There aren’t many operas that manage to kill
off all the principal characters by the end (although many have a good stab at
it). But that’s what happens in Tosca – and wonderfully too with one knifing,
one firing squad and a sudden suicidal leap. Of the many explanations given
about why it has become one of the most loved and watched of all operas, the
appeal of the story must be a major one.
Execution in Tosca, ROH Photo
It is arguably one of the best known of
Puccini and of all operas. I may have a preference for Turandot or Boheme,
but that is entirely personal.
Sadly, I am reminded of the same tactics used for the privatization
of the NHS.
Clive Peedell:
However, the privatisation debate has now been
reignited by revelations about section 75 of the act and the associated
statutory instruments(SI 257 regulations) making their way through parliament.
The regulations are aimed at making competitive tendering compulsory for
clinical commissioning groups (CCGs), except in emergencies. At a stroke, they
inject competition into the NHS and enable the market to decide how services
are provided. Thus the reassurances ministers gave about clinicians and local
people having control of how services are commissioned look set to be overturned.
Private providers will gain rights under EU competition law, which will make it
virtually impossible to stop them encroaching into the NHS market.
Previous promise was
not kept:
In the face of public and professional
opposition to Lansley's bill, coalition MPs and peers eventually passed the
legislation only after receiving reassurances from senior ministers that there
would be no NHS privatisation, and a
focus on integration of services rather than competition.
But the bill went through and with the emphasis
on competition from the private providers, the already stressed NHS hospitals
will indeed fail and those that did not will have to cut back on services to
support those that failed. In fact the PFI scheme is indeed one of the main
reason for financial failures. Centrally imposed targets were the cause of
clinical and patient care failures.
We may indeed forget that whether private or
public, for now they will be the same doctors until of course most of the NHS
consultants decide to give up the much degraded NHS.
The Cockroach Catcher felt that a number of
people made what appeared to be strong views against the dismantling of our
beloved NHS; that they did so knowing that these protestations may satisfy the
public, remembering that in the Markets of old, fake customers would be there
to lure real ones.
To me the same people are making noises that
will I am sure have no impact on S75.
Many have protested about this broken promise.
Lib Dem MPs Norman Lamb and Andrew George have raised serious concerns in the
Commons. The Conservative MP Dr Sarah Wollaston has asked for it to be referred
to the health select committee. The Labour party is calling
for an early day motion and has Lib
Dem support. …..Even Dr Michael Dixon of NHS Alliance
Ha Ha Ha! Was I born yesterday?
Well, The Jobbing
Doctor agreed:
So
people like Sir Terence Stephenson (leader of the Paediatricians) should have
listened to the likes of Clare Gerada (leader of the GPs) rather than now
telling Tories/Rich Men what they should do. It makes me very sad that people
of the intelligence of Sir Terence trusted the Government to protect the NHS.
He was utterly naive in this.
I return to work, doing the last 2 months of my career, to a service that I have worked in for 38 years without any break, to see it gradually falling apart. No amount of wailing from Sir Terence-like people or the absurd Dr Michael Dixon will undo the damage they have helped usher in.
I return to work, doing the last 2 months of my career, to a service that I have worked in for 38 years without any break, to see it gradually falling apart. No amount of wailing from Sir Terence-like people or the absurd Dr Michael Dixon will undo the damage they have helped usher in.
Dr Michael Dixon was the medical director of The Prince's
Foundation for Integrated Health, which closed in 2010 after its finance
director was arrested for stealing £253,000 from the organisation.[9] Dixon is a director of the College of Medicine Alliance
He
was not born yesterday!
Tosca
got a written promise of a faked execution of her love one by agreeing to
sexual favours but had the wisdom to kill the one who signed the order just in
case. In the end the fake execution was real and she committed suicide.
Death
may not be on stage alone:
A seven-week-old baby with a suspected
respiratory infection died in November after repeated calls to the service over
several days, during which it is alleged to have failed to follow protocols in
key areas. Sources with knowledge of the case say they fear a four-hour wait
for a doctor to see the baby at a Harmoni-run clinic at the Whittington
hospital in London
Also:
Harmoni, which has contracts covering 8 million
patients across large areas of London and southern England, is also alleged to
have manipulated its performance data, masking delays in seeing patients and
other missed targets.
Tosca
can still shock and the music is accessible to first timers.
Do
not believe promises even if it is written and do not believe those that had
deceived before. Synopsis
Tosca runs from 2 – 26 March and 9 – 20 July.
Tosca runs from 2 – 26 March and 9 – 20 July.
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