Comment archive – Page 445
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Comment
Neil Goodwin on the importance of partnerships
'With the little wisdom, insight and maturity that I hope I have developed with age and experience, I am able to confess that some inter-organisational relationships suffered as I pursued system-wide strategic change'
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Comment
Carers must be treated with dignity
Lord Darzi has been asked by the health secretary.to review the main challenges facing the NHS, including ensuring that care for people with long-term conditions is joined-up, patient focused, offers best value and is delivered with dignity in the best location for each patient, which for many will be their ...
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Comment
Dr Maire Smith on nurturing innovation
'NHS staff have a wealth of ideas and a number of these could be translated into tangible benefits, not only for the patient, but also for the organisation'
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Comment
Hilary Thomas on trust and safety
'Imagine hearing: 'This is your junior pilot speaking. I have no particular interest in your safety.''
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Comment
Protecting public and patient involvement
The blind drive to force the introduction of local involvement networks and abolish patient and public involvement forums is dangerous and misguided.
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Comment
Your Humble Servant: London SHA
‘They’ve come up with a whizzo plan to keep Londoners happy. They are going to build lots more hospitals. At the moment they are calling them polyclinics, but that’ll change’
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Comment
It's a question of trust: will the new ministers devolve power?
'Central control is a far more natural response from Brown than trusting local freedom and competition'
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Comment
Ringfencing is only a short-term cash fix
'Local flexibility is a principle that needs defending. Ringfencing is only convenient so long as the political wind is blowing in your direction'
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Comment
Richard Morgan and Allison Thorpe on social marketing
'Social marketing recognises that, all things being equal, people will choose behaviours that keep them in good health. But all things are rarely equal; most people have to make choices and compromises'
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Comment
David Peat on letting go
'As soon as the SS Rest and Relaxation draws near another port, you can see groups of slightly anxious-looking passengers veering to the landward side of the vessel and proclaiming: 'Houston, we have a signal!''
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Comment
Join a study on cancer and insurance
Have you recovered from cancer but still have trouble getting travel insurance? Were you quoted an excessive premium or treated insensitively? If so, we would like to invite you to take part in our research.
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Comment
Lisa Rodrigues on managing change
'Some people think the quiet revolution in mental health, with the closure of the asylums and the introduction of community care alternatives, is a model for the rest of the NHS. But I am the first to admit that we did not.always get it right'
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Comment
Paul Cooper on emergency ward nine and a half
'Our local doctor is as good as anyone else's, I suppose, although I don't really know that as I have little choice'
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Comment
Your Humble Servant: rave with Dave
‘It must be what the Baghdad Green Zone is like, hermetically sealed and full of the commentariat issuing orders devoid of any sense of reality’
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Comment
Johnson leads Brown's charm team as ministers start to listen
'Sir Ara keeping one foot in the operating theatre should encourage clinicians to have confidence that their views are listened to'
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Comment
David Lock on making sense of insurance claims
'When the pressure comes on from the 'care co-ordinator' employed by the insurers to provide the patient with a grade seven nurse, 24-hour care for incontinence and horse riding lessons as part of the overall package, PCTs can dig their heels in and refuse'
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Comment
Volunteering and mental health
Separate independent research adds to the mounting evidence that volunteering has important health benefits. Preliminary studies indicate that volunteering can have positive outcomes for 85 per cent.of mental health service users who participate. (see 'The health benefits of volunteering').