Private Firm To Run Entire NHS Hospital

Private Firm To Run Entire NHS Hospital

Hinchingbrooke Hospital in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, will be operated by the private sector from next summer in a franchise expected to last at least seven years.NHS East of England, the area's health authority, is announcing which of two private bidders will run the hospital.The companies - Circle Health and Serco - have submitted comprehensive plans to improve patient care and make services more efficient.The hospital is nearly £40m in debt and previous attempts to turn it around have failed.The only NHS bidder for the contract pulled out in early negotiations.Dr Stephen Dunn, director of Strategy at NHS East of England, earlier said the aim was to ensure a sustainable future for the hospital.

Re-Bloged by Nigel Rumble, Yahoo Breaking News

Powerful Chile Quake 'Shifted Earth's Axis'

"The powerful earthquake that killed hundreds of people in Chile on Saturday probably shifted the Earth's axis and made days slightly shorter, a Nasa scientist has said."

"Richard Gross, a research scientist at Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, calculated how much the axis may have changed in position following the the disaster.

If the planet's axis did shift by 8cm during the quake, days would have shortened by 1.26 microseconds, Mr Gross calculated. A microsecond is one-millionth of a second.

Earth days are 24 hours long because that is the amount of time it takes the planet to make one full rotation on its axis, so shifting the axis would affect rotation.

The quake shifted the Earth's axis by even more than the 9.1-magnitude tremor off Indonesia that started the deadly tsunami in Asia in 2004, according to Mr Gross.

This was partly because the fault line responsible for the quake in Chile "dips into Earth at a slightly steeper angle than does the fault responsible for the 2004 Sumatran earthquake", he said.

The different angle made Saturday's tremor more effective at moving Earth's mass vertically and shifting the planet's axis, Mr Gross continued.

The 2004 quake in Asia, which killed hundreds of thousands of people, caused the Earth to move by around 7cm.

It chopped an estimated 6.8 microseconds off the length of a day, Nasa said"

This is not a typical Belsize blog, but since this severe event has such significance to world climate, this does serve as a reminder of the fragile world that we inhabit. Who can say if the collective effects of reducing our CO2 emissions in the UK, together in Camden and Belsize will have more or less impact than the loss of 1 micro second to a day.

But one thing is clear the need to reduce climate CO2 and thus helping to prevent a non reversible trend to incresed "global warming". Most scientists agree we have at best less than 10 years to drastically to turn the tide of a non reversible trend. Hansen (NASA).

Author: Nigel Rumble
Quotes: Sky News 2010

Tony Blair at IRAQ Inquiry - AT LAST!

After much speculation we finally have Tony Blair in the Dragon's Den.

But it is not expected to reveal new information of any change of opinion from former premier Blair, so far he has given at times a slightly nervous and hesitant account of the time-line to go to War in IRAQ. But has offered nothing of any real substance to support the fact apart from "regime change" and "OIL" which he made reference.

So then it is the small give away asides and comments that if anything will be the more revealing of Blair and his WAR. It even appears that he may have influenced (certainly bolstered) George W Bush to making the final call to GO to WAR.

So far we have heard these facts to emerge from the AM and PM proceedings;

• When asked why go to war with IRAQ and not IRAN or N. Korea, responded that IRAQ was the place to start!

• Fails to understand significance of 45 min claim as presenting a false warning to people of UK!
  

• Playing a disgraceful game of word manipulation at this much-anticipated event. Blairism on full frontal display

PM session.

• TB looking very twitchy with questioning on legality of going to War without the 2nd UN resolution.Says that he had undertaken significant war planning: but could not have foreseen different outcome eventualities

• The panel returns time and time again to the issue of legality in going to war and how Blair sidelined the UN.

• Blair in closing comments of Inquiry has no regrets!

Author: Nigel Rumble

Snow again on Primrose Hill- worst for 30 years!

In what is set to be the worst winter conditions for 30 years, here again in Camden,  we have the crazy situation published today in Ham & High that Brent and Camden have RUN OUT OF GRIT.

This is a disgraceful situation, with weather predictions now able to achieve long term viable reporting weeks in advance, this simply is unacceptable.

It is notable that in other countries such as in the USA this apparent luck of grit never occurs, the US government is totally proactive in dealing with sever winter extremes. For example in anticipation of certain states currently being hit hard by sub-zero extreme temperature, energy supply companies that have "cut off" people due to failure of being able to pay utility bills have been ordered to re-connect the most needy in advance of worsening conditions.

Clearly lessons can be learned from across the other side of the Atlantic in the USA of how to deal with bad weather.

Closer to home however, I have been informed by local residents that the luck of grit is not only causing big delays in moving around but is very dangerous.

One local resident has narrowly escaped serious injury or worst when slipping and falling in Fellows Road with an oncoming car out of control unable to break or stop sliding towards the unfortunate pedestrian shouting "Get out of the road I can't stop the car"!

Another resident slipping on ice outside Budgens in Haverstock Hill falling and hitting her head in the process, but escaped serious injury.

We need the gritters out 24/7 NOW and not talk about it as a post review for 2011!

Author: Nigel Rumble (currently on New Year's vacation in USA NOLA)