All Choice articles – Page 8
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NewsCut public service data opt outs, says incoming 'transparency tsar'
The man slated to be the government’s new “transparency tsar” believes “no-one who uses a public service should be allowed to opt out of sharing their records”.
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NewsPCT Network responds to choice complaints
Commissioners accused of breaking competition rules were either abiding by guidance or justified by an obligation to “maximise benefits to patients and taxpayers”, according to the Primary Care Trust Network.
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NewsDH struggling to achieve consultant choice within deadline
Patients’ ability to choose between named consultant led teams for elective hospital care looks unlikely to be significantly extended by the government’s deadline in April.
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NewsCall to change chaplains policy
The NHS spends £29m on hospital chaplains providing “no clinical benefit” for a huge variation in costs, according to a report.
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NewsCommissioners flouting patient choice rules
NHS commissioners have been routinely depriving patients of their entitlement to choice of hospital for several years and may be in breach of competition rules, regulators have found.
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CommentCompetition can work, but only with the right tactics
“Competition in health care should be tactical not ideological”. This was the main message from the “Competition versus integration in the NHS” debate organised by the Cambridge Health Network and the King’s Fund
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Comment'Accountability in the NHS is a mess'
Ministers in Whitehall have excessive powers to interfere and meddle in local operational issues, with primary care trusts controlled by strategic health authorities and SHAs by Whitehall.
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CommentNick Bosanquet: Five steps to security
The pre-Christmas snow shower of documents did little to gather momentum towards better services. Rather, it added to the risk of planning blight for new organisations which have to find personnel and trial their powers and budgets. These are my five steps to rescue the change programme:
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NewsPCT restricts doctors from making 'expensive, non-urgent referrals' to London providers
A primary care trust has told clinicians it must approve any referrals to London trusts because of the extra expense involved.
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NewsPrice competition could raise death rates, experts warn
The decision to let NHS hospitals compete with each other on price from next year threatens to harm care and raise death rates, experts warn.
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Disability funding overhaul to improve patient choice
Disabled people will be able to use government money to buy their own support services or equipment under a “radical shake-up” of decision-making in parts of Britain.
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NewsPatient information is 'at risk'
More than half of hospital staff involved in providing information to the public believe their services are likely to be cut, according to a survey.
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HSJ KnowledgeExtending choice to end of life care
Identifying dying patients’ preferences can prevent many spending their last days in hospital, says Claire Henry
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Comment'The challenge is to get better average outcomes and reduce variation'
Post-Blair Labour health “reforms” overemphasised a centrist, target driven culture that tended to distort how care might best be delivered. It marginalised clinical staff, leaving them often to adopt a stance of disgruntled passivity.
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NewsOpen clinical data to public, urges Lansley adviser
Writing in this week’s HSJ, future adviser to the health secretary David Kerr argues that opening up clinical data to the public will drive better outcomes.
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CommentCan patient choice alone force the changes the service needs?
The advent of the coalition has, of course, brought about a major overhaul of the existing power and influence matrix within the NHS.
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NewsMPs want power to scrutinise DH spending plans in detail
The Department of Health may have to start justifying its detailed spending plans to the Commons health committee, HSJ has learned.
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NewsOrgan transplants hit record high
A record number of organ transplants were carried out in the UK last year, figures show.
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NewsMore choice needed in end of life care, says King's fund report
More should be done to give patients and carers choice about end of life care, according to a report by the King’s Fund.
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NewsFair trading complaint raises healthcare competition warning
Lax regulation is keeping new private and NHS entrants out of the healthcare market, reports Edward Davie