Comment archive – Page 325
-
Comment'We need to hear the whistles loud and clear'
Some simple steps would ensure that whistleblowers’ claims do not get ‘lost’ in the system and allow transparency to strengthen the mistrusted whistleblowing process, suggests Dr Phil Hammond.
-
CommentMaking improvements in medical error: lessons from the aviation industry
Despite the constant advances in medical science, all health systems have struggled to ensure medical safety. On average 10 per cent of admissions involve medical injury. How can this ratio be dramtically cut down?
-
CommentWhat can we learn from the US on healthcare cost sharing?
Thomas Cawston, senior researcher at the independent think tank Reform, is attending the Fundació Josep Laporte European Health Policy Innovation Seminar in Harvard, MA, United States and blogging from the event exclusively for HSJ.
-
CommentMedia Watch: trusts condemned over money spent on recruiting foreign staff
Hospital managers came under fire this week after the Sunday Telegraph revealed some trusts had spent thousands of pounds on trips to recruit foreign doctors and nurses while allegedly laying off their own staff.
-
CommentTransparency is central to the new NHS, and foundation trusts should not be exempt
There are few things that most foundation trust governors vehemently agree on but holding open board meetings is one of them. Sharon Carr-Brown explains why.
-
CommentNoel Plumridge: will the government help write trusts' shopping lists?
Two recent public accounts committee reports suggest the NHS may still have a thing or two to learn about shopping.
-
CommentMichael White: in reality, even a centralised model devolves power
Much fuss was made of Nadine Dorries’ bid to tighten abortion counselling procedures as the Health and Social Care Bill finally left the Commons.
-
CommentWill Lansley be red-faced after rubber-stamped reconfiguration in London?
By the time you read this there may have been news on a most contentious reconfiguration in the capital – namely whether the health secretary has found a way to rubber-stamp the downgrading of Chase Farm without losing face (which he has, just about - ed.).
-
CommentDalton's plate is piled high ahead of return to NHS North of England
Ian Dalton – who in title has been NHS North East chief executive since 2007 – has for some time spent much of his effort on national roles, having first been made national director for the response to swine flu more than two years ago.
-
LeaderClare Gerada ups the stakes in her fight to ‘save’ the NHS
The unlikeliest and, perhaps, most powerful alliance affecting the delivery of the NHS reforms is between Royal College of GPs chair Dr Clare Gerada and what some might term the “old guard” of NHS managers who have wielded the greatest influence over the last decade.
-
CommentGiving dementia the attention and support it needs - and deserves
A recent meeting on dementia suggested that although the condition is widely misunderstood, there’s no reason why progress similar to that made in cancer and HIV care cannot be made for dementia too. Richard Smith, director of the Ovations initiative to combat chronic disease, looks at what needs to be ...
-
Comment'We need to build the proper foundations for clinically led commissioning'
Clinicians will only be able to bring real added value to the commissioning process if CCGs have the appropriate infrastructure to both support clinical leadership and provide the expertise to harness its potential, argues Ben Gowland.
-
CommentDebate: is general practice pulling its weight in the efficiency challenge?
On 30 June, HSJ columnist Noel Plumridge suggested primary care should carry its share of the £20bn Nicholson challenge, alluding to the Nuffield Trust’s March recommendation that primary care “should become a key focus of the quality, innovation, productivity and prevention agenda”. Noel’s article led to this correspondence with Pat ...
-
Comment'If the reforms go wrong, the potential risk to public health huge'
Andrew Lansley’s new vision for public health must overcome tough tests if it is to grow into a healthy being, says Alan Maryon-Davis.
-
CommentMedia Watch: PCTs admit to deliberately making patients wait
Scheming NHS managers are making patients wait longer than necessary for operations to save cash, according to the Daily Telegraph.
-
CommentMichael White: what's wrong with giving overseas providers a crack at managing NHS hospitals?
I was still on my late summer holiday during much of the renewed skirmishing which heralded the return of Parliament and the latest battles over the Health Bill.
-
CommentYour Humble Servant: survival of the fittest in the NHS
Perhaps we should look back to Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution to see who’ll survive in the dog-eat-dog world of health policy.
-
CommentSally Gainsbury: the real problems affecting readmissions
How do we keep people out of hospitals – those giant, multimillion-pound “monuments to the failure of preventive medicine”, as one director of public health recently put it?
-
CommentSouth Central trusts reveal underlying cash problems
A collective report from the pleasingly named SHIP primary care trust cluster – Southampton, Hampshire, Isle of Wight and Portsmouth – gives a snapshot of the South Coast’s state of affairs.
-
CommentPrivate income avenues being explored in the South West
Five foundation trusts in the overcrowded provider landscape of east Dorset and west Somerset are all looking to drum up some more private business.