Comment archive – Page 346
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Comment'Reconfiguration may do more harm than good'
History warns us that reconfiguration is not the panacea it’s cracked up to be, says Andy McKeon.
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CommentMedia Watch: January gloom continues as colleges are next to oppose bill
‘Blue Monday’ might have been last week but the downbeat mood has continued for many in the media coverage of the health service.
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CommentSally Gainsbury: just how much will public health have?
So local authorities, it appears, won’t be getting much of a public health fund after all.
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CommentMichael White: will Lansley's Healh Bill survive the 'big push'?
Do you remember the Battle of the Bulge? No, nor do I. It was the last German counter-offensive on the western front in World War II, a thrust through the Ardennes at Christmas 1944 that hoped to push British and American armies back into the Channel.
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Comment'Don't rush through regulation at the expense of innovation'
The PIP breast implant scandal has raised difficult questions for trusts and clinicians about the faith they place in the reliability of medical devices they use.
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CommentCumbrian cause for concern in the North West
Will Andrew Lansley stick with his habit of using Cumbria as poster child for GP commissioning?
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CommentThe curious case of evolution in the West Midlands
It’s evolution, but not as Darwin would know it.
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LeaderA weak private sector is bad news for the NHS
The future for the private hospital sector is not a pretty one, as our exclusive analysis of Laing and Buisson’s authoritative annual market review reveals, and this conclusion prompts two questions.
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CommentCommissioning by any other name: will 'clinical' become 'world class'?
Linear progress, zig-zagging or going round in circles? Calum Paton asks whether the Health Bill’s ideal of clinical commissioning can really deliver an improved era of healthcare after the years of false starts and rebadging.
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CommentThe rise of the patient leader
Patient leaders have a valuable role to play in tackling the problems facing health and social care at a national and local level, but we need to improve the development of and access to learning opportunities in order to grow this pool of talent properly, says David Gilbert.
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CommentMedia Watch: regional pay deals return to the fore while PIP implant saga rumbles on
It was reported on Monday that the coalition faced a “growing rebellion” from Liberal Democrat MPs against moves by chancellor George Osborne towards setting regional pay.
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Comment'Local healthcare cannot be delivered by giant commissioning bodies'
The key to healthcare delivery models lies within natural communities – not in bloated commissioning organisations, says Charles Alessi.
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Comment'Can Public Health England improve the way we respond to pandemics?'
The Department of Health’s intention for Public Health England to strengthen the national response to public health crises alongside local bodies may not work in practice unless experiences of previous pandemics are learned from, write Drs Jacky Chambers and Andrew Rouse.
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CommentMichael White: trusts need to be wary of the lure of lawsuits
Catching my eye before Christmas was the £4.5m employment tribunal award against Mid Yorkshire Hospitals Trust in the case ofconsultant Eva Michalak.
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CommentNoel Plumridge: bonus capital fund threatens to embarrass the system
The letter sent by the Department of Health in late December inviting bids for a £300m capital fund, favouring projects with greater spend in 2011-12, smacks of someone realising the potential for serious embarrassment.
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CommentQuestion marks over Imperial chief executive advertisment
Imperial College London Trust’s advertisement for a new chief executive could mean one of two things.
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CommentSouth East trusts fall short on information practises
The importance of providing accurate information has come home to roost at one acute trust in the South East.
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CommentIndependent assessment could reduce long-term sickness absence
Creating an independent assessment service to advise on employee absence is our chance to create a fair system, say Carol Black and David Frost.
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LeaderThe complexity of competition rules creates confusion and risk
Those who worry about the commercialisation of services for NHS patients often point to problems created by privatised utilities or the unholy mess that is the West’s banking sector.
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CommentA perfect opportunity to reform the education and training system
Last week’s publication of the further policy statement on the future NHS education and training system provides a great opportunity for providers to ensure they have the workforce they need to deliver the world class health services the public wants, says Martin Barkley.