Onus of obvious overissue...

The immigration in the UK has, naturally (!!!), raised the national birth rate; so fast has it been in some areas that some maternity units have closed so that staff and midwives could be moved to areas of urgent need...for instance: Slough, which brings to mind various articles from the last few years; like THIS: the total (immigrants in one year) was equivalent to around 8% of the town's population. This becomes more worrying when we find that now more than 20% of births are to foreign born mothers: "UK paying for migrant baby boom" [BBC Link]; please note some of these will be long time/permanent residents - indeed two of my own children were born in England 'to a foreign born mother' and so become part of those statistics albeit when the figure was nearer 10%. More worrying still is that in London the figure rises to between 60 and 70% of newborn: all this when...

"Births within migrant groups can often be more difficult, more dangerous and more expensive - with much higher rates of type 2 diabetes, tuberculosis and HIV..."

This coincides with what the Health Protection Agency (HPA reports ) tells us in previous years about migrants' disproportionate health burden: over 70% of TB and malaria (at least this latter is non-infectious!) Extra cash promised [DOH] is a help but is it the solution? "London-based Trusts have performed badly...[in reviews]...There are reasons why this may be the case: lower staffing levels, higher concentration of ethnic minorities in some inner city or suburban areas. " Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG).

This month the UK Department of Health and Home Office are expected to make public their plans for introducing identity and immigration status checks on people registering for GP care - necessary measures in my opinion - although the Migrants Rights Network (MRN) is supporting a campaign to oppose these measures.

This is all so depressing...how about getting back to Slough: Definition:
1. [n] any outer covering shed or cast off...
2. [n] a stagnant swamp...
3. [n] a hollow filled with mud
4. [n] necrotic tissue; a mortified or gangrenous part or mass
5. [v] cast off hair, skin, horn, or feathers; of animals

Nice...How did John Betjeman's poem go again? (albeit published 70 odd years ago!)...