http://www.timesonline.co.uk/…

Health service dentists have been forced to go on holiday or spend time on the golf course this month despite millions of patients being denied dental care.

Many have fulfilled their annual work quotas allotted by the National Health Service and have been turning patients away because they are not paid to do extra work. This is despite the fact that more than 7m people in Britain are unable to find an NHS dentist.

Patients have been told they must either pay privately or return in April when the new work year begins. People suffering from toothache have been advised to go to hospital.

Areas affected include Merseyside, Derbyshire, Birmingham and East Sussex. Eddie Crouch, secretary of the Birmingham local dental committee, estimates that up to a third of dentists in the West Midlands have run out of work or have had to reduce the number of NHS patients they treat. “Patients in pain have had to shop around to find a dentist that has not used up their quota,” he said.

The British Dental Association fears that other dentists have been unable to meet their quotas and will be forced to pay back thousands of pounds to the NHS.

The health department says dentists should have managed their workload throughout the year.

I love when the “rights” of the people conflict with the “rights” of the workers. I thought these socialist single payer systems were supposed to get rid of the money issue so that those who really care could run things without worry. That everyone would be cared for without question. No turning people away by greedy, money grubbing, capitalist doctors. Am I to assume these dentists care for their paycheck more than their patients? Too bad the British people are taxed so much to pay for the NHS otherwise they would have no problem just going to a private dentist. I guess they are going to have to schedule their toothaches for when the dentists can work.

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/…

Padded lampposts are being trialled in a London street to protect inattentive pedestrians.A pilot scheme has been launched in Brick Lane after it was found to have the highest number of ‘walking and texting’ injuries in the country.

A study carried out by 118 118 found one in ten people has hurt themselves while focused on their mobile phone screen.

The charity Living Streets is so concerned that it has teamed up with the directory enquiries service to test a scheme to wrap up the nation’s lampposts.

A poll will be carried out on Brick Lane to gauge the response of locals.

If successful, the concept will be rolled out in Birmingham, Manchester, and Liverpool.

Are they going to outlaw sports, biking and running too? I’m surprised this int some national NHS initiative to protect people from themselves because you know… we all have to pay for the injuries they get as a result of being idiots so we should pad the entire country with foam to protect them. Ohhh… even better…. foam suits that everyone has to wear. Or just as they have outlawed texting and holding a mobile phone while drive here in NJ they could ban using a mobile device while walking. I guess that would be more like NYC wanting to ban using audio players while crossing streets. Or give everyone drugs to keep them focused on only one task at a time. No one can run into a lamp post while staring at their phone if they are incapible of doing both at the same time.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/…

In the pantheon of Britain’s great engineering feats, it remains relatively modest; the widening of the M6 motorway along a 51-mile stretch between Birmingham and Manchester. But in terms of sheer cost, the UK may never have seen its like before.

Every inch of the proposed new road is estimated to cost £897. And when construction inflation has been built in - currently 9% a year - the likely figure will top £1,000. Either will make it the most expensive piece of tarmac ever laid, with the entire project, according to the Highways Agency’s own figures, expected to cost £2.9bn and take three years.

This is an amazing amount of government waste.  At 12 foot wide lanes thats $12.50 a square inch. How is it possible to justify that cost? It’s not material. It shouldn’t be hardware cost. Can pre,during,post labor cost that? I very much doubt it.