Ellee Seymour

Do you remember the shockwaves that reverberated when I revealed that Minister Miliband’s blog cost £6,000 to set up while Boris, like the rest of us lesser mortals, blogs for free?

This is Pandora’s report:

“According to research by the Liberal Democrats’ urbane front bencher, Chris Huhne, the amount is somewhere approaching £40,000 a year.

“Huhne has come to this whopping figure after tabling a written question to the recently promoted Environment Secretary’s office earlier this month to ask what sort of manpower was involved in maintaining the site. He was told that two members of staff employed by Defra had recently dedicated as much as 40 per cent of their office time working on it.

“So far, claims Huhne, this also means the blog has cost around £1 a word to upkeep. “How can it cost £40,000 a year of taxpayers’ money for staff to capture David Miliband’s hot air on climate change?” he says.

“Ever since the blog was launched to great fanfare back in March, it’s been heavily criticised. Some politicos complained that the content was too boring, while others claimed it was failing to attract intelligent debate on its message postings.

“A spokesman for Miliband said yesterday: “I don’t quite know how Chris Huhne worked out that figure. At the moment, we think it’s going to be a small percentage of one existing member of staff’s time.”

Thanks Geoff for bringing this tasty little snippet of news to my attention.

Update: Sunday, 18th June. One of my favourite social media correspondents has picked up on this after a nudge from me. See Antony Mayfield. Chameleons on Bicycles followed suit, as well as ConservativeHome.

If anyone can move mountains, it is Trudy Lapinskis. In spite of having the UK’s worst case of a rare neurological syndrome and suffering considerable pain, her only thought is to raise awareness among the medical professionals so others are spared the same agony.

She enlisted the support of her MP Malcolm Moss.
who raised it as a debate in Westminster this week.
She wants improved understanding of pain to help all pain sufferers, as well as those with her chronic pain disorder, reflex sympathetic dystrophy.

Here is part of Malcolm’s speech which highlights how pain sufferers have been let down in the UK:

“Pain management does not fit easily into the target-driven, rapid-treatment ethos of the modern NHS. The recent NOP survey shows that now 14 per cent. of patients with pain have seen a pain specialist compared with only 7 per cent. in 2002, but what of the other 86 per cent? Facilities for pain management are much more developed in the USA and parts of Europe.

“Specialist services exist in most hospitals in the United Kingdom, but their services are stretched, and some hospital services, such as at Oxford, have been withdrawn. In Southampton, the service closed and has been relocated in primary care, and at other hospitals—for example, East Sussex—there are threats of closure. Relocating a pain service in primary care should be achieved with adequate funding and planning, not by a sudden decision to close existing services or to dispense with the appropriately trained personnel.

“It has been estimated that 10 specialist sessions in pain management are needed for every 100,000 of population, but nowhere in the United Kingdom achieves that, and services are scarcer in the midlands and Wales.

“I end by paying tribute to a constituent of mine who suffers immense pain with stoicism and great bravery. She is planning a huge conference at the Methodist Central Hall in London in December and has attracted prominent speakers in this field from all parts of the world. I hope that her courage will begin to open the doors to knowledge about this condition for other pain sufferers.”

The reply from Health Minister Andy Burnham referrred to a 1999 government report into services for patients with pain management which recommended that a review be held into local provision of pain services, looking particularly at the provision of more specialised treatments on a networked basis. Has this been done?

He ended by saying: “In conclusion, we recognise the need to broaden the access that patients with a variety of conditions have to high-quality care and pain management services. We recognise that there is still some way to go to ensure that all people who need it have access to such care, but we have started to implement a number of initiatives to stress the importance of pain management.”

Trudy has had her day of glory, she should be feeling well chuffed. There is further good news for her too, she will soon be getting her parking permit and next month she will be joining the Queen for tea at Buckingham Palace.

Prince Charming in waiting

A-lister Adam Rickitt will be hoping to turn Norwich blue when he turns on the charm this Christmas in the city’s panto Cinderella. Norwich has two Labour MPs, including the sacked former Home Secretary Charles Clarke, who is somewhat lacking in this department.

Adam will, of course, be playing Prince Charming, great practise for wooing voters, though Norwich may not be considered “safe” enough for him.

Update 20th June 2006: You can find out more about Adam by reading this.