Lesley Smithson

Scouser now living in God's own country and long-suffering Everton supporter, who's getting on a bit.

[Lesley Smithson @lesleyit]

#hunted #hunted Well done Shaq! But Channel 4, either make it fairer or drop the show, cos with this current format you have totally runied it!

[Lesley Smithson @lesleyit]

#hunted is no longer worth watching. The odds are biased so far in favour of the hunters with facial recognition, cctv, telematics and having to go home for extraction info that it's almost hopeless for the fugitives. I won't watch another series.

[Lesley Smithson @lesleyit]

@Avast Still awaiting resolution for ticket raised 20 May. After I paid 4 upgrade to Ultimate, Avast quit working. Ticket escalated to David Neugebauer who prioritised it for fix. Still without AV & VPN after 25 days. Please provide fix or refund ASAP #Avast #poor_service

[BladeoftheSun @BladeoftheS]

The UK’s world beating Pensions.

Lowest in the world, but still too expensive.

[Lesley Smithson @lesleyit]

Think the Ref musrt be a Coldplay fan. It's all YELLOW!#ENGvSLO

[Farrukh @implausibleblog]

This morning Conservative MP and Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Mel Stride said that GPs will no longer determine whether a patient gets a sick note, and that WorkWell will make the assessment.

Who is WorkWell? After a quick search online:

➡️ WorkWell is a series of partnerships across the country delivering a service

➡️ They will evaluate 59,000 disabled people, and people with health conditions

➡️ £57 million will be allocated to 15 areas

➡️ One example of this is a contract issued by Greater Manchester Health Authority for a 2 month contract. It was given to the firm PWC for £91k

This model will be replicated across the country

So instead of your GP determining whether you, their patient, are well enough to work, or not. Various private firms will be paid to make these assessments

One of the reasons why the government is doing is this is because its cheaper to hire external assessors than it is to hire more GPs.

Another, is that it's cheaper to do this performative role than it is to address the underlying issues of long waiting lists on the NHS.

14 years of austerity have decimated the NHS, covid didn't help, nor did Brexit, and instead of having a plan that will actually work to bring people back to better health, time and money is wasted on these types of initiatives to give the impression that something is being done, when in reality, the cause for the hardships and difficulties facing many people are a result of the 14 years of Conservative party policies and plans.

[Lesley Smithson @lesleyit]

#emmerdale Enough now! Belle is not a daft lass. Surely she can see him for the bully he is? She needs to get herself out of there and just go home.

[Diane Short @shortdme]

@PrivateEyeNews Well, well, well! The non-story of Angela Rayner reopened with funny handshakes and a wink and a nod. A senior police officer in the pocket of the Tory party. Very interesting. I wish to make a complaint! Thank God for Private Eye doing the journalist's job.

[Lord Llamedos of Abertawe vc.cbe. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 @2446Ian]

@PrivateEyeNews @AnotherCinna

[Mark Thomas @dixiedeansboots]

⚽️💙

[Lesley Smithson @lesleyit]

@DoloresJukes @EssexPR I can! She'd be an effective woman getting things done! She has at least has obviously read and can quote the books by the Tory lunatic fringe #AngelaRayner

[Marc Douglas @Silverfish881]

@implausibleblog A GP is surely the best person to assess the requirement of someone being off work long term.

Instead of demonising those who need long term support, this government should maybe focus on increasing the availability of GPs, rather than enriching their mates in the private sector

[Farrukh @implausibleblog]

2024: Rishi Sunak, "We're going to test shifting the responsibility for sick note assessment from GPs and giving it to private companies"

2014: BBC News report "ATOS was not up to running assessments of whether people were fit to work" and MPs blamed "poor decision making by assessors"

ATOS was given a £500 million government contract to assess workers. From Sept 2024 ATOS will no longer do assessments, this role has been passed on to a number of other companies, including Serco

Serco made so much money from the failed covid test and trace system that it paid out over £100 million in shareholder dividends - Churchill's grandson, Rupert Soames, was the CEO of Serco from 2014 to 2023. And his brother Nicholas Soames was a Conservative MP and is now an unelected bureaucrat in the House of Lords

I put it to you that the best person capable of determining whether you are fit for work is your GP, outsourcing to private providers has consistently failed, causing undue stress for patients, inaccurate judgments, and created a layer of bureaucratic red tape

If there's a shortage of GPs, the solution isn't outsourcing, the solution is hire more GPs

And if 1.9 million are on waiting lists for mental health services on the NHS, then how about funding the NHS properly, getting those 1.9 million the help they need, so those whoa re able to return to work, can

The Conservative party creates problems, then finds ways to monetise the problems they've created, presenting that monetised program as the solution. These are services for the benefit of the British people, this is profiteering

Everything this government has privatised has failed, and ended up costing tax payers even more

I'm all for private business and enterprise, we absolutely need this. But profiteering and providing poor quality of service to tax payers is shameful

We've got to do better as a country

[Lesley Smithson @lesleyit]

@BBCBreakfast Charlie was so rude to Louise. The reform of our railways is a complex business and he kept pushing for trivial, monosyllabic answers, instead of letting her give us the detail. The way he butted in to every answer was almost hostile! #Railways #Stayt #BBCBreakfast

[Lesley Smithson @lesleyit]

@DuncanUK45 Haha well said!

[Lesley Smithson @lesleyit]

#moneyfornothing wabi sabi?... That cabinet is started as rubbish, was "renovated" and ended up as trash. Someone with more money than sense must have bought it. Daftest makeover ever!

[Lesley Smithson @lesleyit]

@bbcbreakfast Is it "pick on Charlie" day? I mean, we expect it of Naga, it's a regular occurrence, but seems that his gardening, as well as his listening skills, are being knocked today. Poor man!

[Jason @NickMotown]

At this stage, even The Child Catcher from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is looking at Suella Braverman and saying "that's a bit much, mate".

[BladeoftheSun @BladeoftheS]

Home Secretary Suella Braverman dosn't speak for me and she has to GO.

Like If she doesn't speak for you
RT If its time she got fired

#BravermanOUT