Comment archive – Page 322
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CommentDelivering integrated care will bring us all closer together
Integrated care is the ingredient that can bind health and social care players to achieve real integration, writes Charles Alessi.
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CommentPhil Hammond: the reforms remain more question than answer
Fresh from his appearance on BBC1 two weeks ago, Dr Phil Hammond argues that the benefit of NHS reform is still no clearer to being understood, and that a change in direction is needed. It might just win over Andrew Lansley’s critics, too.
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CommentMedia Watch: there's no news like old news
Some of the nationals could be forgiven this week for getting their definition of the word “news” a little tangled.
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CommentMichael White: ice cool Professor Grant may have what it takes to succeed
It was a Labour peer who despairingly drew my attention to the vote against Professor Malcolm Grant’s appointment as chair of the NHS Commissioning Board by Labour MPs who sit on the Commons health select committee down the corridor at Westminster.
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CommentNoel Plumridge: new faces for financial frugality
There are essentially three approaches to the branch of corporate governance that is concerned with ensuring compliance.
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CommentNorth East PCTs mull region-wide commissioning support
Primary care trusts in the NHS Tees cluster are planning to form a commissioning support organisation with others in the North East, which could extend across the whole of the region and even move into Yorkshire.
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CommentNo respite for East Midlands trusts despite CQC shortage
The Care Quality Commission has made no secret of its shortage of inspectors and funds. NHS leaders facing equally pressing financial concerns may see a respite from the regulator’s prying eyes as a blessing, but those in the East Midlands have had little chance to rejoice.
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LeaderThe many questions we still need to answer on integration
Integration: what does it mean to you? For some it is an antidote to the evils of competition, for others a way to create a sustainable future for shaky organisations.
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Comment'The success of integrated care depends upon our commitment to innovation'
The importance of integration to health and social care is undoubted, but there is still some confusion over how it will work. It is up to leaders at both a national and local level to develop new approaches that will ensure integrated care is a success, says Dr Rebecca Rosen.
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CommentStephen Eames: there's no time like the present for planning
The late, great industrialist Sir John Harvey-Jones said: “Planning is an unnatural process; it is much more fun to do something. The nicest thing about not planning is that failure comes as a complete surprise, rather than being preceded by a period of worry and depression.”
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Comment'An important moment in public health history'
Ruth Hussey, the woman at the heart of smoothing the public health shake-up, says there will be great gains after the strains. She talks to HSJ deputy news editor Steve Ford.
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CommentMichael White: relief for supporters as Health Bill scrapes through Lords
Before this column embarks upon its weekly moan, it is worth looking at the NHS furore from a wider perspective.
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CommentSally Gainsbury: councils face a rude awakening
I spent a day and a half last week listening to council executives talking about their hopes and fears for the new roles due to be bestowed on them by the Health Bill.
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CommentManagers need to face pensions dilemma with the service in mind
Public sector pension reform is clearly on the agenda: the Department of Health’s consultation on proposed increases to contribution rates closes tomorrow, and unions are balloting members on a “coordinated day” of strike action scheduled for 30 November. It is going to be a tough time.
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CommentSouth West community enterprises go operational in October
While many acute trusts in the South West were contending with an unseasonal heatwave that saw daytrippers flocking to the region’s beaches and emergency departments, the community sector was busy sizing up the raft of new social enterprises which became formally operational on 1 October.
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CommentDH ruling puts paid to rotating chairs in the East
The South Essex primary care trust cluster is planning to make £300m of savings in the next four years, so it probably does not want to be playing musical chairs with its board.
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CommentMedia Watch: Lansley faces the flack after Question Time attack
Monday’s Daily Mail treated readers not only to “Cliff [Richard]: ‘why I’d consider euthanasia’” but a bumper column from Melanie Phillips on nursing.
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LeaderCCG support vision will calm anger but spark controversy
Last week Sir David Nicholson summoned the 51 primary care trust cluster chief executives to a meeting at which he set out how they should address the challenges ahead. The audience listened dutifully, but the tension in the room was palpable.
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CommentMedia Watch: calls to 'kill bill' go unheeded
On Monday the national press speculated on the fate of the Health Bill before its appearance in the Lords later in the week.
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Comment'After destructive debate, the case for reform needs to be rebuilt'
The government needs to find a way to make the ingredients of reform seem like opportunities for positive change rather than threats, writes Asthma UK chief executive Neil Churchill.