I'm alright Jack - by Richard... Tuesday, August 23, 2011

I'm alright Jack - by Richard... Tuesday, August 23, 2011

First, it was this: Hospital bosses have outlined new approaches they said are needed in the face of "enormous" and growing financial pressure. The trust had slipped almost £7million behind on the year's £27.5million savings target.

Hospital chiefs said the already-huge target needed to be increased to £40million to tackle rising costs, balance the books and prepare for future savings.

Then it was this: Paul Roberts, chief executive (salary £170,001 - 175,000) said: "There is no doubt that it will be a tough year. "For the first time in a decade the Trust will receive less money in 2011/12 than it has in the previous year. "But whilst we will have to make very significant savings this year, our priority remains to provide safe and effective care to our patients."

But then this happened: Richard Thompson, 42, was due to undergo the operation at Derriford Hospital, Plymouth, but was delayed because a previous patient's treatment overran. Six days after Mr Thompson's surgery slot was cancelled for a second time due to lack of beds, he was found dead in a ward toilet after suffering a fatal heart arrhythmia.

But never mind. Paul Roberts is alright. He was already in the process of leaving for pastures greener. ABM Health Board chairman Win Griffiths, said: "I am confident Paul will provide strong leadership to our executive team and all our staff as we face the challenges of providing better healthcare and improving the health of the people we serve".

Mr Roberts will start work on Monday, September 5, and in the interim, ABM's deputy chief executive, Alex Howells, will be acting chief executive. It is not known how much Mr Roberts will be paid, but his predecessor was on between £185,000 and £200,000. Nice work if you can get it, and Mr Roberts obviously can.

So every story has a happy ending. It's a pity about Mr Thompson, but there you go.

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Everywhere you look - by Richard...

In virtually every economic sector and sphere of activity, we are seeing examples of wholesale looting. The rot was spreading to "charities" by 2009, although these also included some very dubious operations.

One such was the Riverside Housing Group. Chief executive Deborah Shackleton walked away with £231,000 in 2008-9. These housing association are very suspicious, basically no more than jumped-up council housing departments, ripping off their "clients".

Ironically another parasite was Gillian Guy, the group chief executive of Victim Support. This is the outfit that rings you up with platitudes when you get burgled. Yet she got to take home a cool £100,000 ... much more than most burglars net.

Generally, we have the parasite class taking the piss, as the Daily Mail is once again reporting. Yet, strangely, while this newspaper is pre-eminent in reporting the machinations of the corporate looters, it is most strident about the street amateurs. It still hasn't got the point.

And speaking of corporates, Raedwald has come up with a beauty. Writing of the quango WRAP, he notes the need of that loathsome organisation to justify CE Liz Goodwin's salary of £194,000 and the quango's cost to taxpayers of some £79m a year. Try to read the piece and not feel angry.

These fools clearly cannot realise that this is the stuff of revolution ... as the recession bites, and the lights go out, even our sheeple will be out on the streets looking for blood. The Daily Mail, the political and all the rest of them can moralise for all they are worth but, if parasite classes keep taking the piss like this, some of them are going to die.

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Can they really be serious? - by Richard...

" ... we fully understand that journalists are under extreme time pressure to produce copy and to make it appealing to their readership. But in an age where traditional journalism is under threat, where unregulated information can be found widely on the internet, and where the taxes spent on scientific research fall under ever increasing scrutiny, a focus on getting the facts straight is more important than ever".

Like I said, these people have no self-awareness.

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Nuff said - by Richard...

Cameron faces "serious questions" over claims his former communications chief received several hundred thousand pounds from News International while he was employed by the Tories. And, with that, it is difficult for me to add anything new to my earlier piece. The Boy lacks judgement. This is the consequence.

Anyone with any sense or political savvy would have steered a country mile from Coulson. But the "bubble" has its own rules, and the denizens think they can suspend the laws of gravity. They can't – sooner or later they hit dirt. He's doing the political equivalent of Todd Green's stunt, and the eventual outcome will be the same.

If Cameron had any sense (which he hasn't), he'd pin the above picture on the wall of his office, to remind himself of his eventual destination.