Comment archive – Page 330
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Leader
High trust, robust challenge and a firm grip are key to success
Failing NHS organisations get much more attention than successful ones, despite the fact that the latter far outnumber the former.
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Leader
Save now, pay later: the pension cuts folly
Not for nothing was public service pensions commission chair Lord Hutton placed at number 28 in HSJ’s list of the people with the most influence on the NHS last year.
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CommentJon Restell: it's time to get behind the defenders of pensions
When you hear the word “pension”, do you bury your head in the sand? If so, I’ve got bad news.
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CommentSally Gainsbury: sitting duck surpluses
When the going gets tough, the tough hide their surpluses from the grasping claws of the strategic health authority.
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CommentMichael White: the noisy ghosts of health ministers past
Why are former health ministers being so noisy in these turbulent times? No, I do not mean Frank Dobson’s spat with ministers who want to eject better-off people from council flats like the one opposite the British Museum which he has occupied for decades.
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Comment'We have to tackle government disagreement head on'
With management levels cut dangerously low in the health service, the NHS Confederation’s chief executive Mike Farrar tells HSJ’s Charlotte Santry the days of biting tongues when dealing with those in power are definitely over.
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CommentMedia Watch: printing the unprintable on hospital closure
The papers have been jostling to say the previously unsayable this week and break the political taboo that some hospitals must close if the NHS is to remain clinically safe and financially viable.
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CommentThe right-to-request primary care trust: one year on
A year ago, City Health Care Partnership became the first social enterprise to ‘go live’ through the right-to-request scheme. On its first anniversary, chief executive Andrew Burnell reports on how they are getting on.
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CommentLondon trusts encouraged by delayed 'drop dead' date for FT status
So what does the slackening off of the pressure behind the foundation trust pipeline mean for London, the most stubborn of regions in resisting an all-FT health service?
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CommentA daunting savings picture emerges in North West
As heavy as it is, there is little doubt that the burden of delivering the NHS’s £20bn savings target rests more heavily on the shoulders of some than others. Specifically, it rests heaviest on London and Manchester.
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LeaderNicholson’s power is unrivalled – so is his responsibility to lead
This week is expected to see the publication of the revised Health and Social Care Bill. Health secretary Andrew Lansley has written that it will contain more than 150 amendments. It would be only mildly surprising to find one of them enshrining in law Sir David Nicholson’s position as NHS ...
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CommentProvider trouble brewing in the East
A number of concerns were raised in a report from the East of England provider development board last month.
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CommentNoel Plumridge: breaking up is hard to do
Hanging on to the title deeds of the community estate must have seemed such a neat idea last year, as primary care trusts pondered the future of their soon to be departing provider arms.
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CommentLondon's commissioner-provider relationships set on edge
Which bit of London has the worst commissioner/provider relationships?
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CommentThe government shouldn't simply leave the past behind
The government is in a tough spot at the moment, but it can be eased if it heeds the lessons of the NHS Plan era, argues House of Lords independent member Nigel Crisp.
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CommentMedia Watch: a Lib Dem battle victory in reform war
Never mind that the “pause” was supposed to be about allaying the concerns of clinicians, apparently the amendments to the Health Bill are in fact a Liberal Democrat victory.
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CommentClinical services should do their bit for efficiency, as well as productivity
Although lower than other public sector departments, the NHS still has massive efficiency savings targets to meet. A good start would be to address value for money in clinical procedures, write Christopher Peters and Stephen Chadwick.
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CommentMichael White: reform concessions do little to soften Tory image
It would be an exaggeration to suggest that Nick Clegg hired Wembley Stadium to celebrate his party’s triumph in helping rewrite Andrew Lansley’s Health Bill and “saving the NHS.” But Lib Dem boasting caused resentment among Conservative MPs of all stripes.
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CommentImproving end of life care: how IT processes can help comply with final wishes
Many terminally ill patients have strong views on where they would like to die and IT is offering healthcare professions a method of responding, says HSJ’s Alison Moore
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LeaderThe government’s changes will only delay the tough decisions
One overarching conclusion can be reached from the changes to the government’s reforms: there will be a continuation of the planning blight that has afflicted the health service since the decision to scrap primary care trusts without thinking through the implications.