Comment archive – Page 387

  • Comment

    Michael White on keeping patients out of hospital

    2008-10-23T09:00:00Z

    It is not often you read of a new controversy in the Sunday papers and stumble on what looks like the answer in Hansard before bedtime. It happened this week. Here goes.

  • Comment

    Henry Carleton on the European working time directive

    2008-10-22T01:00:00Z

    The chair of the British Medical Association consultants' committee recently suggested that the problems posed by the European working time directive could be solved by employing more consultants and ensuring managers work closely with clinical colleagues.

  • Comment

    David Levy on world class commissioning's training implications

    2008-10-21T01:00:00Z

    World class commissioning has already had a significant impact on primary care trusts and their development.

  • Comment

    Protecting patients' mealtimes

    2008-10-20T09:00:00Z

    Around 28 per cent of patients in hospital are considered at risk of malnutrition, and the risk is most pronounced in elderly patients with declining mental function. Kathie Paling explains how a Royal College of Nursing leadership programme helped her improve the nutritional status of patients on her ward

  • Comment

    David Amos on aiming for NHS perfection

    2008-10-20T01:00:00Z

    The 2008 Olympics reaffirmed the proposition that it is possible to keep improving on excellence and perfection in sport.

  • Comment

    Lisa Rodrigues on the financial crisis and the NHS

    2008-10-20T01:00:00Z

    We live in strange and worrying times. As I write, another building society has been nationalised.

  • Comment

    Helen Bevan on large-scale change in the health service

    2008-10-20T01:00:00Z

    A sea change is happening in the way we approach large-scale change in the health service.

  • Leader

    Good times set to end as health pays price for squirrelling cash

    2008-10-16T09:00:00Z

    The credit crunch is heading your way. While the government has so far rejected the idea of revisiting its health spending plans up to 2011, there are numerous other ways it can get its hands on trust cash.

  • Leader

    Annual check finds trusts in rude health

    2008-10-16T09:00:00Z

    Among the talk of recessions, crunches and squeezes, there is some good news - the Healthcare Commission's valedictory annual health check again reveals substantial improvement.

  • Comment

    Media Watch: binge drinking

    2008-10-16T09:00:00Z

    Unlike so much else in the past seven days, the value of a drink is on the way up. The Department of Health's next attempt to reduce binge drinking will include curbs on free samples and happy hours, according to press reports.

  • Comment

    Michael White on the financial crisis

    2008-10-16T09:00:00Z

    The deepening financial crisis is changing how we look at everything now. For instance, aren't NHS finance directors glad they didn't have surpluses to invest unwisely during the years when Patricia Hewitt's stiletto was on their necks?

  • Comment

    Stephen Eames on managing by fear

    2008-10-16T09:00:00Z

    Up here in the North East the community is still reeling from the collapse of Northern Rock and is now watching with horror the ongoing farcical spectacle that is Newcastle United Football Club.

  • Comment

    Your Humble Servant on party conferences

    2008-10-16T01:00:00Z

    To: Don Wise, chief executiveFrom: Paul Servant, assistant chief executiveRe: His-Tory lesson

  • Comment

    NHS spending - what does the future hold?

    2008-10-15T12:09:00Z

    As the economic picture worsens, Carl Emmerson and Gemma Tetlow examine the possible implications for the NHS budget

  • Comment

    Ciaran Devane on surviving cancer

    2008-10-15T01:00:00Z

    The latest buzzword in cancer care is 'survivorship' - a word that has caused a bit of controversy since it was first used in the cancer reform strategy to describe the rapidly growing number of people living with or beyond cancer.

  • Comment

    David Allen on letting the public shape the NHS

    2008-10-15T01:00:00Z

    The government has published another NHS white paper in which politicians tell the public what sort of health service we must receive. It is time this changed.

  • Comment

    Steve Feast on GPs as community leaders

    2008-10-14T01:00:00Z

    When I was a GP, I was always amazed by the degree to which people remembered and acted on my advice. Frequently, the advice sought was not obviously related to any of my medical training or education.

  • Comment

    Andrew Jones on NHS leadership and creativity

    2008-10-13T09:00:00Z

    I have just thrown yet another leadership conference leaflet in the bin. Thinking back over the past year, quite a few similar fliers have followed the same trajectory.

  • Comment

    Steve Onyett on NHS interdependence

    2008-10-13T01:00:00Z

    It is not unusual to find teams and their managers entangled in a cruel bind. Senior management conveys the absolute requirement to increase caseload sizes to meet an activity target.

  • Comment

    Maggie Rae on giving blood and glory

    2008-10-13T01:00:00Z

    Yes, it is my fault - I think I am to blame for our terrible weather over the summer. I supported the introduction of the national system to monitor the effects of excessive heat over the summer months.