Amy Taylor
HSJ LocalCroydon Hospital found to be missing CQC standards
PERFORMANCE: Croydon University Hospital’s maternity unit has been found not to be meeting six essential standards by health regulator the Care Quality Commission and to have been putting patient safety at risk.
NewsBudget risk to future MRSA success
The downward trend in the number of deaths involving MRSA and C difficile revealed by official figures could be reversed as a result of budget cuts, an infection control specialist warned last week.
NewsIncentives required to bring about NHS collaboration
The government must introduce incentives and financial mechanisms to support integration in the NHS, according to a think tank report.
NewsPCT flouts NICE by suspending IVF treatment
A primary care trust in Cheshire has stopped funding in vitro fertilisation services in a cost cutting move that challenges national guidance.
NewsUrgent care 111 hotline must be co-ordinated regionally
The new 111 urgent care service must be commissioned and monitored at a regional level, rather than by individual GP consortia, the Ambulance Service Network has warned.
NewsWorld class commissioning: PCTs raise the bar in final assurance test
Primary care trusts have set out their stall as support agencies for GP consortia by significantly improving their performance against the standards and competencies assessed in the second - and last ever - world class commissioning assurance test.
NewsMissing detail renders NHS quality accounts ‘meaningless’
Many hospitals have evaded a major government initiative to make them more open and accountable about the quality of their services.
NewsPatient involvement lacking in South West cancer service reconfiguration
Patients and user representatives were not adequately involved in the development of the proposals to centralise upper gastro-intestinal cancer services in the South West peninsula, the independent body on NHS change has found today.
NewsGP consortia should not start from 'clean sheet' on public involvement
GP consortia and the NHS commissioning board must ensure they involve the public in decision making and commission services in line with their needs, the government has said in a consultation paper on commissioning published today.
NewsGPs ‘won’t guarantee out of hours quality’
Transferring commissioning of out of hours services to GPs will not generate improved quality, primary care representatives have warned. The caution came in the wake of a damning report into the out of hours provider Take Care Now.
NewsStudies back NHS competition and choice
Competition among NHS hospitals in England reduces death rates and decreases patients’ overall length of stay at no extra cost, researchers have found.
NewsDH policies score poorly in national audit scrutiny
A number of Department of Health policies may have been implemented without adequate assessment of their need or likely impact, the government’s spending watchdog has found.