Was first privately run Hinchingbrooke Health Care NHS trust victim of stitch-up

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Hinchingbrooke Health Care NHS trust rated 'inadequate' in quality report It has now been put into special measures by the Care Quality Commission Hours before report released, firm running hospital said it was pulling out Previously, the hospital had been hailed as a miracle cure for the NHS

By Sophie Borland and Daniel Martin for the Daily Mail

Published: 19:03 EST, 9 January 2015 | Updated: 19:18 EST, 9 January 2015

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The first hospital to be run by a private firm has been put into special measures following a damning report by the NHS watchdog.

Hinchingbrooke Health Care NHS trust, in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, was rated inadequate by the Care Quality Commission, which gave it the lowest ever score for patient care.

Hours before the report was published, Circle, the firm which has run the hospital since February 2012, announced it was pulling out.

Staff at Hinchingbrooke Hospital, in Huntingdon, which has been rated inadequate for patient care by the NHS watchdog

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Was first privately run Hinchingbrooke Health Care NHS trust victim of stitch-up

Harvard Pilgrim Acquires Health Coaching Company

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Harvard Pilgrim Health Care of Wellesley, Mass., announced Friday it has acquired an Arkansas company that helps large employers improve the health behavior of their workers.

Harvard Pilgrim's subsidiary, Health Plans Inc., acquired TrestleTree of Fayetteville, Ark. Health Plans is the part of Harvard Pilgrim that acts as a third-party administrator for large companies. Large employers tend to be self insured, meaning the company pays for its workers' medical costs. Large employers hire a third-party administrator to establish a network of clinicians and to manage the medical costs. Smaller employers tend to be fully-insured, meaning the employer pays a premium to an insurance company, which in turn pays for workers' medical expenses.

TrestleTree will be a service marketed to large employers who are self-insured and want to reduce medical expenses by improving the health and health-related behaviors of their workforces.

TrestleTree offers health coaching and lifestyle management, which means helping people to quit smoking, maintain a healthy weight, manage stress and exercise. The program also analyzes gaps in medical care a person is receiving, according to Harvard Pilgrim. The program has achieved measurable change for workers and has reduced health-care cost for employers, the insurer said.

TrestleTree has been in the lifestyle-and-wellness management business for more than 10 years and it has been successful in changing behaviors by the most reluctant of participants, said Health Plans President Deborah Hodges.

"They've got over 10 years of demonstrated outcomes where they've really been able to show that they've had savings and have made an impact," Hodges said.

Harvard Pilgrim and Health Plans Inc. have some internal wellness programs and lifestyle management programs, but the TrestleTree is a different model based on proprietary training and coaching different from other similar programs, she said.

"So, now everybody within the last couple years is talking about wellness and wellness coaching and lifestyle coaching, but they were doing this 10 years ago when nobody else was really talking about it," Hodges said.

TrestleTree President Ted Borgstadt said in a statement: "Our new relationship with Harvard Pilgrim allows for a broader expansion of TrestleTree's core expertise: helping less motivated individuals measurably change difficult health behaviors that results in lower cost and better health."

Harvard Pilgrim Health Care offers group plans in Connecticut, and is a relatively new entrant in the state's health insurance market. The Massachusetts nonprofit started selling small-group health plans through the Chamber Insurance Trust, an alliance of about 60 chambers of commerce in Connecticut, in July. Harvard Pilgrim is evaluating the costs and benefits of entering Connecticut's public health insurance exchange.

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Harvard Pilgrim Acquires Health Coaching Company

Why we need to liberate Americas health care

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Photo by Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images.

Editors Note: Our health care debate, Robert Graboyes says, is trapped. Caught in the back-and-forth over insurance coverage, both the proponents and opponents of the Affordable Care Act are missing the point. To Graboyes, a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center, distribution of health care is not the problem. Its the creation of better health care that will save more lives and cut costs.

And while his thesis resonates with the laissez-faire, pro-market attitude most often heard on the political right, he implicates both sides in holding Americas health care hostage in his recently published paper Fortress and Frontier in American Health Care. Americas health care has been allowed to languish, denied the opportunities to take the risks what Graboyes and his colleague call permissionless innovation that have allowed the information technology industry to flourish, and with it, all Americans. To get health care caught up to IT, he argues, we should rethink federal grants for innovation (theyre often counterproductive, he thinks) and decentralize regulatory institutions.

But Graboyes assessment of how and why IT has made such strides isnt universally accepted. We need to rebalance the story we tell about who the innovators really are, says Mariana Mazzucato. Author of The Entrepreneurial State, Mazzucato wrote on Making Sen$e last year that Apple didnt build your iPhone; the government and your taxes did. How is technology fostered, she asked? Far from the obscure figures in garages Graboyes credits with IT success, more often than not, down through history, Mazzucato argued, innovation has stemmed from government investment, from the roads of ancient Rome to the Internet of modern America.

Graboyes paper, out a year after Mazzucatos essay, sees consumers and producers taking the risks, leading the way toward a changing health care industry. Graboyes teaches at the medical centers at Virginia Commonwealth University and the University of Virginia. He produces a twice-a-month health care policy newsletter and is on Twitter at @Robert_Graboyes. Read more from him below.

Simone Pathe, Making Sen$e Editor

Health care is the surliest corner of American politics. For decades, a bitterly partisan debate dueling monologues, really has hung like smog over public discourse. Facts, misconceptions, half-truths and non sequiturs have congealed into conflicting sets of pre-packaged talking points.

Nearly five years after President Barack Obama signed the Affordable Care Act (ACA) into law, the rancor and accusations still swirl, turbulent but immovable, like the Great Red Spot of Jupiter. Maddeningly, the perpetual storm barely touches the great issues that actually determine our health and what we spend to acquire that health.

This is a pity, but the upside is that it suggests an enormous opportunity to shift the debate, dissipate reflexive partisanship, and in doing so, save lives, ease suffering and cut costs.

In short, since World War II, the health care debate has focused almost exclusively on coverage the number of people with insurance cards. Quality of care and improvements in health have been afterthoughts.

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Why we need to liberate Americas health care

DS Domination Testimonials – Del Edwards – Creating REAL FREEDOM – Video

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DS Domination Testimonials - Del Edwards - Creating REAL FREEDOM
http://WorkWithDel.com (Join Me Now) http://uop.deledwards.com (Learn More) 614-434-6111 (Call Me) https://www.facebook.com/imdeledwards (Connect With Me On Facebook) http://deledwards.com ...

By: Del Edwards

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DS Domination Testimonials - Del Edwards - Creating REAL FREEDOM - Video

The fight for freedom of speech / Shooting Attack, Paris, Charlie Hebdo – Video

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The fight for freedom of speech / Shooting Attack, Paris, Charlie Hebdo
The fight for freedom of speech Chris Matthews is joined by Lizz Winstead and Ted Johnson to discuss the countless emotional reactions to the attack on Charlie Hebdo from humorists and entertainers.

By: MSNBC News

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The fight for freedom of speech / Shooting Attack, Paris, Charlie Hebdo - Video

Brodha V live Performance Indian Flava at Radio City Freedom Awards 2014 – Video

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Brodha V live Performance Indian Flava at Radio City Freedom Awards 2014
Subscribe to PlanetRadioCity YouTube Channel : http://goo.gl/WUlHGz Rapper Brodha V performing on the song Indian Flava by MWA at the RCFA 2014 Catch this song which was last year #39;s Jury...

By: PlanetRadiocity.com

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Brodha V live Performance Indian Flava at Radio City Freedom Awards 2014 - Video

Let’s Play Supreme Commander Cybran Mission 06 Operation Freedom Part 3 – Video

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Let #39;s Play Supreme Commander Cybran Mission 06 Operation Freedom Part 3
Supreme Commander Cybran Mission 06 Operation Freedom Part 3 If you enjoyed my video please Comment, Like, Favorite, Subscribe and Share as this really helps me out 🙂 Game Link ...

By: Ancalagon Games

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Foie Gras Freedom Is Also a Win for Free Speech

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TIME Ideas Culture Foie Gras Freedom Is Also a Win for Free Speech Sauteed foie gras lucydphotoGetty Images/Flickr RF

Nick Gillespie is the editor in chief of Reason.com and Reason.tv.

The overturning of Californias idiotic and repressive ban on the production and sale of foie gras is a small but important victory for food freedom. The only down side is that the decision is open to appeal, so it might be temporary.

The ban was passed in 2004 but only went into effect in 2012. The legislators responsibleincluding then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who hypocritically claimed to be pro-business and in favor of limited governmentsaid that they wanted to give producers and restaurants time to adapt to the change. But in fact the long lag time had everything to do with Golden State term limits. By the time the ban was in full force, you see, none of those responsible would still be in the legislature.

As defined by the nonprofit Keep Food Legal, food freedom is the right to grow, raise, produce, buy, sell, cook, and eat the foods of their own choosing, including everything from raw milk to trans fats, hemp to soda, and foie gras to Four Loko (disclosure: I once served on Keep Food Legals board of trustees). In an age of artisanal everything and skyrocketing interest in all sorts of new and innovative cuisine, food freedom is every bit as important as rights to free speech and alternative sexuality.

Indeed, what we cook and what we eat have become every bit as much an arena of individual expression as whom we vote for and whom we marry. Raw milk producers still labor under draconian regulations and federal raids despite strong demand for their products by impeccably informed consumers. In a world in which caffeine-enhanced Four Loko has been prohibited, its a wonder that Irish coffee is still available.

In order to ban a choice that is as personal as food, government at any level should have extremely compelling reasons related to public health and safety for doing so. Simply finding something offensive is no more a warrant for prohibition than censoring art that you find disturbing. In the case of the foie gras, animal rights activists could only express concern for the birds that are traditionally force-fed in the production of foie gras. All animals that are ultimately slaughtered for human consumption may have our sympathy and our empathy. They do not, however, have rights that are equal to ours. The basic problem helps to explain why the California ban was written in a way that critics presciently called both constitutionally vague and impossible to enforce.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), one of the major players in the foie gras, has over the years tried to assert constitutional rights for Orcas. In this, they are joined by other activists who have done the same for chimpanzees, dolphins, and other animals. None of these suits have gotten far and they are not likely to because they are nonsensical. However much humans may or may not have an ethical obligation to treat animals in a humane fashion, animals simply do not have rights in any meaningful legal sense.

Which isnt to say that people opposed to foie gras have no means of carrying the day. They can work to end the market for foie gras and other animal products through persuasion and informational campaigns. But they cannot and should not bank on using the coercive power of the state to force their subjective value judgements on the rest of us who have a taste for foie gras or other delicacies they find abhorrent.

And they should assiduously make sure that tax dollars are not going to support food they would never eat. Thats a likely point of agreement between them and libertarian defenders of the right to cook and eat what we want. A central part of the food freedom agenda is freedom from subsidizing other peoples preferences. Keep Food Legals mission statement emphasizes that the group also support[s] ending agricultural subsidies, which distort the market and help lead to problems like obesity and environmental degradation.

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Foie Gras Freedom Is Also a Win for Free Speech

Freedom of speech needs protection

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LETTERS

Illustration: Alan Moir

The French editor, Stephane Charbonnier, who was murdered in Paris said, "I would rather die standing than live on my knees" ("Better to die standing than live on our knees", Editorial, January 9). But it is better again to exercise free speech without being threatened with death. So free speech needs better protection. It is not enough to re-educate pockets of society and for us to revile terrorism. We need to excise the terrorists from our midst.

We should recognise that religious fanaticism with its jihadism is a deadly disease of the mind just as Ebola is a deadly disease of the body. Ebola is spread in unhygienic conditions among uneducated people. Religious fanaticism spreads in the same way. Its victims are feckless young men who have little education and are easily influenced by infected preachers and websites.

We prevent and treat Ebola by cleaning up unhygienic conditions, quarantining victims, educating people and encouraging them to hand over infected victims. We should do the same with the victims who are infected with religious extremism.

We need to quarantine jihadists, preferably before they commit acts of terrorism, and treat them. They will need to be identified, arrested, detained and re-educated. Obviously this would be abhorrent to many people. But what is more abhorrent? Detaining these extremists or allowing them to kill innocent people, themselves, and spread their mind disease?

Advertisement

Geoff BlackCaves Beach

I wonder what the great French philosopher Voltaire would be thinking now, were he still alive. Four hundred years or so later, one of his greatest statements, "I do not agree with what you have to say, but I'll defend to the death your right to say it" certainly has resonance. Would he have imagined this heinous crime possible, I ponder.

Rose PanidisGraceville (Qld)

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Freedom of speech needs protection

Rogue Legacy coming to Xbox One

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Rogue Legacy! The game that teaches you that colour blindness and ADHD are valuable traits to have! The game that makes you want your children to have genetic mutations! IT'S COMING!

So now YOU can play the game that everyone's calling "Rogue Legacy" - because it's been confirmed on Xbox One!

...Just to clarify, it's been confirmed via Twitter, where the developers, Cellar Door games, responded to a tweet bemoaning the lack of Rogue Legacy on Xbox One with:

"It's coming."

We definitely can't have misunderstood that, right? It's coming? To Xbox One? The game, Rogue Legacy, is coming to the console, Xbox One? Yes? Good. Continue the party.

YAAAAAAAAAY

So, for the uninitiated, Rogue Legacy is a rugged platformer with a flashy roguelike cape. Most interestingly, though, it features this strange line of messed-up gamey eugenics, where your progeny will take over the quest once your character dies. Various abilities - though, in the game, they're more like deficiencies you can use to your benefit - will help you progress in certain ways. Quickly, the game will devolve into you choosing your favourite child based on how much of a mutant they are.

Gigantism, as it sounds, makes your character twice as big, but dwarfism means you can fit into small gaps - easier for collecting treasure. Colour blindness puts the game into black and white. ADHD makes your character move faster. Having 'two left hands' will make your character fire spells backwards. Or, your character can be gay - which makes no difference at all to your abilities. Cooool.

Each time you die, your skill tree is passed down to the child who will carry on your legacy - along with all your tasty, hard-earned gold. There's not even any inheritance tax! That gold can be used to buy upgrades, making each successive generation cooler and more powerful than the last. Just like real life!

There's no release date yet - chill your beans, guys, it's only just been confirmed - but it's definitely coming. Get your baby makin' trousers on.

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Rogue Legacy coming to Xbox One

Convicted 'eco-terrorist' freed amid evidence dispute

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By SUDHIN THANAWALA Associated Press

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A Northern California man described by federal officials as an anarchist and eco-terrorist intent on blowing up government and commercial buildings was set free after nine years in prison when the government conceded that evidence in the case was never turned over to his defense attorney.

U.S. District Judge Morrison C. England Jr. in Sacramento ordered Eric Taylor McDavid released from custody Thursday. As part of a deal with prosecutors, McDavid, 37, pleaded guilty to conspiring to destroy a U.S. Forest Service lab in Placerville, California, and was sentenced to time served.

England expressed exasperation at the government's failure to turn over the evidence, which included emails and a letter from McDavid to an FBI informant that defense attorneys said would have bolstered their argument that he was entrapped and induced by sex.

"I sat through the 10-day trial of Mr. McDavid," England said, sometimes stopping to hold his head in his left hand, according to the Sacramento Bee. "I know he's not necessarily a choirboy, but he doesn't deserve to go through this, either. It's not fair."

McDavid and two co-defendants were initially accused of plotting to bomb or set fire to the Nimbus Dam, the U.S. Forest Service lab, cellphone towers and electric power stations. Authorities said McDavid conducted surveillance at two of the sites and bought materials to make an explosive device.

He was convicted in 2007 and sentenced to 20 years in prison. The conspiracy count he pleaded to Thursday would have earned him a much shorter prison sentence of as much as five years.

McDavid's supporters said the FBI informant - an unnamed woman referred to in court documents as "Anna" - urged him to attack government targets with promises of sex.

"Anna stoked Mr. McDavid's romantic interest in her and conditioned sexual fulfillment on completion of the mission first," McDavid's attorneys wrote in a court filing.

The documents that were withheld also included a request that the informant undergo a polygraph test - a request the defense said raised questions about her credibility. McDavid became aware of them after his supporters filed a Freedom of Information Act request.

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Pivot Orders New Season of Eco-Adventure Series "Angry Planet"

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PIVOT ORDERS NEW SEASON OF ECO-ADVENTURE SERIES "ANGRY PLANET"

All New Episodes Coming in April 2015

Participant Media's television network, Pivot, announced today that it has ordered a new season of the popular eco-adventure series, "Angry Planet," hosted by George Kourounis. The new episodes of "Angry Planet" will continue George's adventures as he travels to some of the most remote places on Earth, but this season he'll share how the changing environment is directly impacting our ever-increasing weather calamities. Season four, already in production, premieres in April of this year. The series is produced by Cineflix Media.

"'Angry Planet' is an eco-adventure series that dives into the center of nature's most awe-inspiring displays. We are thrilled to announce that we are giving the series a new life, with original action-packed episodes coming in April," said Belisa Balaban, EVP of Original Programming for Pivot, at the 2015 Television Critics Association's Winter tour. "George will be able to connect the dots between the increasing fury of the universe's natural wonders and the changing environment we live in, in ways we've never seen before."

The "Angry Planet" team doesn't shy away from danger; it goes looking for it. Kourounis -- who made headlines last year when he rappelled 1,200 feet to the mouth of an active volcano in the South Pacific -- will come face-to-face with the stark effects of the Earth's evolving climate as he travels from densely populated communities to remote outposts investigating the extreme natural conditions that are quickly becoming common place. From erupting volcanoes threatening thousands of lives in the Cabo Verde Islands, deadly wildfires raging across Australia, to Brazil's treacherous Rio Roosevelt, "Angry Planet" explores how our changing climate is directly impacting and endangering Earth's delicate eco-system and in turn the world's population.

"'Angry Planet' is about more than daredevil stunts; it's not danger for the sake of danger. We want to learn how some of the most volatile forces of nature are created and affected by climate change," said Kourounis. "You have to get up close to do that. The planet is going through some monumental changes and we're happy to take Pivot viewers along for the ride as we try to figure out what those changes mean."

"Angry Planet" is produced by Cineflix Media. Kim Bondi and Alex Bystram are amongst the executive producers for Cineflix. Peter Rowe serves as producer. Jeff Skoll and Christy Spitzer serve as executive producers for Pivot.

About Cineflix Media Inc.

Cineflix Media Inc. is an international media company that brings together global broadcast and production entities, major talent, and key executives to create top quality original content produced and distributed for television and other platforms. Producing more than 250 hours per year of multi-genre television for international broadcasters, and with a rapidly expanding library of 4,000 hours, Cineflix Media Inc. is a recognized leader with offices in Montreal, Toronto, London, New York, Los Angeles and Dublin.

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Pivot Orders New Season of Eco-Adventure Series "Angry Planet"

A luxurious eco-friendly resort for every season

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There is something distinctive and admirable when a resort takes care of the environment and indulges its guests without taking too much from its surroundings. This means it has been planned with consummate skill, taking into consideration the delicate beachfronts and working out the possibilities with nature, not investing against it.

Such was the guiding principle when the founder, John Pealoza, and architect Geoffreddee Tan of Two Seasons Coron Island Resort and Spa developed this luxurious environmental masterpiecethe first eco-friendly luxury resort on the tropical peninsula in Malaroyroy in Palawan. This long stretch of prime property provides world-class amenitiesbut takes gentle care of its environment all-year-round.

Aside from making use of solar energy (one solar panel for every two bungalows is used to power water heaters), the resort has its own desalination and sewerage system plant, Pealoza says. The desalination plant converts sea water to nonpotable water which is best used for showering. Meanwhile wastewater, together with sewage, is fed through the sewage plant which produces 80 cubic meters of water on a daily basis. The liquid output is clear and clean enough to be diverted back to the bathrooms and toilets for flushing.

To further reduce waste, the resort invested in a double piping system. The solid waste is discharged in a drying bed and later on can be used as fertilizer. Two Seasons Coron is a zero waste discharge resort. Zero pollution goes to the sea, Pealoza explains.

And there is a lot to look after, Pealoza says, as Two Seasons Coron offers marine adventures as some of its attractions when guests take a vacation at the resort. It is a dwelling place for a turtle and giant clam sanctuary as well as one of the most bio-diverse aquatic ecosystems in the country. Flourishing mangrove forests, verdant landscapes, vibrant reefs, a natural sandbar, mystical diving sites and majestic lime formations are other reasons to make that trip to this hidden gem.

Use of local products

And part of this commitment to sustainability is using local products such as cogon grass for the Narra Spa and cabana roofing. Beautiful aged hardwood materials that were also used to construct the spa and the cabanas were sourced from dismantled houses in Ilocos.

And to show that Two Seasons Coron works with nature, the Sandbar Bungalowthe best spot and premier accommodation in the islandwas built around a rock formation, attesting to how luxurious indulgence and safeguarding natural resources can actually work side by side.

While you marvel at the eco-friendly innovations, Two Seasons Coron serves sophistication and grandeur in island life, spoiling guests to the hilt with 42 posh bungalows, topnotch recreational facilities and excellent service. A wide range of water sports is available through Pawikan Aqua Sports Center. Equally exciting are well-planned day tours of the island.

Island flavors and international cuisines meld into one epicurean experience at Two Seasons Sulu Restaurant while the Bahura Bar offers guests a cozy place to cool their heels after a long day of swimming and sightseeing.

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A luxurious eco-friendly resort for every season