learn. It was the first time they had ever been asked to learn on their own. Their ability to “engage in business” was “incredibly” disappointing and “at 5.30 on the dot they left the office”.

This year the managing director has joined the 20% of companies recruiting overseas. “We are an English company but we have no English staff. It’s just too much trouble,” he said."

I've experienced this myself, candidates with excellent GCSE results but no real ability in English or Mathematics.


4. Burning Our Money on some more similarities between Gordon Brown and Stalin.


5. The Mail reports the good news that: "Scientists create low-fat water-based chocolate that tastes as good as a normal bar".