Comment archive – Page 317
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LeaderMinisters must slow down to avoid another Mid Staffs
What did the newly minted coalition government describe in May 2010 as “a champion for patients”? The answer, of course, was primary care trusts.
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LeaderCameron is tending self-inflicted wounds
One thing is clear from the government response to the NHS Future Forum. Contrary to press reports, no “order” has been given to deliver “integration of health and social care”.
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Comment'Integrated care should be this decade's number one priority'
Achieving proper integrated care must be taken as seriously in the next 10 years as waiting times have been in the last 10, say King’s Fund chief executive Chris Ham and Nuffield Trust director Jennifer Dixon.
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CommentMichael White: the mess in the cosmetic Wild West
Public authorities like the NHS often take a beating from energetic health journalists during the annual Christmas news doldrums. Why? Large, complex organisations always have problems, but are less likely to fire off menacing lawyers’ letters than dodgy banks.
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Comment'Patients and organisations still need an information revolution'
Reorganisations might be familiar at Richmond House, but revolutions are rarer. With the information strategy officially paused, has the promised NHS spring turned to winter, asks Asthma UK chief executive Neil Churchill.
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CommentNoel Plumridge: is local pay a fair deal everywhere?
George Osborne’s stated purpose in opening up the issue of local pay rates is to ensure “public sector pay does not distort local labour markets”.
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CommentSigns of change emerging in the North East
Commissioners and future commissioners in the North East, like everywhere else, have much to do in the next 16 months, but there are signs of change.
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CommentSouth East trusts face contrasting outlooks for 2012
Western Sussex Hospitals Trust will probably be happy to see the back of 2011.
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CommentYour Humble Servant: the rallying cry for 2012
2012 is the year of the contract. Go back to your offices and prepare for contracting.
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Leader2012: what now for the NHS?
What has 2012 got in store for the NHS? Here are HSJ’s predictions for the year ahead.
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Comment'Make change a mantra, and lead the patient centered revolution'
Traditional financial incentives have led to behaviours that serve the interests of organisations, not those of patients. It’s time to lead a revolution for change, and make healthcare a patient centered
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CommentA day in the life: at the Mid Staffs inquiry
A patient experience seminar organised by Mid Staffs inquiry chair Robert Francis QC brought home how far the NHS needs to improve engagement with patients in order to deliver quality care. Penny Henrion tells HSJ about her day at the Mid Staffs inquiry.
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Comment'It's time to remove the barriers to telehealth'
The results of the latest and biggest telehealth trial suggest that it should undoubtedly now be taken seriously in today’s medicine. Yet there is real resistance to it in the system, and the barriers need to be removed to ensure telehealth success, say Matthew Rutter and Joe Stringer.
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CommentTwelve months of turbulence: 2011 in review
Continuing financial upheaval, industrial action taking hold and the implications of reform coming into focus: 2011 has been a tumultuous year. Here, HSJ’s writers reflect on some of the landmark events that defined the year.
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CommentCan the NHS Pay Review Body still be regarded as independent?
A “perfect storm” of issues surrounding staff terms and conditions could see all sides vying to influence the NHS Pay Review Body in the next 12 months. In such troubled times, can it realistically hope to retain its independence, asks Mike Jackson.
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CommentMedia Watch: 'postcode lottery' bingo follows Atlas of Variation launch
The formal publication of the second NHS Atlas of Variation led inevitably to a chorus of “postcode lottery” headlines this week.
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CommentMichael White: can Lansley's localism really escape postcode lottery-itis?
Confusing, isn’t it? One week an international report gives England’s still-centralised NHS a pat on the back for rapid improvements. The next week another survey concludes that the NHS is more popular than it has ever been.
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CommentSally Gainsbury: economic peace and goodwill, or Armageddon?
Perhaps it is just seasonal religiosity, but it is starting to look as though 2012 will see some significant battles between the NHS’s competing spiritual forces.
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CommentAll eyes on London's billion-pound merger after SHA sign off
By the time you read this, NHS London will almost certainly have signed off the Barts/Whipps Cross/Newham merger.
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CommentEmergency planning requires urgent attention in the Midlands and East of England
Earlier this year, HSJ tried to use the Freedom of Information Act to obtain details of exercises held in every region to test emergency planning preparations. But the request was rejected by the Department of Health in order to “safeguard national security”.