Spring may have sprung, but the cold weather we experienced last month was reminiscent in the frosty attitudes of a number of GPs. In an endeavour to keep GP surgeries open over the Easter weekend, NHS officials in the West Midlands proposed to pay GPs £150 an hour, according to
The Daily Mail. Despite Easter bearing a strong resemblance to sacrifice, it was reported that GPs would only sacrifice their time if the proposed money was quadrupled.
The Sunday Express then reported that in order to relieve the strain on our overstretched
A&E departments, family doctors were being offered £650 in some parts of England, for just three hours work on Easter Sunday.
Unfortunately, reports on
GP issues continued throughout the month. It was published in
The Daily Mail that it seemed salary incentives were not enough for our GPs. In accordance with
The BBC’s Inside Out it was noted that doctors disliked the hours and high volume of consultations, resulting in 40% of GPs being tempted to leave the UK to work in Australia and Canada. With this in mind, it comes as no surprise that
The Observer reported advertisements in Australia urging GPs to “come home”.
Unsurprisingly, reports on the
NHS budget this month stretched further than the crisis surrounding GPs. Although it is near impossible to forget George Osborne’s “epic strut” published on the front page of
The Sun, it seemed the Government’s budget and long-term plan for the health service had been overshadowed.
The i newspaper reported on the uncertainty felt among NHS staff and patients regarding this topic, even though spending commitments were contained in the Budget statement. According to
The Daily Telegraph, Labour is accusing the Chancellor of planning sweeping cuts within the NHS. This statement was supported by Labour's latest election campaign poster, which was unveiled by Ed Balls last month.
Unsurprisingly, close to an election, the headlines in March were mainly made up of
NHS political issues, but are they worth losing sleep over? And if so can this be seen as detrimental to our health? According to the front page of
The Daily Telegraph, research conducted at Cambridge University indicated that sleeping over eight hours each night could lead to a 46% increase in the risk of stroke. This does not however condone ‘running on empty’, as the risks of stroke increase by 18% for those sleeping less than 6 hours.
And finally, on a lighter note, here at Aurora we enjoy our music and despite not being overly heartbroken at the departure of Zayn from 1D, we would recommend Brit award winner James Bay’s new album. Chaos and The Calm went straight to number one in the album chart and ironically features a track entitled ‘Clocks go Forward’.
