Volume Twenty-One • Number Five • 7 February 2000 - News & Views - Press and Information Office

According to a recent report from the European Observatory on Health Care Systems, the United Kingdom has less than half the level of hospital beds per 1000 population and only half the number of doctors per head of population compared with Germany and France.

The report, Health Care Systems in Transition: The United Kingdom (HiT), provides an up-to-date account of the reforms of the National Health Service under both the previous Conservative and present Labour Governments, along with data from international organisations, including the World Health Organization (WHO), which shows the comparative performance of the NHS.

Written by Professor Ray Robinson, the UK report focuses on current health sector reforms in European countries and shows how UK expenditure on health – in particular private expenditure – lags behind European levels.

Professor Robinson said: “The Prime Minister’s public concession that expenditure on the NHS is too low and needs to be raised to European levels represents a significant shift in the politics of NHS funding. The report profile reveals the scale of this task. It also shows how a constant stream of supply-side reforms launched over the 1990s have left the serviced in a state of ‘re-organisation fatigue’ that will need to be addressed if service improvements are to be realised.”

The UK report forms part of a series of reports on all 51 states covered by the European Region of the WHO. The series is being produced by the European Observatory on Health care Systems, a partnership between the WHO Regional Office for Europe, the Governments of Norway and Spain, the European Investment Bank, the World Bank, LSE and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.

Major award for LSE academic

Janet Coleman, Professor of Ancient and Medieval Political Thought in the Government Department, has been awarded a three-year Leverhulme Major Research Fellowship to begin this October. She was the only person from LSE to succeed in gaining this award for the 2000/2001 session.

Academics abroad

Dr Andy Pratt of the Geography and Environment Department was an invited speaker at a roundtable discussion held in Belfast on 12 November 1999 as part of the Belfast Festival. The roundtable included policy makers and academics from the from the Republic of Ireland, England, Northern Ireland and Scotland.
Professor Glennerster, (STICERD) visited Argentina and Washington last term. In Argentina he delivered five lectures to university research institutes and the Department of Social Affairs, on new developments in the UK health system, aspects of social exclusion in Europe, the new way for Social Policy in the UK, and Social Policy: Is there a Third Way? He also gave an extensively reported interview in La Nation on these topics and a public lecture.
At the end of October last year, CEP Director Anne West was invited to give a key note presentation to the Santillana Foundation (in collaboration with the Spanish Ministry of Education and Culture and the Organisation of Ibero-American States for Education, Science and Culture) in Madrid as part of its ‘Semana Monografica’ on A Future for Learning: The financing of education.
Andy Thornley, Geography and Environment, was the keynote speaker at a conference held at the Yildiz Technical University, Istanbul, last November. The title of the conference, held to celebrate World Urbanisation Day, was Cities in the New Millennium and his paper was entitled Globalisation, City Competition and Strategic Urban Planning.
Dr Simon Batterbury, DESTIN, was an invited chair at the Nature, Society and History conference held at Vienna University last September. He also attended a National Science Foundation workshop on African Environments: Technology, modeling and political ecology at the University of Kansas, USA.

Obituary

The 3rd Earl of Halsbury began his working life with Deloitte Plender and it was while he was employed there that he studied at night school eventually gaining a first in chemistry and mathematics from London University.

In 1936, he worked with Lever Brothers as an analytical chemist and during the second world war, he researched into jet propulsion with Brown Firth Research Laboratories.

After the war, Lord Halsbury joined Decca as director of research and then moved to the National Research Development Corporation as managing director. While there, he encouraged the growth of Britain’s computer industry arguing that automation would not result in higher unemployment and criticising leading scientists for their political naivety.

During the 1960s and 1970s, he chaired a great many public committees and scientific bodies becoming, in 1967, the first Chancellor of Brunel University where he remained for 31 years. He held the position of governor of the BBC from 1960 to 1962.

As chairman of the Institute of Cancer Research he defended the use of animals in medical tests but introduced, in 1979, a private member’s Bill to regulate the conditions for laboratory animals.

Lord Halsbury was an accomplished linguist; he spoke French and Spanish and studied Russian, Sanskrit, Hungarian, Finnish, Mongolian, Hebrew and Arabic. He also knew four dialects of Turkish and claimed to have translated The House that Jack Built into one of these. He was elected Fellow of the Royal Society in 1969.

New Year’s Honours

The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) is seeking nominations from Heads of all HEFCE funded institutions, of people whose names might be put forward to 10 Downing Street as possible recipients of a national honour in the New Year 2001 Honours list.

The full guidelines for making recommendations are available from the Resource Centre, Room H616, but essentially HEFCE are seeking strong nominations in respect of people, either lay or academic, who are the best in their field and who have demonstrated a strong commitment to higher education in teaching, scholarship and research.

If you would like to make a nomination, email: sally.thompson@lse.ac.uk,to let her know, and she will provide you with a pro forma for completion and return to her in H616 by Friday 24 March.

Volunteers wanted for learning at work

Last year, the LSE Staff Training and Development Section co-ordinated a range of activities for National Learning at Work Day. These included job shadowing, an exhibition of photographs by Nigel Stead, a training and development fayre and interactive demonstrations and talks across the day.

This year, we hope to further extend the range of activities on offer but need help to make it happen. We are therefore calling for a small group of volunteers to help us plan the day early. We won’t take much of your time but will benefit from your energy and ideas.

If you are interested, please contact Chris Connelley, Staff Training and Development Manager, ext 6256, in the first instance, to find out how you can help.

Scholarships/awards

Reeves Foundation

note: Research Studentships 2000/01

The application forms for this award are not available on the display racks opposite the Graduate School Counter. These applications will be sent out automatically to all new and existing research students.

English teaching opportunities

The LSE Language Centre is keen to expand its EFL/EAP team by recruiting LSE Masters and Research students who have a relevant teaching qualification (minimum RSA certificate) and experience.

We are looking for committed individuals who can relate their language teaching to subject specific areas, i.e. English for economics, international relations, and law. Successful candidates would teach on a range of programmes – in-sessional support, pre-sessional courses and our new English for Business and Finance programmes. Pay starts at £25 per hour for suitably qualified candidates.

We are also looking for research students who would like to give talks in English on areas such as finance, Europe and economics, to groups of international students.

If you would like to find out more, contact either Nick Byrne, Centre Director, email: n.byrne@lse.ac.uk, or Mike McGarvey, EAP Co-ordinator, email: m.mcgarvey@lse.ac.uk, to arrange an appointment. Alternatively, you can send your cv to: John Heyworth, Administrator, Language Showroom, 7th floor, Clare Market.

Spirit of Enterprise

In order to give encouragement and impetus to the growth of new businesses, the European Awards for the Spirit of Enterprise have been launched in collaboration with the European Commission.

Noticeboard

Change of name

Personnel Services is now called the Personnel Division.

Another great offer

The SU shop is offering a box of 100 Punched Pockets for only £2.99. Normal price £3.50. For a limited period only. Valentine’s Day is just around the corner – find the card for your sweetheart in your SU Shop!

Small ads

Word processing. A P Associates provides a professional word processing service to businesses and private individuals. LSE, Age concern (England) and Jessica Kingsley Publishers regularly hire us. We even have a client in the south of France! For more information on our services please contact us on: tel: 01273 488220; email: ashley@pavilion.co.uk

Wanted to rent: apartment in central London, 15 February-15 August for German Professor who will be a visiting scholar at LSE during spring and summer of next year. Email: Arnold@oec.uni-osnabrueck.de or contact Sue Coles, tel 020 7955 6678; email s.coles@lse.ac.uk.

Wanted to rent: small flat or room plus shower in private house, easy access to LSE, for Belgian academic visiting in March and April. Email: vandenberghe@ires.ucl.ac.be or contact Jane Dickson, ext 6679, email: j.dickson@lse.ac.uk.

Wanted to rent: one bedroom/studio flat, furnished, in London for two visiting scholars from the University of Bologna who will be working at the European Institute. 19 February to 1 April. Contact: Salvatore Vassallo, tel: 0039 051 209 2705, email: vassallo@spbo.unibo.it.

Furnished flat wanted. Visiting scholar from the University of Maryland (USA), who will be working at LSE’s Gender Institute, requires either a one-bedroom or large studio furnished flat mid-April-end of June (dates negotiable). Contact Professor Harriet Presser at: presser@socy.umd.edu or fax 1-301-405-5743 if you can help.

Wanted: cleaner for two hours per week. £7 p/h. Stoke Newington (N16). Please contact Amber Miro on 020 8809 6671.

LSE News & Views is published every Monday during term by the Press & Information Office. Printed by Reprographics Department. The aim is to provide a means of communication for all members of the School as well as news and information about people and activities. Articles, news and photographs are welcome. Contributions should be sent to Toni Sym, Press & Information Office, H615, to arrive no later than one week before publication date. All personal ads carry a standard charge of £2 for up to 50 words

Volume Twenty-One • Number Five • 7 February 2000

UK lags behind in health care expenditure