All Health Service Journal articles in 2006 – Page 2
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News
Hewitt calls for alcopops tax hike
Health secretary Patricia Hewitt has written to chancellor Gordon Brown asking for an increase in taxes on alcopops and other drinks favoured by teenagers to curb binge drinking.Earlier this month Ms Hewitt launched the 'Know Your Limits' campaign against excessive drinking in the under-25 age group. In June, the Information ...
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Patients allowed to opt out of care records service
Patients will have the right to opt out of having their information shared through the NHS care records service, health minister Lord Warner told HSJ's Demystifying the National Programme for IT conference yesterday.Under the government implied consent model, those who do not opt out will be deemed to have given ...
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New figures show improvement in inpatient waits
The proportion of patients waiting under 13 weeks for an inpatient appointment rose year on year in September from 70.8 per cent to 74.7 per cent, according to figures published today by the Department of Health. The median waiting time was 7.4 weeks, down on the 7.9 weeks recorded in ...
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Lansley slams PFI 'lunacy'
Shadow health secretary Andrew Lansley has described hospital private finance initiatives as 'complete lunacy' after government responses to his parliamentary questions showed that the NHS will pay private sector contractors £53bn for hospitals worth only £8bn. Mr Lansley is calling for a 'fundamental review' of how the NHS accesses capital ...
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Chief medical officer proposes overhaul of expert witness programme
Chief medical officer Professor Sir Liam Donaldson has proposed a radical overhaul of the system for providing medical expert witnesses for family courts.Sir Liam has proposed that teams of specialist doctors and other professionals in NHS organisations will improve quality through mentoring, supervision and peer review. A National Knowledge Service ...
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50th foundation trust approved
Three new foundation trusts have been approved by regulator Monitor, bringing the total to 52. The 50th foundation trust is South London and Maudsley. Tavistock and Portman trust and University Hospital of South Manchester trust have also been authorised. To ...
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New clinical trials agreement for NHS trusts
The Department of Health has agreed a revised model clinical trials agreement which will speed up approvals for drug industry-sponsored trials on NHS patients. A partnership between the NHS, the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry and the Bio Industry Association will provide a clear ...
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Inpatient waiting-time figures
Almost 200 patients were waiting over 26 weeks at the end of September, the Department of Health has said. Of 198 patients for whom English commissioners are responsible, 21 were waiting in Welsh hospitals. The number of patients waiting over 20 weeks was down by ...
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£10m cash boost for NHS Plus
A new capital fund of £10m has been awarded to improve the provision of occupational health services to NHS staff. It will also increase the availability of NHS Plus - the network of NHS occupational health departments that provide health services to small- and medium-sized employers.Announcing the new funding health ...
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Guide to help achieve 18-week target launched
A tool to help trusts achieve the 18-week waiting-time target will be launched today by the NHS Institute for Innovation and Achievement at an HSJconference. The No Delays Achievermatches trust data with service improvement tools to produce plans for hitting the target.The guide is in four parts. Download them here, ...
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NHS data not accurate enough to monitor doctors
The Royal College of Physicians has said that a pilot scheme it has established to help doctors check information collected about patients has shown that the data is not accurate enough to be used for monitoring the performance of individual physicians.The director of the RCP's health informatics unit said: 'Data ...
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Public health specialists must tackle working age health issues
Health minister Lord Hunt has warned of the danger that being out of work could shorten life expectancy and urged public health professionals to ensure that the health benefits of work are recognised.Speaking at a King's Fund event the minister said: 'I urge public health specialists to tackle working age ...
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Diabetes management targets failing to address inequalities
Large variations in the quality of diabetes management exist between general practices in London with younger people worse off, according to a new study published by the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine.The study found that younger patients with diabetes had poorer recording ...
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More people screened for chlamydia in the community
Chlamydia screening levels have increased by more than a third in the past year, with nearly 100,000 young people being tested for the sexually transmitted infection through the National Chlamydia Screening Programme, according to public health minister Caroline Flint.Ms Flint commented: 'The fact that in the past year record ...
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Doctors 'most trusted profession'
A survey by the Royal College of Physicians has found that doctors top the polls as the professionals the public most trust. The annual survey by MORI shows that nine out of 10 people say that they trust their doctors to tell the truth.
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PCTs encouraged to embrace new providers
Health minister Lord Warner has urged the NHS to open up family doctor services to new providers in a drive to tackle inequalities, improve access to GPs and offer patients a greater choice of practice.Speaking to primary care trust executives at the National Association of Primary Care conference he said: ...
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New orthopaedic treatment plan
Health minister Andy Burnham has announced a new musculoskeletal services framework intended to provide the NHS with new guidance to help improve services for people who suffer from such conditions. An estimated 10 million people in England suffer from musculoskeletal problems.The guidance sets out how the NHS can use a ...
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Latest IT delays a 'catastrophe'
Just two of the 22 acute trusts which promised in June to implement NHS Connecting for Health patient administration systems by the end of October have fully done so. Two more have partially introduced the systems.
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Health sector has worst staff illness
The health and social care sector accounted for the highest number of self-reported, work-related illness per 100,000 people in 2005-06, according to the Health and Safety Commission's Health and safety statistics for 2005-06.The report said there were 4,100 self-reported work-related illnesses per 100,000 people involved in health and social work, ...
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More choice for mental health service users
Mental health service users will have powers to chose their own path through services and retain more control over their lives and the treatments they receive under new guidance, Our Choices in Mental Health, published today by the Department of Health.www.mhchoice.org.uk