Comment archive – Page 353
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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.
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CommentCourage, leadership and public support are needed to avoid nightmare scenarios
We all know that the financial situation facing the NHS is the greatest challenge the health service has faced. Courage and public support are vital if the NHS is to survive, says Mike Farrar.
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CommentMichael White: Burnham's return signals the start of a grudge match
Watching the Rugby World Cup I sometimes thought of John Healey, Labour’s health spokesman until Ed Miliband’s autumn reshuffle brought former secretary of state Andy Burnham back to tackle Andrew Lansley and his now notorious bill.
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Comment
Noel Plumridge: savings are not surpluses
Before we called it “the recession”, it was known as “the credit crunch”. Trading confidence drained away, the banks stopped lending, and anyone with cash held on to it.
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Comment
'We all want integrated care - who will stand up and be accountable for it?'
We all want to see more joined-up care: patients, carers, other service users, government and professionals are all signed up to it. But who is responsible for sorting out integration, and who will be accountable, asks National Voices director of engagement Jules Acton.
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CommentThree South East coast trusts singled out for security slip ups
The government may be promising an NHS information “revolution” but events suggest Kent and Surrey is not quite ready to storm the Bastille.
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CommentSurgery in Yorkshire goes it alone on procedures decision
Haxby and Wiggington Health Centre, a GP surgery just north of York, has helped Yorkshire to make its mark on the latest round of NHS reform.
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Leader
Rewriting the rules of the blame game
An honest debate about the challenges and tensions of making management decisions in the NHS is hard to find.
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LeaderPension squeeze is another victim of inept NHS reform
“I’m not touching that, it’s a quagmire,” said the health minister fleeing from HSJ’s question at last week’s Conservative Party conference.
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CommentCompete or collaborate? The policy dysphoria facing NHS organisations
The buzzword in the NHS is collaboration, but with the Health Bill steeped in competition, despite significant amendments, realising integrated care still seems a long way away. It’s time to focus, says Professor Bob Hudson.
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CommentThe system needs fixing if we're to find the financiers
The NHS’s flawed payments system must be mended and evolved into something more robust and attractive in order to secure the as-yet-undecided new financiers, warn James Barlow, Colin Gray and Steve Wright.
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CommentYour Humble Servant: healthy fun for all the NHS family
What will be this year’s Christmas stocking must have: Mid Staffs Cluedo, PFI Monopoly or Liberating the NHS Scrabble?